This classic homemade doenjang jjigae recipe uses Korean soybean paste and anchovies to create a deeply flavorful stew accented with tofu and fresh vegetables. My step-by-step photos make at home preparation of the stew easy.
A pot of hot boiling doenjang jjigae (Korean soybean paste stew, 된장찌개) is perhaps the most desired stew in Korea. In terms of Korean “comfort food,” this is the #1 stew, and no Koreans will disagree on that.
Without a doubt, most Korean people grew up eating this Korean stew at least once or twice a week. Surely, the smell of doenjang jjigae coming out of kitchen brings a nostalgia to many Koreans.
It brings back our childhood memories. I have a fond memory of my mother fixing her signature doenjang jjigae often. My father adored her jjigae.
My mother’s doenjang jjigae is special because she made her own doenjang paste. Nothing can beat homemade doenjang jjigae made with well-fermented homemade soybean paste.
Unfortunately, like many of you, I don’t have the luxury of having homemade doenjang paste. Making it is on my bucket list to do sometime soon, and I hope I am up to the challenge!
Although doenjang jjigae made with homemade doenjang paste would be the best, you can still make a good stew with a store-bought Korean soy bean paste.
If you enjoy Korean soups and stews, don’t miss out this ever-popular Korean soybean paste stew. With my recipe, you will enjoy one heck of a delicious doenjang jjigae just like you would enjoy at your favorite Korean restaurant.
If you have a Korean man or woman in your life, make this stew and serve it to them. They will truly appreciate you, and think you are getting close to mastering the art of Korean cooking. Neat, right?
Korean stone pot (ttukbaegi, 뚝배기): Ttukbaegi is a Korean earthenware made out of a type of clay, and usually glazed inside for the cooking purpose. Unglazed Korean earthenware (onggi) is mostly used to store food for fermentation. Cooking doenjang jjigae in a ttukbaegi retains heat very well, which keeps the stew hot longer. Without the interference from metallic surfaces on other kinds of cookware, ttukbaegi will maintain the natural flavor of fermented food throughout cooking.
Best Doenjang Jjigae Recipe Tips
#1: Combination of pastes
To make authentic doenjang stew, you will need Korean soybean paste (doenjang) for sure. On top of that, try adding a tiny bit of Korean chili paste (gochujang).
It may sound unusual, but a teeny-tiny bit of gochujang will add a depth to your stew. A small amount of Korean chili flakes adds a slight kick to the stew as well.
Note: This recipe is similar to the Korean BBQ restaurant style doenjang jjigae recipe that I introduced in my cookbook.
With the combination of these three ingredients, you will have a really good doenjang jjigae that will impress even your local Korean friends.
#2: Anchovy and sea kelp stock with rice water
If you have followed my blog over the years, you know that I use a variety of Korean soup stocks in many recipes.
A good doenjang jjigae MUST start with a good stock – typically anchovy stock. I used rice starch water instead of plain water as a base.
Rice starch water is basically the water you rinsed the rice with. The starch component will thicken the stew and add depth to the flavor. If you prefer a thinner stew, use plain water instead.
To make the stock: All you need to do is simmer dried anchovies and a piece of dried sea kelp in the rice water (rice starch water) for 3-4 minutes. Discard the anchovies and sea kelp, and your stock is ready!
#3: What goes inside doenjang jjigae?
Typical option: onion, zucchini, tofu, mushroom, fresh chili
Other choices: thin slices of beef or pork, clam, shrimp, crab, watercress, radish, potato, mushroom, bean sprouts, kale, turnip green, etc.
Recipe Instructions
Feel free to double the recipe if you want to feed more people since this recipe makes only 2 servings.
When the anchovy stock is ready, add Korean soybean paste and chili paste into the stock.
Hint: I used this mini scoop strainer to smear the paste into the stock. You can also use a slotted spoon or wooden spoon. Just smear the paste to loosen it up, then add it to the stock.
Add onion and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat.
When it is about to boil, add zucchini and mushroom; continue to boil on medium-low heat.
Toward the end of cooking, add garlic, Korean chili flakes, and fresh chili slices.
Lastly, turn off the heat and garnish with chopped green onion. That’s it! You’ve got a pot of boiling hot Korean stew and it is ready to serve.
Serving suggestion?
Rice, of course. What else?
Make sure to serve this homey delicious Korean comfort stew when it is hot, but be careful not to burn your tongue. That happens often to those who are not used to boiling hot Korean stews!
Serve with any Korean side dishes you like along with your favorite kimchi.
Any leftover stew should be stored in the fridge. It reheats nicely in the microwave. Enjoy!
Classic Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Stew)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice water see note below
- 5 large dried anchovy deveined
- 1 piece dried sea kelp (dashima)
- 2 heaping tbsp Korean soybean paste (doenjang)
- 1 tsp Korean chili paste (gochujang)
- 1/2 small onion chopped
- 1 small zucchini diced
- 4 oz soft tofu diced
- 2 oz mushroom optional
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 1 tsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
- 1 fresh chili sliced
- 1 green onion finely chopped
Instructions
- To make the anchovy stock, combine rice starch water, dried anchovy, and sea kelp in a stone pot or heavy bottom pot and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Discard the anchovies and sea kelp.
- Smear the pastes in a mini scoop strainer or slotted spoon and incorporate into the stock. Add the onion and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat.
- Add zucchini, tofu, and mushroom; continue to boil over medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes.
- Add garlic, chili flakes, and fresh chili and heat through. Sprinkle green onion and remove from heat. Serve hot with rice.
Video
Notes
- Rinse your rice with water briefly. Pour out the water and discard.
- Swirl the rice around rapidly with your fingers for 15 seconds to remove starch from the rice grains.
- Pour about 3 cups of water to the rice and rinse.
- Collect the milky rice starch water and reserve 2 cups to use for this recipe.
- Continue to rinse your rice 2-3 more times. Cook your rice by your usual rice cooking method.
Oh Holly, sorry to hear about your father. This makes me think, I must cook more for my parents when I see them. What a comforting stew this is – I can see why this could be the way to someone's heart!
This stew moves me too, because it reminds me of my grandfather who passed away three years ago. I will always have the image of him slurping noisily at the stew, and us burping at the same time.
I love doenjang jjigae, very comforting indeed – I'm sorry about your father…
I don't think this could look or sound more delicious! It brings back awesome memories of my childhood in Korea. Thanks for the recipe, I love your blog!
Holly – I am very sorry about your father. That's so sad. You're right this is no. 1 comfort food for Koreans, especially men. This makes me hungry for it, and I am just having my first cup of morning coffee.
Hollly, this is a touching post. I've loved your blog ever since I knew about it. I love you even more now that you are finally doing a doenjang jjigae post, because I've always wanted to make one, but never could. Maybe it's the rice starch water that was missing.
S. Z.
Thanks for the comment.Yes, the rice starch water will thicken the stew quite nicely and brings deeper flavor, too. Give it a try and let me know how it turned out.
Hyosun Ro
Thanks, Hyosun! A pot of Doenjang Jjigae and a grilled fish is one of the most common humble dinner and I often miss that. Hope you enjoyed your coffee and had a great Saturday morning.
@a6366f025ddce6dd53bdcb8a1d6ccbeb
Thanks. Yes, I do remember, too, of the smell of Doenjang Jjigae in my house or my friends house as a child. It was the natural alarm for us that the dinner is almost ready. I love the smell…
Sophia
Hi Sophia, I am sorry about your grandfather.
Your description of how your grandfather enjoyed the stew was so right! Many Korean men, especially older generation, would do that. My father didn't burp but he did slurp his soup or stew though.
@ff5a7342455262aefc19b0703b5a1649
Yes, cook more for your parents. Sharing food with your loved ones is like sharing your heart. It will bring precious memories.
I love Korean food and I am really happy to have bumped upon your blog today!! Loved this jijigae recipe. Following you now. I would love your visit to my blog on Indian/Hong Kong food!
Your blog is something I was looking for – detailed instructions on how to make Korean everyday food. I am currently living in Seoul and want to learn more about Korean home cooking before we move again. Thanks for all the tips and recipes! Well come here more often.
wow definitely looks like comfort food. any kind of stew or soup bubbling in a hot claypot is heaven.
Hi Holly
Thank you for the recipe. Iam going to cook this for dinner. Will it be much different if I omit the chillie flake? Because my young nephew still could not take spicy food yet.
Thanks.
Caroline
my five year old son loves this soup. i will use your recipe next time!
@e5ff742b14eddf1a5cd63be711b937b1
Hi Caroline
yes, you can omit the chili flakes and fresh chilies, too. Hope you nephew would enjoy the stew you made.
Wow, that is impressive. He's got some Korean factor in his taste bud.
I love your blog. The recipes are clear and the photos are just too professional, like they are taken out of a cookbook.
I love any kind of Korean soup, especially during the kind of winter in the Midwest region of the U.S.
@d228db5f32b3cdbde75d46a8917c0b61
Thanks Bee. You are welcome to my site anytime.
@c01c21604566414f02d0c6fc1bbc8346
Hi there
Thanks for visiting my blog. I am not so familiar in cooking with Indian ingredients so I am glad that I found your blog as well. Look forward to learn great Indian recipes from you.
Hi Holly, this is Duncan from Kuantan. You have a beautiful blog and quite a talent for cooking. My wife is excited to be staying at your place this coming weekend! What a lovely idea to be doing this blog for your children – you can't go wrong when it comes to food. Have a look at my blog too:
Duncan In
Kuantan
@8d9f8fcf78188c19595f52aa36ac77b0
Hi Duncan
Yes, we are excited to have your young family in our home as well. Have a safe drive to KL.
Hi Trang
Thanks for the compliments. Hope you can visit my site as often as you can.
Hi Holly, I'd like to make this soup, but Doenjang paste is impossible to find where I live. Would miso be an acceptable substitution?
@c46dca1d3f64dbbcb816542492a27df4
Hi! You can use miso but it will taste a little different. Generally Miso is milder than doenjang but you can look for miso that is stronger in flavor. Look for deep brown tone of miso rather than yellow.
Hi
Nice Blog!
I like asian food and this recipe is simple.
Thank you
this seem to be so good!
This is lovely. I've actually never seen this bad with the starch of rice water… It's interesting! Soy bean paste soup is my favorite Korean soup! 🙂 I don't doub that your father would be extremely proud of you and loved to call you his daughter!
I do think it's funny though that this stew is voted #1 among Korean men. I am half-Korean and my boyfriend is too, but he doesn't like this soup at all! Haha. I made some (for myself) and he tried it, but he stuck to his mother's yuk-gae-jang instead! 😛
Ha ha! I know doenjang is not for everyone. Most Korean men (in Korea) loves doenjang stew. It truly is voted for #1 comforting stew for them to miss their mother's cooking even though their wives are great cooks.
I made this last night and it was delicious! Thanks so much for this recipe.
Hi Sarah
I am glad that you liked the stew. Thanks for the comment.
I made this last night and added fresh clams to it and had it with rice & korean seaweed, it was sooo good! My bf loved this dish so much so I teased him and said he must be korean as this is a favourite dish amongst korean men hehe. Can't believe that doenjang paste is so tasty, we have a similar chinese doenjang paste which is sweeter and i use it to steam salmon and it's delish!
I had tried cooking salmon with miso but never with Chinese paste. Will it be similar?
yes, you can buy chinese doenjang it's called "min see". It's more pungent than miso and sweeter than doenjang so it tastes different to using miso. I've used miso for salmon too and it's not the same. You need around 1 teaspoon of min see mixed with a little water for 1 salmon steak.
I made this without the anchovies and added Korean radish. This dish turned out excellent!
I have noticed there are seasoned and unseasoned paste. Is it okay to use the seasoned paste?
Hi Pearl
Is the “seasoned Paste” in the green container? if it is, then it contains some chili paste in it. So omit the chili paste in the recipe.
I’ve recently developed an affinity for Korean dramas and one thing that stands out to me is the food!! – of all things…lol. This soup looks scrumptious! I will definitely try it which means time for another trip to the Asian market where I get odd looks when I go in knowing exactly what I’m looking for (African American woman tends to stand out…hahaha). Nevertheymind, the food is SO worth it!
Thank you for the recipe and for sharing about your family. I too have the sense that your father would be proud. We have to imagine what our deceased elders who loved us would feel and say. They are still with us in significant ways.
Now, then. I finally made my first stew with your recipe, and I’ve just slurped it down with pride and delight, with sides of rice and kim (laver) that I toasted myself. I lament the wasteful packaging of pre-toasted kim!
I did make one change to the cooking method, that I want to share. I learned this from the world of fermentation, and it’s a technique that I think all true lovers of Korean culture, a culture devoted to healthfulness, would welcome, even though it changes the order of this traditional method.
The thing is that as a fermented product, doenjang and miso are alive. Doenjang offers more benefits alive than dead, but boiling kills it. So I skipped the early doenjang step and proceeded nearly to the end. Then I added the mushrooms and leeks (not green onions) (and clam meat, as a treat.). Then I drew a little liquid from the cooking pot, covered it, and TURNED OFF THE HEAT.
I put the bit of liquid in a small bowl and mashed the doenjang in it thoroughly. THEN I put the thinned doenjang back into the pot, stirred a little, poured it into my serving bowl (no stone pot here yet, alas!), and topped it with the green onions, which cook in the residual heat. I enjoyed knowing that that the stew still held the live cultures of the doenjang.
Thank you again for your wonderful recipe. I, in my own way, offered this first doenjang jjigae of mine to the memory of your dad.
Hi Leah
Thank you so much for your comment and sharing the tip on adding the doenjang paste at the end. I remember reading an article about it in some Korean cookbook of fermented food. You are right, adding it at last will increase the benefit of getting the most of live culture of the paste. It also will bring the stronger flavor as well. Thanks for your kindness of offering this stew to the memory of my deceased father. I appreciate it.
Holly, I was just checking back because I’d forgotten to save your recipe to my dropbox… or bookmarks … or browser history … or anyplace. But I remembered that it was associated with a story about your father, so I searched on doenjang jiggae father and google brought me right back here. I’d forgotten about posting, so thanks, belatedly, for your response. All best to you! (Making another lovely batch today… ahhhh! #homesaltyhome)
Hi Leah
It is so sweet of you leave this comment. Glad to hear that my recipe showed up right away for you and you were able to cook a batch. Some food just brings the comfort, isn’t it? Thank you and all the best for you, too.
(oops – I didn’t use leeks, but the above describes when I would add them if I had used them.)
My 10 month old loved this stew. One of my childhood favorites!
I’ve been having cravings for doenjang jjigae for so long! We do have Korean food in lots of places here, but doenjang jjigae is not found in the cheaper range food stalls. I had one at an authentic Korean restaurant once, but it’s expensive 🙁
Was watching 1박2일 members eating stew and suddenly thought of searching for the recipe. Such joy to find your posts!! ^^ I don’t really like to cook, but I think I’ll try your recipe soon! Thanks for the recipe 😀
-from Singapore-
I would like to try to make it but the problem is that I hate tofu. Any suggestion how to replace it with other thing?
Besides, in Italy we dont have enoki mushrooms, we have “porcini”. But I think it would be OK
You can omit the tofu. Porcini has its own strong flavor compared to other type of mushroom. You can use it, but if you can find button mushrooms or oyster mushrooms they would be better fit.
Hmm it seems like your blog ate my first comment (it
was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any suggestions for first-time blog writers? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
I just finished reading your recipe and I´m sure it is delicious, I really enjoyed the way you wrote down this recipe, your writting skills are very much enjoyable and your pictures, simply amazing, my boyfriend is mexican but im sure not only koreans but any men would be conforted by a soup like that!, keep up the amazing work!! Greetings from Mexico!
My husband and I recently bought soybean paste and were looking for a recipe to use it. I made this soup following your instructions and my husband loved it. Thanks for all the details. I am looking forward to keep cooking from the recipes on your website.
Instead of the dried anchovies can I use dashi powder?
Yes, you can.
Hey, I realise it’s a pretty old post but in case you see this, can you say how much dashi powder should be used if substituted for the dried anchovies? Thanks!
The smell of doenjang jiggae was the most inviting I had ever experienced in Korea. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to fix it for my family.
Hi holly thank you for the recipe, I want to make this for my whole family, so I’d need to triple the ingredients. However, I was wondering if I’d still need to add more anchovies or would it be enough.
You don’t need to triple the amount of ancovies as long as your get the right amount of the stock. You might need to add a little more water, though.
Wow, looks so delicious!
Wow, I love cooking blog! Full of inspiration!
This looks delicious. Too bad some of the ingredients are not available where I live 🙁
Looks great! I am going to try that recipe myself.
This reply is for Jeff: If there are no Korean, Asian, or specialty shops in your area, you might be able to order the ingredients you’re missing online. 🙂
I love your recipes as well that i love korean food !! I tried this one, and i think it turns well, 감사합니다
Thank you Holly, for this very good recipe. I followed your instructions to the letter, and was wowed by the richness and depth of the broth. I’m a soup person, and will definitely make this again and often. This is a keeper 🙂 Many thanks ..
I didn’t have zucchini so I used squash instead, it still tastes good! The squash added a little sweetness to the stew. Thanks for your recipe Holly!
You are very welcome. Glad that you liked it.
Hi, nice website! What makes this different from soondooboo?
I love this stew and it is a favourite among my friends too! I’ve been using your recipe for years now. This is where I first found out about using rice starch water and it has really made a difference. 🙂 Thank you for sharing your story and your recipe. I am sending my kindest regards as I head to my sunny Polish kitchen to create yet another version of this delicious meal.
Mmmmm this looks so god. I’ve got every ingredient except for the dried anchovies. I’ll work on that!
So glad that you have the doenjang paste and want to try this stew. Hope you like it. It is a delicious Korean stew.
I’ve never tried this Korean Stew, and I must admit I’m not familiar with some of the ingredients. Also I don’t recall I’ve ever seen such recipe on menu at the Korean restaurants even though I’m a fan of stews. I must admit the combination of flavours and textures sounds intriguing (As I can’t fully imagine the taste of the final product), but it looks delicious and hearty!
This looks like an incredible heartwarming stew, Holly. The only jiggae I’ve made is budae jiggae, so I’ll have to expand my repertoire with this!
Hi! I just wanted to say that your blog is so inspiring. I have saved so many recipes, which I will try out. I am vegan but feel inspired to make some of your dishes in a vegan way, like the rice balls, kimchi pancakes or kimchi casserole (could easily use soy mince instead). No food blog has made me feel ”wow” lately like yours has. Best wishes, Jenny from Sweden
Your recipe seems amazing! However if I do not have a stone/clay pot like the one that you use, what other alternatives can I consider?
Thank you, Qiyun.
Although cooking doenjang jjigae in a stone pot is the most traditional method, you don’t have to have the stone pot to enjoy this delicious stew. You can cook it in any small pot. I often cook my doenjang jjigae in a 2 qt size round dutch oven or stainless steel pot. It is equally delicious. Hope you get to try my recipe and like it.