Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew – Sundubu Jjigae
Spicy and addicting Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew, or Sundubu Jigae, is not only tasty but also super easy to make at home. If you never tried this tofu stew before, you are missing out! It is the ultimate comfort food and rice killer that is super addicting. You can literally add your favorite proteins, and it will taste great every single time! Get yourself a big bowl of rice and get ready to indulge in Itaewon Class-inspired Sundubu Jjigae this week!
Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew from My Favorite K-Drama
Welcome to a new series where I cook recipes from my favorite Korean Dramas, and the first recipe comes from my all-time favorite drama, Itaewon Class, and their delicious, savory Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew – Sundubu Jjigae.
I’m sure I am not the only one, but there have been too many times where I am watching Korean Drama in the middle of the night, and my mouth is drooling, my stomach and growling, and all I want to do is jump inside the show and take a big bite of the food.
Itaewon Class
If you are new to K-drama or have never got into them before, I highly recommend giving Itaewon Class a try!
The plot itself is super refreshing and super motivating, and if you have a passion for entrepreneurship and food, you will love it!
There are three elements I love most about Itaewon Class, Park Seo Joon (duh), inspiring plot, and also the FOOD. It doesn’t help that I usually watch K-drama at night, so whenever Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew makes an appearance, my stomach growls even more.
Ingredients For Soft Tofu Stew
- 1 pack Silken Tofu 12 oz, also known as soft tofu
- ¼ Onion chopped
- 1.5 – 2 tbsp Korean Red Chili Flakes adjust to your spice tolerance
- 1.5 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 3 Green Onion chopped and separated with white and green
- 2.5 oz Pork Belly optional, sliced
- 2 cups Anchovy Stock or Dashi stock, vegetarian, chicken, or beef stock also works
- 4 Fresh Shiitake Mushroom sliced
- 1 pack Enoki Mushrooms
- 1 Egg
Adjust Your Own Spiciness
When I first learned how to make Sundubu Jjigae, I made it every day because once you give it a try, you will for sure be craving for more. The best part about making Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew at home is that you can adjust the spice level based on your liking. It is an excellent entry recipe to try at home for first-time home cooks or those that never tried Korean cuisines.
If you don’t have that in hand or live near a Korean supermarket, you can swap with dashi stock (my personal favorite) or vegetable and chicken stock.
Add Your Favorite Protein
You can have your Korean Spicy Soft Tofu stew as a vegetarian dish, or you can also pair it with any protein of your liking.
I am using pork belly today, but you can also add in beef or seafood. Traditionally, it is served with anchovy stock, where you can either make the stock from scratch or buy pre-packet anchovy stock bags from your local Korean supermarket.
How To Make Korean Soft Tofu Stew
- In a pot, drizzle in some oil and turn the heat up to medium-high. Once the pot is hot, add the pork belly and saute together for 4-5 minutes. Game
- BEEF INSTRUCTIONS: cut the steak into bite-size pieces and season with salt and pepper. Pan-fry the steak for 2-3 minutes or until your preferred doneness. Remove and set aside.
- Add in Korean red chili flakes, minced garlic, white parts of the green onion, and chopped onion, and saute together for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add in soy sauce and stock and bring it to a simmer. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, add shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, and silken tofu. Break the tofu slightly with your spoon and let it simmer for another 4-5 minutes. BEEF: add back in the steak before serving
- Optional, but I highly recommend add-in and egg and garnish with green onion.
Do you like Korean food? Here are some of my favorite EASY Korean recipes that you can make at home while watching k-drama!
- Fried Chicken Bites (EXTRA CRISPY)
- Korean Marinated Eggs – Mayak Gyeran (EASY!)
- Cheesy Potato Pancake (4 Ingredients ONLY!)
- Spinach Salad 2 Ways (Sigumchi Namul)
- Korean Spicy Rice Cake Skewers (5 Ingredients ONLY!)
Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew – Sundubu Jjigae
By Tiffy Cooks
Ingredients
- 1 pack Silken Tofu 12 oz, also known as soft tofu
- ¼ Onion chopped
- 1.5 – 2 tbsp Korean Red Chili Flakes adjust to your spice tolerance
- 1.5 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 3 Green Onion chopped and separated with white and green
- 2.5 oz Pork Belly optional, sliced
- 2 cups Anchovy Stock or Dashi stock, vegetarian, chicken, or beef stock also works
- 4 Fresh Shiitake Mushroom sliced
- 1 pack Enoki Mushrooms
- 1 Egg
Instructions
- In a pot, drizzle in some oil and turn the heat up to medium-high. Once the pot is hot, add the pork belly and saute together for 4-5 minutes.
- BEEF INSTRUCTIONS: cut the steak into bite-size pieces and season with salt and pepper. Pan-fry the steak for 2-3 minutes or until your preferred doneness. Remove and set aside.
- Add in Korean red chili flakes, minced garlic, white parts of the green onion, chopped onion, and saute together for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add in soy sauce and stock and bring it to a simmer. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, add in shiitake mushroom, enoki mushrooms, and also silken tofu. Break the tofu apart slightly with your spoon and let it simmer for another 4-5 minutes
- Optional but highly recommend add-in and egg and garnish with green onion.
Currently watching Itaewon Class, the food always looks so good 🤤. Can’t wait to try this over the weekend!
The meal looks delicious. Thank you for sharing. Could you tell me a little about the pot you use to make the Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew?
Yes! of course! This is a traditional Korean clay pot, also called Ttukbaegi. You can find my recommended pot here!
So quick and easy to make. Thanks for the recipe!
Very delicious ! Thank you for this nice receipt witch is for everyone the best taste in our family !
Your website have great photos and a nice description for you receipt ! Thank you for all and go on !
What is the sauce listed in step one? I noticed that soy sauce is referred to later in the recipe. Is one of the ingredients not listed?
It’s actually a typo: “Once the pot is hot, add the pork belly and saute together for 4-5 minutes.” Thanks for catching that!
I’m going to be the person who replaces a million things because I just didn’t have all the ingredients. I didn’t have any meat so I added zucchini for some heartiness and I used 1/2 onion just to use up what I had left. The stock though I followed through which is the heart of it anyway. This was so delicious. If anyone is hemming and hawing, run to the store and get the ingredients. You will not regret it.
Is this for one or two servings? What would recommend for the measurement’s for all the ingredients for maybe 6 servings?
Hi Steve! This recipe is for 2 servings, but if you hover over the serving number in the recipe, a slider comes up so you can adjust the amount of the recipe to your desired amount of servings. Happy cooking 🙂
Tiffany, thank you so much For this recipe. Easy to follow and make. Super delicious! I used egg and silken tofu for my protein. Wow! Absolutely amazing!
Hi I love this recipe and now that squash is in season I was wondering if some type of squash would combine well with the flavour profile? Or in general if you could get creative with the add ins?
Hi Lida, you can definitely get creative with the add ins. Squashes are great in spicy tofu stew! The most common ones I see in this recipe is zucchini, but in your own kitchen you can add your favorite add-ins!
Tiffy
This was a great recipe! I added Napa cabbage and extra silken tofu. This is easy to make and so customizable. Thanks, Tiffy!