Chadol Doenjang Jjigae – The Best Recipe on the Internet!
Oh - I’m so excited that you landed on our chadol doenjang jjigae recipe!
Typically, when you make doenjang jjigae at home, you stir-in a few spoonfuls of doenjang paste into Korean stock broth and boil it with vegetables.
The taste is simple, familiar and home-y.
But when you order a side of doenjang jjigae at (proper) K-BBQ restaurants, the flavor is next level!
That’s because the cooks add-in slices of chadol beef, as well as a spoonful of gochujang and other ingredients – to build that bold, “restaurant flavor”.
Today, we’re going for that same bold, “I-Need-Another-Spoonful” flavor!
Cooking Notes for Chadolbaegi Doenjang Jjigae:
There a few key flavor variables – let’s start with Chadol beef slices.
Chadol is short for Chadolbaegi (차돌박이), which is thinly sliced beef brisket.
In Korea, Chadol cuts have a fair amount of fat on them – which provides a lot of flavor as it melts away into the broth.
(Note: Chadol is typically cut into thinly sliced curls and immediately frozen – so you’ll find in the freezer section of the Korean market).
In the package, the chadol slices make have a dark red, almost brownish color. That’s because of a lack of oxygen – not indicative of the quality of the meat.
Simply open the package and leave it out at room temperature for a bit – then the oxygen will make back into the meat and the slices will look bright red again.
Next, we’ll add gochujang paste and gochugaru to our doenjang stew. This adds a slight spicy kick to and balances out the earthy umami flavor of our doenjang paste.
We’ll also add a dash of Soy Sauce. While this is uncoventional for homcooked doenjang jjigae, remember that we are adding slices of beef (which are unseasoned).
The soy sauce will provide just the right level of saltiness.
Also feel free to use any vegetables - I would always recommend adding potatoes though - makes the stew taste very hearty!
That’s it folks! I hope you give it a try at home. You won’t need any other banchans for this one as the stew is so goood.
If you want to buy a Ttukbaegi, here's what we use (3-4 person size for stews).
If you make it at home, tag us on IG. We love scrolling through pics of your cooking in the morning!
(P.s. If you’re cooking alone, don’t get bored. Consider listening to our latest podcast episode while you cook!)
-Daniel out! 🕺
Ingredients
Doenjang Stew & Seasoning
- 100-150 grams Chadol Beef (차돌박이) Thinly Sliced Beef Brisket
- 2 Heaping Tablespoons of Soybean Paste
- ½ Tablespoon Gochujang Paste
- ½ Tablespoon Soy Sauce (Use Soup Soy Sauce if you have)
- ½ Tablespoon Minced Garlic
- ½ Tablespoon Gochugaru Flakes
- Dash of Water (optional - if stew reduces too much)
Anchovy-Kelp Broth
- 2 cups Water (500 ml)
- 1 Anchovy-Kelp Packet
Fresh Ingredients
- ½ Block Firm Tofu (150 grams)
- ½ Onion
- 1 small-sized Potato (Roughly the size of your palm)
- Small piece of Korean Squash (Or Zucchini) (Use a pinky-length piece)
- Small piece of Spring Onion Stalk (Use a hand-length piece)
- 2 Cheongyang Chili Peppers (Or use 1 Jalapeno Pepper, optional)
- Small handful of Enoki Mushrooms
Instructions
Make Anchovy-Kelp Broth.
- Place 2 cups of water (500ml) into a pot. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a medium. Drop in an anchovy-kelp broth packet and let it gently boil away for 10 minutes.
Prep Chadol Beef & Veggies
- Place (thawed out) chadol beef slices onto some paper towels and let them soak up the excess liquid. (This makes for a cleaner-tasting stew). Note: If you're low on time, you can skip the thawing process and add the frozen chadol pieces directly into the boiling stew later - but remember to use a soup ladle and skim off the resulting foam.
- Cut ½ block of Firm Tofu (150 grams) into small bite-sized cubes.
- Chop ½ an Onion into rough pieces.
- Dice ½ a small-sized Potato into thin slices.
- Dice a small piece of Korean Squash (or Zucchini) into bite-sized pieces.
- Dice a stalk (length of your hand) of Spring Onion into thin slices.
- Dice 2 Cheongyang Chili Peppers into thin slices.
- Cut the stem off the Enoki Mushrooms. We'll use ½ the bundle - split up the bundle with your hands.
Build Doenjang Jjigae
- After 10 minutes of boiling, take-out the anchovy-kelp broth packet.
- Now, use a soup ladle to skim off any bubbles/foam on the surface or sides - leads to a cleaner tasting soup.
- Now place-in 2 heaping Tablespoons of Doenjang Paste. Stir it around until its well-mixed into the broth.
- Then add ½ Tablespoon of Gochujang Paste. Stir it around until its well-mixed into the broth.
- Then add in the hard-root vegetables: Onion, Potato & Korean Squash (Zucchini) pieces.
- Once the stew comes back up to a boil, add in Soup Soy Sauce (½ Tablespoon), Minced Garlic (½ Tablespoon), Gochugaru Flakes (½ Tablespoon).
- Now add in the tofu pieces.
- Then add in the chadol beef pieces.
- Note: If the bubbles are starting to get big around the sides of the pot, add in a dash of water - only if needed.
- Finish the stew by adding enoki mushooms on top. as well as the chopped green onions and chili pepper slices.
- Let it cook away for a final 2 minutes - so the enoki mushrooms get soft.
- That's it - serve with a bowl of hot rice! Bon Appetit!
Lydia says
Easy and delicious! Ty!
Alice says
Thank you for sharing this recipe! It is so delicious and easy to make. Nice hearty stew for winter
Juvon says
I think I have made this about 8 times now, and honestly, my partner and I are in love with this!
Can't wait for the chilly fall breeze to kick as this will definitely be on our weekly menu 🙂
Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Megan says
Hey Guys!! Could I freeze my doenjang jigae? Thank you for the amazing recipes Xx
al may says
This is my parents' favourite Korean Dish. I always double the recipe when I cook it for them. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Riel says
I doubled the recipe for my family and it was so good, my parents kept taking seconds even though they usually are not used to korean food. Thank you!!
Stan says
I didn’t have all the ingredients, I swapped the squash for bell peppers and no spring onion, mushrooms, beef, or kelp. But I had everything else, and it tasted absolutely superb! 😀 It hit the spot on a very rainy spring afternoon and tasted so good. For the broth I used a random dashi I had in the fridge instead of kelp. I swapped the beef for a marinated chicken I made previously and had it on the side. I thought this recipe would be intimidating watching the video, but the written recipe breaks it down so well! Also I accidentally put half a tablespoon of mirin in it because I have ADHD and was thinking it was in the recipe before minced garlic, but it was still very good! Finally I used 5 cups of water instead of 2 because I wanted to make a lot of it! The soup is super delicious so I will have it with rice for many meals this allergy season.
Candace says
Ok so I haven't made this yet but I definitely want to! However, one thing I was wondering is, where would I get a Ttukbaegi? Which stores in Korea carry them? I've seen some at PandaPam but wasn't sure if they're good quality.
Lisa says
Thanks for the delicious recipe for Doenjang Jjigae. Easy and so tasty!
Looking forward to trying more recipes!