25-Minute Korean Soybean Paste Stew with Beef and Tofu

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A hard-bubbling pot of Korean soybean paste stew built on one tub of doenjang: thin-sliced beef, mushrooms, zucchini and soft tofu simmered in a fast anchovy-kelp broth. It comes together in under half an hour and goes straight from the burner to the table with a bowl of short-grain rice.

Ingredients

• 5 cups water
• 1 piece dried kelp (dasima/kombu), about 4x4 inches
• 10 large dried anchovies, heads and guts removed (optional)

• 6 oz beef chuck or ribeye, thinly sliced and cut into bite-size strips
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 3 tbsp doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
• 1 tsp gochujang
• 1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 small russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 5 oz cremini or shiitake mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 small Korean zucchini or regular zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch half-moons
• 14 oz soft or medium-firm tofu, cut into 3/4-inch slabs
• 1 Korean green chili or jalapeño, sliced
• 2 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tsp soy sauce, plus more to taste

• 4 cups hot cooked short-grain rice

Instructions

1. Put 5 cups water, the kelp and the dried anchovies (if using) in a medium pot or Korean earthenware pot. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat, about 6 minutes. Pull out the kelp as soon as the water simmers so it doesn't turn slimy, then simmer 3 minutes more and strain out the anchovies. You should have about 4 1/2 cups broth. (No anchovies or kelp? Use 4 1/2 cups water plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce.)
2. While the broth steeps, toss the sliced beef with the sesame oil and a pinch of black pepper. Heat the empty stew pot over medium-high, add the beef, and stir-fry 2 minutes until the edges brown — it does not need to cook through.
3. Add the garlic, gochugaru and gochujang to the pot and stir for 30 seconds, just until the pepper flakes smell toasty. Pour in the broth and add the onion and potato. Bring to a hard boil over high heat.
4. Scoop the doenjang into a small ladle or fine sieve, lower it into the boiling broth, and mash it with a spoon so it dissolves without leaving lumps. Boil hard, uncovered, for 6 minutes, until the potato is halfway tender.
5. Add the mushrooms and zucchini. Keep the heat high enough that the stew is visibly rolling — this is not a gentle simmer — and cook 4 minutes.
6. Slide the tofu slabs in and add the green chili. Cook 3 to 4 minutes without stirring much, so the tofu stays intact and warms all the way through. Taste and add soy sauce or another teaspoon of doenjang if it needs more salt and depth.
7. Scatter the scallions over the top, boil 30 seconds more, and carry the pot straight to the table on a trivet. Serve bubbling, with bowls of hot rice alongside so everyone can spoon stew over rice.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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