How to Make Soon Doo Boo Ji Gae - Miso Stew Recipe

Every once in a while, I feel the need for some authentic Soon Doo Boo JiGae, a hearty, miso-based stew that's chock full of fresh vegetables and silky soft tofu. If you grew up in a Korean home or have had the pleasure of trying Soon Doo Boo Jigae at a Korean restaurant, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about - it's a need that cannot be defined.

This is serious stuff here.

Welcome to a step by step look at how my mom makes her version of Soon Doo Boo Jigae - in case you're wondering, Soon Doo Boo means "soft tofu," and Jigae means "stew."

First, you need a bunch of fresh vegetables.

Chop fresh vegetables into bite-size pieces.

Let's take a closer look at our ingredients.

You have one small to medium zucchini.

One small to medium yellow or white flesh potato - whichever you prefer will do.

One small carrot and a good handful of oyster mushrooms.

We usually get our oyster mushrooms at a Korean market - they come sliced and ready to cook, just like this:

One spring onion and about half a red bell pepper and half a green bell pepper.

A good handful of broccoli plus one small to medium yellow onion.

And the key ingredient, silky soft tofu - this is what it looks like at most Asian markets:

Notice the little spout on the end? You cut that open with a pair of scissors and squeeze the tofu out.

If you can't find this type of tofu, it's fine to use the softest tofu that you can find at your local market.

Now here's what I consider to be the key to making any miso-based soup or stew that people will remember you for: Start with vegetable broth.

My mom makes a quick, flavorful broth with 5 to 6 cups of pure water, one onion, peeled and halved, and a generous handful of dried seaweed.

If you don't have time to reproduce this broth or you just can't find seaweed, you won't go wrong by using your own vegetable broth. Just try to stay away from store-bought varieties, as you don't want the broth to be salted, since you'll be adding miso, which provides all the salt that this recipe calls for.

Here's a look at my mom making her quick vegetable broth:

Start with a package of Da Shi Ma, also known as firm, dried seaweed. Each square is quite hard - you don't want to use a softer variety of dried seaweed that would easily crumble in boiling water. You want this seaweed to stay intact while the broth boils - it's used only to impart minerals and flavor.

A generous handful of Da Shi Ma in about 5 cups of water.

Plus one yellow onion, halved.

After boiling for about 15 to 20 minutes, use a good strainer to fish the seaweed and onion out of the broth.

You're left with a lovely golden broth that provides a layer of flavor to the stew, as well as easy-to-absorb minerals like calcium and magnesium to help you maintain healthy bones and teeth.

Sorry about the slight haze in these photos - the broth was boiling away and I wasn't able to capture things without a bit of steam in the air.

Now, start adding all those yummy vegetables to the broth. You can begin with the potatoes, carrots, and onions. Let these little guys boil on low to medium heat for a good ten minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are slightly tender.

Now add the zucchini, broccoli, red and green bell peppers, and mushrooms to the mix - let things boil on for another 5 minutes or until the zucchini is tender.

Now comes the miso. We're pretty big on miso in our home, so we usually buy it by the tub at the Korean market - here's what a tub looks like:

For about 5 cups of water, you'll need a heaping tablespoon of miso. And when I say heaping, I mean heaping. It's probably about 2 and a half well rounded tablespoons that end up going in.

But you should probably start with a little less and taste as you go, because you can always add more if you need to, and you don't want the stew to get too salty. Though you should know that soon doo boo jigae, by nature, is a bit of a salty stew that is balanced out with a bowl of steamed rice - one spoonful of hearty stew for every spoonful of perfectly steamed rice is a good way to enjoy it.

Add the miso and stir for a bit until it dissolves. You may need to press some of the miso up against the sides of the pot to help it dissolve.

Now add the soft tofu and green onions - it's about 2 cups of soft tofu, roughly broken apart into spoon-sized clouds of tofu as it's transferred to the stew.

Give everything a good stir or two to warm the tofu and green onions, and it's ready to eat.

Here's roughly what a bowl of soon doo boo jigae should look like right before you start devouring it.

Don't forget to enjoy it with steamed rice or some other food group that helps balance out the richness of this stew.

Koreans typically enjoy soon doo boo jigae along with rice and a number of side vegetable dishes. Here's a look at the sides that my mom had ready for us on this particular day:

Kim Chi (fermented spicy Napa cabbage)

Dill Pickle Kim Chi (fermented spicy cucumbers)

Dried Seaweed - this is a thinner variety of seaweed, the kind used to make sushi rolls. This dried seaweed is seasoned with a tiny bit of sesame oil and sea salt and toasted for just a few seconds on both sides before being chopped up into these easy-to-eat rectangles. You can buy pre-toasted and seasoned dried seaweed (called Geem) at any Korean market.

Steamed Green Cabbage Leaves - nice and sweet, perfect for making wraps out of rice and a mixture of miso and gochujang (a Korean chili paste).

And here's the miso and gochujang mixture mentioned above.

Finally, a lovely dish of seasoned and mildly spicy green beans.

Here's a look at everything together minus the steamed rice, which you want to get nice and hot out of the rice cooker just before eating.

The next chance I get, I'll ask my mom to show us how she makes each of the side dishes shown above. We do have a few of them in our recipes archive, but I think it really helps to have pictures that show each step in making them.

Hope this pictorial inspires you to master the art of making soon doo boo jigae. If you have any questions or comments, please use the "add new comment" section below.

For just the recipe without the pictures, click here:

Soon Doo Boo Jigae Recipe

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