Image Credit to: koreanbapsang
Seafood bean paste jigae, also known as seafood doenjang jigae, is a Koren stew made with doenjang, which is a fermented soybean paste. It is one of the favourite dishes in every Korean household.
Doenjang is a significant element in Korean dishes and has a similar role like gochujang, which is a Korean fermented chilli paste. Doenjang is homemade traditionally, but can also be found in Korean markets and sold commercially in hypermarkets.
Ingredients:
- a few small clams, 1/2 squid, and 5 medium shrimp
- 1 litre of rice water (water used to rinse raw rice)
- a small piece of dried kelp around 6 x 4 cm
- 20-25 Korean large anchovies
- 1 heaped tbsp Korean soybean paste (doenjang) dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water; to taste
- 1 tsp Korean chilli powder
- Napa cabbage leaves
- 4 shiitake mushrooms
- 8 carrot slices
- 100 grams firm tofu
- 50 grams enoki mushrooms
- 1 negi (Japanese scallion) sliced thinly and diagonally
- 50 grams ito konyaku
- 1/2 red chilli
- 1/2 green chilli
Directions:
- Slightly rinse the clams. Soak them in salt water for at least 30 minutes to get rid of the sand.
- Clean the squids and cut them into strips. Clean the shrimp and remove the intestines.
- Get rice water by rising some raw rice.
- Rinse the anchovies and place them in a soup pouch.
- Cut the cabbage into thin strips and separate the stem from the rest. Remove the mushroom stalks and cut into thin slices. Cut the carrots into thin slices in a flower shape, cut the tofu into small cubes and trim the ends of the enoki mushrooms.
- Blanch the ito konyaku in boiling water for 2 minutes then submerge the cooked noodles in an ice water bath for a few minutes. Drain off excess water.
- Boil the rice water along with kelp and anchovies. Let it simmer for around 5 minutes and discard the kelp.
- Add the stem part of the cabbage, carrots, firm tofu and shiitake mushrooms and let it simmer for a few minutes.
- Then add the rest of the cabbage, ito konyaku and the trimmed enoki mushrooms.
- Add in all the seafood, starting with the clams. Boil until the clams are open.
- Add in the soybean paste mixture and chilli powder into the pot. Stir and mix well. Make sure the paste has dissolved completely.
- Slice the chillies and scatter on the soup along with spring onions then let it simmer a bit.
- Serve the soup with warm steamed rice or eat it alone.