Sundubu - Spicy Korean Soft Tofu Stew.
At Incheon International Airport – you’ll see many Koreans that have returned home from abroad, lining up to order a sizzling pot of Soondubu - in hopes to get their digestion back on track (lol).
That’s because Sundubu has all of the flavors that Koreans love…
The smoky-spicy kick of gochugaru chili flakes. The soft texture of silky tofu. And the umami-filled seafood broth.
Today, I’ll show you an incredible way to make this delicious stew in less than 5 minutes! No shortcuts on flavor either - tastes on par with any restaurant-quality Sundubu.
To make it under 5 minutes, we'll make Sundubu Paste.
Once the paste is made, all you need is water, a tube of fresh tofu and some seafood if you'd like. 5 minutes to boil and you’re done!
It’s perfect for meal-prepping or for quick weekday meals after work.
What I love about this paste – beyond the taste – is that it doesn’t turn solid when you store in the freezer. This means no thawing time!
So ya'll ready to make this paste? 🙋♂️
COOKING NOTES:
NOTE: We’ve made the same recipe a few years ago. But we had readers tell us that the batch was too big! So this time around, we reduced the paste by half and added a few minor tweaks. Go with this version!
First and most important - do not use dining salt! For all recipes on future dish, we use kosher salt (see image below).
In fact, Kosher salt is the default salt you should be using for cooking. That's because it has a coarser texture and prevents you from over-salting.
In contrast, dining salt (or table salt) has very fine-sized grains - which makes things taste salty with just a small amount. That's why it's set on the dining table ... maybe the only time to use it is to salt scrambled eggs?
I repeat again, don't use dining salt for this recipe - or the ratio will be off and taste overly salty!
Now, the first tweak: When making the stew, use ½ cup of water when mixing the 2 Tablespoons of the Sundubu paste.
Second, make sure you’re using at least 350 grams of silken tofu (400 grams is okay too!) At Korean markets, this seems to be the standard size. If you use a smaller size, the overall taste of the stew may be slightly salty or spicy.
Finally, make sure to give the stew a quick taste before finishing. If it tastes salty or spicy for your palate, add in a few dashes of water.
Enjoy Neighbors and share some of the paste with your friends or family... they'll love it!
How to store? Keep it in the freezer and it should last 4-6 weeks. Now Smile 😄
Tag us on IG if you make the dish - we love waking up and flipping through your pictures in the morning!
Note: If you're interested in getting a Ttukbaegi pot (Korean Earthenware Pot), here's the one we use. These traditional pot retain heat very well and make for a beautiful presentation! (Note: We're using the 3-4 person sized Ttukbaegi)
-Daniel out 🕺
P.s. If you're cooking (or eating alone) at home - don't get too lonely! Play our latest discussions in the background and enjoy some food-for-thought 🙉:
Ingredients
Soondubu Paste
- ½ Cup Diced Onion
- ¼ Cup Diced Spring Onion
- ¼ Cup Minced Pork (Ok to use Minced Beef or Minced Mushroom)
- ½ Cup Gochugaru
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt (don't use dining salt)
- 1.5 Tablespoons Sugar
- 3 Tablespoons Minced Garlic
- 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
- ½ Tablespoon Sesame Oil
Soondubu Stew
- ½ Cup Water
- 2 Tablespoons Sundubu Paste (Made from above)
- 1 Whole Shiitake Mushroom
- 4-5 Clams (Optional)
- 350 grams of Silken Tofu (use at least 350 grams!)
- 1 Egg
- Few slices of Spring Onion (Optional, Garnish)
- Few cracks of Black pepper (Optional, Garnish)
Instructions
Prep Ingredients for Soondubu Paste
- Before we start stir-frying, we should prep all of the ingredients first. Dice Onion into small pieces (½ Cup). Cut Spring Onion into thin slices (¼ cup). Set aside Minced Pork (¼ cup).
- Then let's measure out the other ingredients: Vegetable Oil (2 Tablespoons) and Sesame Oil (½ Tablespoon) and set aside. Then measure out Minced Garlic (3 Tablespoons), Soy Sauce (3 Tablespoons), Sugar (1.5 Tablespoons), Salt (2 Tablespoons) and Gochugaru (½ Cup)
Make Soondubu Paste
- Take out a wok or large frying pan and place it on medium-high heat. Mix the two oils - Vegetable Oil (2 Tablespoons) & Sesame Oil (½ Tablespoon) - and add it to the frying pan. Once the oil is hot, add in the Spring Onion Slices (¼ cup) and it around.
- Once the spring onion starts sizzling in the oil, add in the Minced Pork (¼ cup). Stir-fry it around and make sure that the pieces don't clump. Then add-in the Diced Onion (½ cup). Stir everything together until the onions start to turn translucent.
- Now add in the Minced Garlic (3 Tablespoons). Stir that in as well. Next, add-in the Korean Gochugaru Chili Flakes (½ Cup) and stir that in too. The chili flakes will absorb all of the moisture in the pan. Reduce the heat to a medium-low now.
- Now, add in the Sugar (1.5 Tablespoons) and Salt (2 Tablespoons). Mix that in.
- Then add in the Soy Sauce (3 Tablespoons). Give everything a final mix. Turn off the heat.
- Place the paste in a bowl and pan it out. Let it rest for 15 minutes so it can cool off.
- Then carefully place the paste in a plastic bag. Then place into another Ziploc Bag.
- Store the paste in the freezer - it will last 4-6 weeks! Share some of the paste with friends or family.
Make Sundubu Stew
- Cut Shiitake Mushroom into thin slices. Cut Spring Onion stalk into thin slices as well.
- Now take out a pot (or Korean ttukbaegi pot). Add in Water (½ Cup) and Sundubu Paste (2 Tablespoons).
- Place it on a medium-high heat. Once the pot starts to boil, add in the Shiitake Mushroom Slices. Stir-it into the mixture with a spoon.
- (Optional: If you're including seafood, add the Clams and/or Shrimp now)
- Next, carefully add in the Silken Tofu (350 grams). Use your spoon and gently break the larger curds into the broth.
- Then carefully crack an Egg into the stew. Garnish with a small handful of Spring Onion Slices. Garnish with Black Pepper (few cracks).
- Finally, serve with a bowl of hot rice! Bon Appetit!
Hello,
Excited to make this! But quick question, can the sugar be replaced with honey or maple syrup?
This was so good!! Very easy recipe to follow and so easy to make. Followed the recipe exactly and I thought it was the perfect amount of salt and heat. You can tell how much effort went into getting the measurements just right because it was perfect. Looking forward to eating this regularly, especially with how quick it is having the paste already made. For anyone wondering, I found the recipe to be enough for my boyfriend and I for a standard dinner portion along with rice. Thank you for making Korean food recipes so accessible and for making such enjoyable videos!
I made this tonight and I think I put too much sugar!! I tried to measure it out properly. Is there a way to save my paste?! :,(
Hi! I haven't made this yet, but I'm going to tomorrow, but all I have is one box of tofu (which I think is close enough to the kind in the roll?). Is there anything else I can use this sundubu paste for?
THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE! I have struggled trying to make sundubu jjigae at home. There is no consistency between recipes onlline and so many sound suspect... like the idea of using gochujang doesn't make sense to me. Then I found this recipe, I knew the pic looked legit... and then the idea of a paste was new from the recipes I had found. Tried it tonight and it is one of the best jjigaes I've had (and I lived in Korea for four years!). I couldn't figure out why my jjigaes were too watery and this recipe fixed everything!
Holy cannoli! That was bomb.com! Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe. Sundubu jjigae is definitely one of our favorite Korean dishes. Once it’s safe to travel again, we want to visit Hanguk so that we can eat our way through the entire country. Later dudes!
I have to agree with the other reviewers... this recipe is amazing! I'm almost finished with my first batch of the paste. I'll be making another batch soon, doubling or more. The first 24 hours, I think i made it three times. I make the non-meat version because it works for my veg/fish eating daughter. With the paste, I've stocked up on tofu and I'm good to go for a fast, hot, savory meal! It hits all the buttons. Also, thank you for recommending the right kind of ingredients. Most times, I'm lost when shopping and it's difficult to figure out which to purchase. Thank you and keep up the videos. Love watching both of you. I'm learning so much.
You are my lifesaver!! I've been craving soondubu for MONTHS now and it just doesn't taste the same when it's delivered. This is one of the easiest and best-tasting things I've made and I would call myself the most amateur of chefs. Seriously, I wanted to cry when I put the first bite in my mouth.
I did want to note that when I went shopping for gochugaru I found two kinds- coarse and fine. I ended up buying coarse because it looked like the kind you used in the video, but do you know what the difference is?
I just made the stew with the paste and adjusted the proportions for 3 cups of water. While it looked amazing, it turned out to be waaay to salty and spicy. I ended up adding 2 more cups of water and now have a LOT of a mediocre stew, which by the way is still salty. I didn’t add eggs - does it have to do anything with the saltiness? Also, can you freeze the stew leftovers?
I also thought it was quite salty, I suggest instead of using water, use a Dashi broth for more depth(one with no extra salt) or if there is salt(or your broth is already too salty) add a spoonful of sugar (start with 1/4 tsp and increase to your taste) adjust/balance the flavor.
Make sure you are using sea salt (table salt is smaller so like 2tbsp table salt is like equivalent of 6tbsp of sea salt)
I would use 1/3-1/2 the salt with table salt
I don't like salt or much spice so I adapted it to my tastes. If anyone wants to try this but wants it toned down I substituted much of the Gochugaru with paprika and completely omitted the salt. Soy sauce has plenty and it can be adjusted when you make the dish. I have a nice paste to work with.
Hi! I just wanted to thank you again and let you know what a game changer this paste is! I just made my 2nd batch and I doubled it this time. The flavor is just awesome and I crave it now! Lol! I make sundubu jjigae the traditional way following your recipe and then other nights or even lunch time, if nothing seems appealing to me, I simmer up a serving of the broth and throw in whatever I feel like eating, a few frozen mandu, a sprinkle of dried seaweed, a few slices of fishcake, lots of green onion, maybe a handful of tiny cubed regular tofu, whatever I throw in, it's delicious! Sorry if I'm breaking cuisine tradition, but your paste truly is a Godsend for me as I most times cook for me alone! Thank you and I look forward to trying many more dishes! Oh, I found a family run Korean restaurant 10 miles from me, no small feat as I live in a small town in Florida! I CAN'T WAIT to go there! Stay well and keep up the fine work! Love you guys!
Ah Janice! Thank you for the detailed response. Yes, this Sundubu Paste is one of our best! Nothing better than a workout, take out some fresh rice, and throw in any leftovers for a piping hot Sundubu. I'm glad you digged the recipe - we'll try to think of more meal-prep like recipes for you in the future.
Hi!!!
We cannot wait to make this at home!! Have you made it with pork belly? If yes, what are the additional steps to cook pork belly in this recipe? Thank you so much!!!
Sure, when you are stir-frying the spring onion in the oil, good time to add the pork belly and get a nice crisp on them. Afterwards, follow the same steps!
Hello Daniel,
Hope you are doing well. Quick question about this recipe. I know you mentioned that korean chili pepper flakes are important, but if it were omitted for people who cannot eat spicy food would you still recommend making this recipe? Please let me know. Thank you.
Just finished using up my first batch of this paste! It was so good I had it 3 days in a row when I first made it. When I make other soondubu recipes, they didn't taste right but this recipe is perfect. 🙂
Yes, this recipe is spot-on! Glad that you enjoyed it 🙂
This only lasts 4-6 weeks in the freezer? Thoughts on 4-6 months? LOL
Heh - yes it can lasts for months. Our latest batch we made was in June and we're still using it up now. Tastes fine 😉
So. Good.
Way too salty. I’d halve the amount of salt in this recipe or maybe more. I know it’ll be watered down but then your soup is now extra watery.
Question. What is the portion yield of the soon du bu paste? Wanted to just make enough for this meal, so wondering. Thank you!
This recipe will yield at least 10-12 servings of Soondubu. If you're looking to make just one bowl, I would recommend another recipe.
I can't get any Gochugaru in my country right now, is it possible to replace it with Gochujang and how much should I add?
Hi Bella! No Gochugaru is essential for this dish - gochujang has quite a different flavor profile, texture and taste.
This was so easy. I made the mushroom version and I was worried about the missing extra fat you'd get from the meat but it still turned out great. Making the stew for my lunch today was so quick and easy. Definitely one which I'll keep on a frequent lunch rotation.
This turned out so good! I actually added more water since the flavor was spicy for me. One of the best recipes for soondubu. Thank you so much!!!! 🙂
This was so good! What is the consistency of the egg yolk when it is cooked?
Nice - glad you enjoyed it! It's like a poached egg.
Can I use gochujang instead? What would be the measurement then?
Hi Emily! You should include gochugaru for this recipe... its a key ingredient. Can't substitute with just gochujang.
Fantastic. It's so great to have the paste on hand for sundubu any time. I don't think I'll ever not have some in my freezer.
Fantastic. It's so great to have the paste on hand for sundubu any time. I don't think I'll ever not have some in my freezer.
Hi, thanks for sharing this recipe! I really loved it
However I would recommend you exchange water with anchovy stock, it gives a much deeper flavor than just water.
I can't wait to try your other recipes!
Yes, if you use anchovy-kelp broth, even better 🙂
You're the best, Daniel! I have been craving soondobu! I have all the ingredients at home! I will make one soon...
Nice! What's the portion size (how many people fight over that egg?!)
I am also curious about portion size--we're in the middle of making it (in between the paste and the stew) and are contemplating putting two eggs in to reduce the carnage.
Do it restaurant style and get indovidual sized ttukbaegi. Everyone gets an egg!