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Bubbling red sundubu jjigae in a black earthenware bowl, with silken tofu chunks, a glistening egg yolk, sliced zucchini, and green onions, steam rising

Sundubu Jjigae: Korean Soft Tofu Stew

Extra-soft sundubu tofu in a fiery gochugaru broth with beef, zucchini, and mushrooms, finished with a cracked egg and served still bubbling.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the chili seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
  • 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
For the stew
  • 200 g thinly sliced beef about 7 oz; ribeye or sirloin
  • 1/2 small onion diced
  • 1/2 medium zucchini about 150 g, cut into half-moons
  • 100 g king oyster or oyster mushrooms sliced
  • 2 cups anchovy-kelp stock or low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
For serving
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 green onions thinly sliced
  • cooked short-grain rice for serving

Method
 

  1. Bloom the chili. Put the gochugaru, sesame oil, garlic, and black pepper in a small heavy pot over medium heat. Stir 30–60 seconds until the flakes turn pasty and the oil glows red. Do not let the pot get ahead of you — scorched flakes taste bitter and there is no rescue.
  2. Brown the beef. Add the beef and onion to the pot. Stir-fry 2–3 minutes until the beef is mostly cooked and the onion softens at the edges, coating everything in the chili oil.
  3. Build the broth. Pour in the stock, fish sauce, salt, and sugar. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook 6–7 minutes over medium heat so the beef finishes and the broth picks up the chili color. Taste: it should be spicy, salty, and savory in balance.
  4. Add the vegetables. Stir in the zucchini and mushrooms. Boil 2–3 minutes until the zucchini turns translucent at the edges.
  5. Slide in the tofu. Cut the tofu tube in half and squeeze the sundubu into the pot in big scoops. Lower the heat to a bare simmer. Give one or two gentle stirs at the bottom of the pot so nothing sticks, then leave it alone 3–4 minutes until the broth bubbles around the tofu again.
  6. Crack the eggs. Crack one egg per serving directly into the bubbling stew. Do not stir. Cook 1–2 minutes until the whites turn opaque and the yolks are still soft. Scatter the green onions over the top.
  7. Serve boiling. Bring the whole pot to the table on a trivet, or divide into heated earthenware bowls first and let them come back to a bubble before adding the eggs. Eat with rice and kimchi, giving every spoonful a few seconds to cool.

Notes

Note 1: Bloom the gochugaru in oil over medium heat for 30–60 seconds, until the flakes turn pasty and the oil glows red. Flakes added to a dry preheated pot scorch in seconds and turn the whole broth bitter — there is no rescue after that.
Note 2: Add the tofu in the last 3–4 minutes only. Sundubu is uncurdled and fragile; a hard boil shreds it. Keep the pot at a bare simmer once the tofu goes in.
Note 3: Stir once or twice at the bottom of the pot after adding the tofu, then stop. That single gentle pass keeps the tofu from catching without breaking it.
Note 4: Salt at the end, not the start. The broth reduces as it bubbles, and fish sauce plus salted stock stack up fast — season at the broth stage, then taste again right before the eggs go in.
Note 5: The egg is your thermometer. If the white takes more than 2 minutes to set, the stew is not hot enough; if the yolk films over in under a minute, the boil is too hard and the tofu is suffering too.