Today, some people may say, “Finally!”. Yes, I finally made “Sundubu jjigae” last night. I think this is the top 3rd keyword search recipe people try to find from my blog. What is so special about this stew folks? I am really curious.
Ingredients for 2 people
- Uncurdled tofu 400g
- (Unshelled) little-neck clams 200g (Bajirak in Korean - you can learn a little bit more about it from the second paragraph of my other post)
- 1 pack of enoki mushrooms
- Oyster mushrooms 1 fistful
- 1 stalk of spring onion
- Dried kelp 2 sheets - 10×7cm size each (Though you don’t have to copy the exact size of mine)
- Water 1 and 1/3 cups
- Chili powder - 1tbsp
- Olive oil - 1tbsp
- Minced garlic - 1 tsp
- Salt 1/4 tsp
- Soy sauce - 1/2 tsp
- Pepper 3 sprinkles
- Sesame oil - 1 dash
Preparation
- Soak the clams in cold water for about 30 minutes. (Add some salt - about 1tsp)
- Soak the kelp in 1 and 1/3 cups of water for about 30 minutes.
- Diagonally thin slice the spring onion.
- Cut the bottom 4-5 cm of the mushrooms off (the roots) and wash the rest for use.
- Separate oyster mushrooms with hands.
- Drain the clams from no.1 (throw the water away)
- Drain the kelp from no.2 (keep the water, we will use it as a broth)
Cooking
1. Put the chili powder, olive oil, and the garlic in a pot.
2. Heat the pot on the stove and stir it.
3. Add the clams and stir it.
4. Add the water and tofu. Boil it for about 1 minute. (until the water starts to boil)
5. Add all the mushrooms, salt, and soy sauce. Boil it for about 1 minute. (again until the water starts to boil properly)
6. Add the spring onion, pepper and sesame oil.
7. Serve the pot on the table. (You can adjust the taste with salt)
For your curiosity this is the tofu I used for this stew.
It is about 1000 won - US $ 1
How to open - cut the red dotted line (next to the bar code) with scissors. Can you see the line?
Also, I hope you use a bit bigger pot than mine because it can boil over. This happened to me last night “again”, I think that is why I don’t like making this stew much. 
(I don’t know how to measure the dish, though I want to give the best description as I can. Its bottom diameter is 11.5 cm and top diameter is about 15.5 cm) If you can’t get a bigger pot then reduce some vegetable ingredients or water.
Related Posts
Pork and Kimchi Stew (Dwaejigogi Kimchijjigae in Korean)
Tofu Soybean Paste Stew (Dubu Doenjangjjigae in Korean)
Fish Cake Soup (Eomuk-Guk in Korean)
Korean cuisine, Korean Food, Soup and Stew, Sundubu Jjigae, Uncurdled Tofu Stew
ooh, this dish is really popular in Japan now. Yours looks delicious.
FINALLY! I am very excited about this post. But I have a question. Where do I get the jjigae bowls? I always look at emart, but my mind goes blank and I have no clue what I’m looking for, and about how much do they cost?
Is there a mandu recipe?
Hi, Kat
Have you tried it yourself? It is quite nice to have in the cold season.
I wonder why it is so popular in Japan.
Hi, Mary
If you can’t find it from dish shops, which is not likely to be a problem, get some help from Korean friends to order it on the internet. Here is the example link from an online shop in Korea.
About the jjigae bowl - I got it for free when I bought 3kg of gochujang at Homeplus. It is a type of “dduk bae gi”. If you can’t get it from E-mart then try dish shops near your home or traditional markets (like Namdaemun). They should have it. Its price starts from 2000 won
About the mandu recipe - I don’t have one yet, though I bought a tool that closes mandu easily and prettily the other day, which implies that I am going to make one soon.
No, I haven’t tried it, will have to when my hubby is not around, he doesn’t care for Korean food too much. I think Korean cuisine is popular here because of the popularity of “Winter Sonata”–the drama with Bae Yong Joon and Che Joo. In fact, a lot of Korean soap operas are popular here. I sometimes tune in to some, but not always, why are they always so sad?
It is surprise to hear that Korean soap dramas are still popular. Because some TV critics are concerned that Korean fever is dying away.
Anyway, I haven’t seen any Korea dramas for about 2-3 years now.
It is so boring. They often use similar story line; rich guy-poor girl’s love (or the other way around), or triangle relationships, or someone’s lover is very ill etc.
I watch American TV most of the time and some Japanese dramas to keep up with my Japanese study. I recently watched “Stand-up”, which is similar to American pie.
Sue,
clamsss again :D, yummm
Anyway today I made chocolate mousse from tofu. Check that out at http://evimeinar.multiply.com/photos/album/109
I want to get cable to see more American shows especially food programs, but our apartment building doesn’t allow us to drill holes for the antenna on our balconies.
I peeked into the kitchen at a restaurant in San Jose where they were cooking these things up. I saw that they had the bowls on a grill with the flames shooting up. The bowls were boiling over like crazy but they had a pitcher of broth with which they were constantly refilling them. Thought you might be interested!
Yours looks just like the kind you get from a restaurant, well done! I’ll have to try it sometime!
Hi Alvin,
I don’t like when the soup boils over, because I need to clean up the gas range afterwards. Though, it is kind of an unavoidable thing.
My pot is too small for the amount of ingredients I add.
I tried making this before following other recipes but they just didn’t taste right. Then I came across your recipe and WOW.. I couldn’t believe it tasted just as good if not better than the ones they sell at the sundubu restaurants. My husband was VERY impressed. Thanks for posting!
Hi Jinnie
I am so glad to hear that!
All recipes on this blog are tested couple of times before I post them. So they should taste good.
If the recipe doesn’t turn out well then I wouldn’t let other people know until I improve it.
Thank you.
I’ve got a question about the tofu …
I bought one a while back and made soondubu with it, but I used the spout instead. It’s so soft! How did you keep it intact, especially when cutting at the dotted line?