Gochujang Jjigae 고추장 찌개

Adapted from

Gochujang jjigae is a hearty, spicy, oily soup that is fun to eat and, in my opinion, beautiful to look at with its red and green contrasts.

We will alternate between this and Doenjang jjigae depending on our mood, but most weeks we'll make at least 2 days of soup. This recipe makes 2 servings for 2 days, 4 servings in total. I will prep the ingredients for both days on day 1, so that day 2 is a little more relaxed.

Some of the ingredients have [A] and [B] tags - this is because the vegetables go in at 2 stages. The [A] pile goes in first, cooks for a while, then the [B] pile. Organizing your ingredients like this while you prep will make execution much easier. Since I'm prepping for 2 days, this means I end up with 2 sets of [A][B] piles: one set for today, one set for tomorrow.

During the week when we make other rice dishes, I will save the rice water (ssalddeumul 쌀뜨물) in a quart jar, aiming to have 1 jar per 2 servings. This gives enough soup to fill 2 of our large soup bowls, but if you're using smaller bowls, this recipe might need to be scaled back.

There are two approaches here that I think are worth mentioning. I boil the soup for a shorter amount of time, usually 3 minutes each stage, but you may prefer to simmer for 5-7 minutes in the [A] stage and 3-5 minutes in the [B] stage. I'm not sure which is better, but this recipe takes 90 minutes to make (on day 1), so I have chosen to optimize for speed where I can.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

For the Soup

• 1tbs cooking oil
• 1lb pork, chopped
• 1q water or rice water
• 2tsp gochugaru
• [A] 1 yukon gold potato
• [A] 1/2 yellow onion
• [A] 3 shiitake mushrooms, or 1 handful of enoki mushrooms optional
• [B] 1 zucchini
• [B] 100g tofu
• [B] 6-8 green onion
• 0.5c rice, as a side, per serving
• Seasoning for the meat, as desired (garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper)

For the Soup Base

• 1.5tbs gochujang
• 0.5tbs soy sauce
• 0.5tbs oyster sauce
• 1tsp sugar
• 0.5tbs dasida 다시다 or powdered beef bouillion
• 1tbs gochugaru
• 0.5tbs minced garlic
• 0.25tsp black pepper

Preparation

1. Make the rice so it's ready before your soup will be finished, usually 45-60 minutes beforehand
2. When washing the rice, save the rice water (ssalddeumul 쌀뜨물) in a quart jar. This will bring more body and depth to the soup than normal water because of the starch from the rice
3. Make the soup base by mixing all soup base ingredients in a small bowl
4. Cut all [A] ingredients into spoon-sized chunks, set aside together
5. Cut all [B] ingredients into spoon-sized chunks, set aside together. Keep the white part of the green onion for the soup, and the green part for garnish
6. Cut the meat into spoon-sized chunks, keeping in mind that they shrink a bit when cooked. Ensure the meat is dry by patting with a paper towel and seasoning with garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper, as desired.

Instructions

1. Put cooking oil in a soup pot over medium heat, and let it get really hot
2. Add pork to the pot, distributing the pieces evenly. Let them cook undisturbed until brown on one side, then toss to evenly cook all sides
3. Add the soup base to the pot, stirring for 1 minute
4. Add the water to the pot, then turn the heat up to high to begin the boil
5. Once the water boils, add the [A] ingredients, and boil for 3-5 minutes
6. Add the [B] ingredients and boil for 3-5 minutes
7. Ladle into bowls, garnish with green onion, and serve with rice
8. Clean the pot! Trust me, do it now while your soup cools down.