Korean Spicy Tuna and Potato Stew
This Korean style spicy tuna and potato stew is made with a canned tuna. This stew is known as a camping stew in Korea. It cooks quick, and tastes delicious to serve with rice.
Korean Spicy Tuna and Potato Stew
I had been extremely busy these past few weeks. Sometimes life throws you something that you don’t want to catch. This time it has to do with moving. I had to move to another house in Buenos Aires. To make the long story short, the moving went well and everything is in the right place now.
I had been neglecting with cooking and I apologize for not posting new recipes as often as I should. However, here is one quick recipe that you can turn a can of tuna into a delicious stew in a very short time.
We called this spicy tuna and potato stew (참치 감자찌게, chamchi gamja jjigae). This stew is well known as a camping stew in Korea. Yes, people like to make this when they are camping in the nature. Cooking a quick stew on a campfire is quite fun and a can of tuna travels much easier than a piece of fresh cut meat.
All you need is:
- a can of tuna
- some potatoes
- zucchini
- a few basic Korean condiments
It can be ready quicker than the rice and taste so good. Of course you don’t have to go to camping to make this stew. Try make it in your own kitchen. You will love the spicy tuna in the form of stew!
If you enjoy spicy Korean stew, don’t miss out my dakdoritang (hot braised chicken), yukgaejang (beef and vegetable soup), and kimchi jjigae!
How to make Spicy Tuna and Potato Stew
First, make the seasoning paste by combining Korean chili paste, chili flakes, garlic, Korean soy sauce for soup, and anchovy sauce.
In a pot, dump diced onion, potatoes, and anchovy stock (or water). Add the seasoning paste and bring everything to boil.
I highly recommend to use anchovy stock for deeper in flavor, but you can use plain water if the dried anchovies are not your thing.
Add the zucchini slices and a can of tuna (drained). Continue to cook until everything is tender. You will need to use solid tuna which you can actually see the solid meat chunks inside the can.
Lastly add some green onions and chillies, and it is ready to serve. Quick, right?
As with other Korean stew, you will need to serve this with some rice . Now you have a simple and delicious meal ready in no time. How about that?
Try other Korean Stew Recipes. Some of my favorites are:
- Spicy Soft Tofu Stew with Beef and Seafood
- Korean Spicy Pork and Zucchini Stew
- Kimchi Stew (Kimchi Jjigae) with Tomatoes
- Korean Crab Stew (kkotgetang)
Korean Spicy Tuna and Potato Stew
Ingredients
- 1 can (7 oz) oil packed solid tuna, drained
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 medium size potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 zucchini , sliced
- 3 cup anchovy stock or water, see note below
- 1 green onion, chopped
- 1 green chili, sliced, optional
- 1 tbsp Korean chili paste (gochujang)
- 1 tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
- 1 tbsp Korean soup soy sauce (gukganjang)
- 1 tbsp Korean anchovy sauce, optional
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine Korean chili paste, chili flakes, Korean soup soy sauce, garlic, and anchovy sauce. Mix well.
- In a soup pot, combine anchovy stock (or water), onion, and potato slices. Add the seasoning paste above and bring them to boil.
- when potato slices are somewhat tender, add the zucchini and the tuna. Continue to boil for another 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning as you like.
- Lastly add the green onion and chilies and the stew is ready. Serve hot with rice.
Can you add salt as well as sardines to the recepie
If you double the recipe you double everything including the anchovy broth?
Yes, but you can adjust little bit for your liking. If you like slightly thicker stew, add less amount of broth. Hope this helps.
Hi
Could I use anchovy powder and add to boiling water to replace the anchovy stock?
Yes, you can do that. Thanks.
I love gamja jjigae! Two questions…
1. Are there any special instructions for using fresh tuna? Skin off/on, not cook too long? Or just chop into chunks and toss in?
2. For the anchovy broth, do you have a recipe for that outside of this post? I use the dried anchovies all of the banchan, but want to make sure I’m doing it correctly in a soup base?
kamsamhamnida!
Hi Misha
If you have boned-in fresh tuna, you don’t need to make anchovy stock separately. The stock flavor will come out from the bone.
I would clean and remove the scale of the tuna thoroughly, cut into pieces Place the tuna with onion and potato and pour the water. Add the seasoning paste along with the water.
If you want to make the anchovy stock, look at the printable recipe. On the bottom, there is a note where I described how to make the anchovy stock from scratch for this recipe.
Can I use fish sauce instead of anchovy sauce? Also, do you need 1 Tbsp of soy sauce? It doesn’t seem to be specified. I will try and make it soon 🙂
Thanks!
Hi Tina
Yes, you can use fish sauce instead of anchovy sauce. Start with less amount to season, then add more if needed. Also it should be 1 tablespoon of Korean soy sauce for soup. I must have accidentally delete the amount. Thanks!
I made this with a whole can of mackerel pike. It taste so good. Due to Beyond Kimchee, canned mackerel pike has entered my list of favourite ingredients! I am sure to stock it up whenever I visit a korean grocery. All these lovely food blogs must be contributing to korean export since I become aware of many ingredients through them.
I will show my husband how to prepare this for his camping trips. Thanks Holly.
I just tried it! What a delicious stew. Thanks for sharing, always.
Moving can be such an ordeal. It’s a good thing you had this amazing stew to make up for it.
I used a can of salmon instead and it was very good.
It’s the best camping meal I have ever heard about! It looks also perfect for the cloudy weather we’ve been having since yesterday. Last winter I made the first kimchi soup with tofu and canned tuna and loved the idea to use tuna in a soup (not in salads only, as we all do in Europe). The taste was extraordinary and surprisingly meaty. I’m very glad to discover another Korean soup with canned tuna! I will make it certainly very soon because I have tuna constantly in my pantry. Thank you for sharing one more fantastic dish.
Moving is a real pain, isn’t it? Glad things went well! This is such an interesting dish — never seen anything quite like it. Now I need to go camping so I can have it. 😀
Hi. Could I use normal soy sauce? I know that there is a difference in use but I find it quite inconvenient to have two different types in the cupboard.
You can. It will bring a different flavor and the color of the stew will be more brownish. But it should taste good.