Thursday, July 21, 2011

Korean Doenjang Stew

Mat requested that I make this in the beginning of the week because we ate so much over the weekend.  This stew is really simple to make and all the ingredients for this recipe can be found at a Korean market like Hmart.  I like this stew spicy so I added 3 different types of chili pepper (jalapeno, Korean green chili pepper, and Korean red pepper flakes) but you can omit the Korean red pepper flakes if you prefer it less spicy.

Recipe
Makes 6 servings

Put the following ingredients into a medium size pot
3 cups zucchini, slice into medium size pieces
1 medium onion, dice into medium size pieces
1 jalapeno pepper sliced
1 Korean green chili pepper sliced 
8 dried anchovies heads removed
5 garlic cloves thinly sliced
1/2 tbs Korean red pepper flakes (optional)
3 cups water

Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes or until the veggies soften slightly and the onions start to become translucent

Add
1/2 cup doenjang (soy bean paste)
Adjust seasoning if needed (add more doenjang if you like the stew more salty or add less if you like the stew less salty)

Simmer for a couple more minutes and add
14 ounce medium firm tofu, dice into medium size cubes
2 green onions sliced 

Turn off the heat and serve with warm rice and kimchi

I had to sneak in a picture of the beautiful arrangement that was sent to me from one of my closest friends, Betty.  She got it for my birthday.  Aren't they pretty and exotic?  Love them!


Truthfully these dried anchovies DO look a little freaky but these little guys add great depth of flavor to the stew.  However if you want to make this stew vegetarian, you have the option to omit these and it will taste great without them.  


The Korean green chili pepper is shown on the picture below on the right.  It is sitting on the cutting board so you can see because they are a little unusual.




I used my pretty la chamba pot to cook the stew in.  The clay pot retains heat very well which means that this pot can keep the liquid boiling for a long while even after the stove is turned off.  This pot was a gift to my husband from his brother for a Christmas gift exchange.  The gift makes me laugh because I knew that my brother in law gave this gift to Mat but it was really a present for me.  Haha!  But Mat just gets to enjoy the food that is made from it.  =)


This soy bean paste (doenjang) is very similar to miso but it has a more pungent taste and smell.  


Green onions and tofu are added last because they don't need to be cooked but just warmed through.

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