Korean · Lunch or dinner

Sundubu Jjigae

Bubbling soft tofu stew, pork-belly and bloomed gochugaru broth and raw egg poach.

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Sundubu Jjigae, plated, photographed from above.
Prep
15 min
Cook
25 min
Makes
2 servings
Skill
Comfortable
Heat
Hot, adjustable
Contains soy Contains fish Contains eggs
Maui says

Render the pork belly FIRST - the gochugaru and gochujang bloom in pork fat is what makes the broth deep, red, and savory in a way a clean-oil bloom never gets. Skip the render and you lose the dish's identity. For the halal swap, ground beef in extra sesame oil hits close: you still get a rich fat layer for the chile to bloom in. The eggs go in RAW at the end - don't cover, don't stir. The ttukbaegi keeps the stew bubbling at the table, and that residual heat poaches the eggs as you eat.

Ingredients

Everything below makes 2 servings.

  • 5¼ ozpork belly or ground porkthinly sliced if pork belly; loose if ground
  • 2 tbsptoasted sesame oil
  • 3 tbspgochugaru (Korean coarse chile flakes)
  • 1 tbspgochujang
  • 4garlic clovesminced
  • 2cheongyang peppers (Korean fresh chile)sliced thin
  • 4dried anchovies (dashima grade, for stock)heads and black guts removed
  • 1 piecedashima / kombu piece (for stock)4-inch piece
  • 3 cupswater (for stock)
  • 1 tubesoft (sundubu) silken tofuKorean sundubu tube preferred; extra-firm cubed works (pat dry, simmer 5-7 min longer)
  • 1 tbspfish sauce
  • 1 tspsoy sauce
  • ¼ tspMSG (optional)optional - adds savory roundness, skip if you don't keep it
  • 2eggscracked at the table
  • 2green onionssliced

In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.

Nutrition

Per serving, as written.

  • 767calories
  • 32gprotein
  • 14gcarbs
  • 67gfat

Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.

Instructions

Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.

Before you start
  1. Make the anchovy-dashima stock: combine 3 cups water and the kombu piece and 4 dried anchovies in a small pot. Bring to a boil, simmer 10 min, then strain. Discard solids; set broth aside.
  2. Slice the pork belly thinly (or have ground pork loose).
  3. Mince the garlic. Slice the cheongyang peppers thin. Slice the green onions.
  4. Don't scale sesame oil, gochugaru, gochujang, fish sauce, soy sauce, or MSG linearly - use about 2-2.5x for 6 servings and taste as you go.
1

Render the pork

Heat sesame oil in the ttukbaegi (or heavy saucepan) over medium. Add the pork belly slices (or ground pork) and cook 3-4 min until browned and the fat has rendered into the oil. This rendered pork fat is the cooking medium for the chile bloom - it's the whole identity of the broth.

4 min · hands on
2

Bloom gochugaru and gochujang IN the pork fat

Add the gochugaru and gochujang DIRECTLY to the pork and rendered fat in the pot. Stir constantly for 45-60 seconds - the chile blooms in the fat and this is where the deep red color and flavor come from. Add the minced garlic and sliced cheongyang peppers and stir another 30 seconds until fragrant.

2 min · hands on
3

Build broth

Pour in the strained anchovy-dashima stock (about 2.5-3 cups). Bring to a boil, then let it simmer 3-4 min to meld the flavors.

4 min · hands on
4

Add tofu and season

Gently scoop large spoonfuls of soft tofu directly into the bubbling stew - DON'T stir; just nestle the chunks in so they stay silky. Season with the fish sauce, soy sauce, and (optional) MSG. Simmer 3-4 min to warm through. Taste and adjust heat or saltiness now.

4 min · hands on
5

Crack eggs raw and serve

Crack eggs directly into the stew. LEAVE THEM RAW - don't stir or cover. Top with sliced green onions. Carry the ttukbaegi sizzling-hot to the table; the residual heat will cook the eggs from the outside in while you eat. Serve with steamed rice on the side.

1 min · hands on

Make it yours

Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.

Instead of pork belly or ground pork Ground beef (halal-friendly)

Render the beef in 1 extra tbsp sesame oil to mimic the pork-fat bloom; everything else identical.

Instead of pork belly or ground pork Shrimp and pork

Add 4 oz peeled shrimp during the last 3 min of simmer.

Instead of pork belly or ground pork Manila clams

Skip the pork render; add 12 scrubbed manila clams with the broth, cover 4-5 min until they open - lighter pescatarian variant but loses the bloom-in-fat depth. Adds about 5 minutes.

Instead of pork belly or ground pork Tofu only

Skip the protein and the render step; bloom the gochugaru in 2 tbsp extra sesame oil (still has anchovy stock). Saves about 5 minutes.

What keeps

Make anchovy-dashima stock ahead - keeps 5 days fridge. Render pork and bloom chile-fat base and simmer to order; soft tofu and eggs are always fresh.

Skip the egg if meal-prepping and add fresh each reheat.

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