Korean cuisine is by far one of my favorite types of cuisine (mainly because it is cooked with tons of veggies, cabbage and well, it is spicy). Living in Seoul for a year was so great cause I got to eat a lot of it everyday and since moving back home well, I miss korean food. I think I eat korean food at least twice or three times a week and honestly, I always feel like eating it. So I wanna share more of the things I make and one thing I make a lot is this super easy vegan doenjang jjigae, which is basicaly a korean soy-bean paste stew and oh my, it’s delicious. As per tradition, here the video recipe:
Ingredients to make this vegan doenjang jjigae
There are two parts to make this recipe: the broth & the stew
The broth
Traditionally the broth (Dashi) is made with anchovies but I’m not going to do that. To make the broth you will need some korean radish, some seaweed (sheets, preferably) & I’m adding some shiitake and cabbage for extra flavor.
The stew
Doenjang jjigae traditionally is made with pork, but clearly I’m not using that and I’m going to use shiitake mushrooms to give more of that umami flavor. Veggie-wise, honestly most people use zucchini and whatever other vegetable they have at home, potatoes, cabbage, … anything is good. For this one I used cabbage, zucchini, the shiitake mushrooms I mentioned above, onion & garlic. I also used enoki mushrooms to be on top and some green onion at the end.
Doenjang jjigae is made with tofu, it’s usuall put on top and because it’s our main source of protein in this vegan doenjang jjigae version, I’m just adding a bit more!
But what makes a doenjang jjigae special? Well, doenjang means “soy bean paste”, so that’s what makes it special. You need to get some soy bean paste and you will use it to give the base of the stew that amazing flavor. I’m also using some gochujang & gochugaru which basically translates to chili paste and chili flakes.
Other Korean recipes
This vegan doenjang jjigae isn’t and won’t be the last tofucado recipe around korean cuisine, there are many more coming up but here the ones that have already been published:
Not a recipe but a great guide:
Vegan Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Soybean paste stew)
Ingredients
Broth
- 5-8 cups water
- 1 cup korean radish
- 2 handfuls seaweed (shredded) If using sheets, use 5-8 sheets
- 4 shiitake mushrooms
- 2 handfuls chinese cabbage
Stew
- 1 onion
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 zucchni cut in slices
- 4-6 shiitake mushrooms (use the 4 from the broth and a couple more) (diced)
- cabbage from the broth we don't throw food!
- 2 packages enokii mushrooms
- 300 g tofu firm
- couple green onions sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp gochugaru korean chili flakes
- 1 tbsp gochujang korean chili paste
- 2-3 tbsp doenjang korean soy bean paste
Side dishes
- Kimchi
- Rice
Instructions
Broth
- Bring the water to a boil. When boiling, add the radish, seaweed and shiitake. Cook for 30 minutes at medium temperature.
- Remove the seaweed and add the cabbage. Continue to cook for 20 to 30 minutes at medium heat.
- If you aren't using right away, store in fridge once the broth has cooled down.
The stew
- Using the broth you prepared, when it is boiling, add the shiitake (the ones from the broth and a couple more), the onion and the garlic that you have previously cut in dices. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the spices & pastes (gochugaru, gochujang & doenjang). Mix well and cook for a couple more minutes.
- Add the zucchini (sliced) and the cabbage (From the broth). Cook for a couple of minutes.
- Put the enokii mushrooms and tofu (cut in rectangles) and top the pot with it. Cover with a lid and let it to simmer for 15 minutes.
- When ready, take it out of the oven and cover with the sliced green onions.
- Serve with some white rice, and enjoy!
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Soooo yummy! I’m pinning this to make it a later time. It won’t be easy to find all the ingredients but I really want to
thank you so much Francesca!! Let me know if you do find the ingredients! I’m pretty sure you could use other alternatives instead of the korean brands I have, I also know a lot of korean supermarkets take online orders if you want to give that a try 🙂