Doenjang jjigae, or soybean paste stew, is my favorite Korean stew. It’s definitely one of the lesser known stews, with most people knowing about kimchi jjigae or budae jjigae, but I wanted to pay tribute to this dish that I consider to be more of a comfort dish for me and deserves as much of a spotlight. Side note: it’s interesting to me that it’s translated as “stew” since they technically aren’t as thick as stew and might be more accurately described as soups, but I’m guessing it’s because these dishes combine many ingredients and tend to “stew” or cook over a period of time.
I largely use Maangchi’s recipe, but omit the peppers (because I’m an Asian that can’t handle spicy foods) and shrimp (because I’m lazy), and use silken instead of firm tofu (my personal preference). I also add a dash of fish sauce which might technically be for another Korean stew recipe, but I just like the little oomph it brings to the soup.
I usually eat doenjang jjigae with rice and some sort of banchan (side dishes) or other food like dumplings. You can watch me make the stew on TikTok.