It’s been years since I’ve been allowed to cook Cheonggukjang Jjigae in the house. Actually, I’ve never been allowed to cook it since EJ and I moved in together in 2006. She actually wasn’t a fan of it until this past year when I started getting back into ordering it when we went out for lunch.
This is the famous “dead body soup” that was on Bizarre Foods. It’s not called that, but there’s an urban legend that Koreans in Germany made it in their apartment, and their neighbors called the police, fearing there was a dead body in the apartment because of the smell.
I’ve not only gotten used to the smell, it really gets me going. It’s as rustic Korean as you can get. Barely crushed soybeans that have just started fermenting. They haven’t had time to mellow into doenjang. The taste reminds me of pinto beans as a kid.
In markets they market it by its freshness, sold in disc-shaped cakes or in small tubs like yogurt. In fact, you can make your own Cheonggukjang in a yogurt maker. Someday I may tackle that project.
EJ has been houseridden much of the time because the baby’s so young. She’s been depending on me to shop for groceries, but it’s hard to figure what you want when you’re not in the store. Her diet has been super boring. At least the MiyeokGuk stage is over. It was only in this state of desperation that I was allowed to cook some Cheonggukjang that I had brought home. EJ loved it, and now I’m allowed to cook it in the house.
I had written a recipe for this in the early days. It’s been revised a bit.
Cheonggukjang Jjigae
INGREDIENTS 1 package Cheonggukjang 1 piece Dried Kelp for stock, aka Dashima (approx. 5-inches x 5-inches) 10 Anchovies, dried Oil for stir frying 1/2 cup Kimchi, aged 1/2 Onion, sliced 3 cloves Garlic, sliced or chopped 1/2 Zucchini, sliced 4 Shiitake Mushrooms, sliced 1 Fresh Chillie, sliced 1 tsp. Gochugaru 200 g Tofu, sliced
Rinse the Kelp and put it in 3 cups cold water with the Anchovies. Bring to a boil.
Strain and reserve the stock.
Heat the oil in a pot and fry the Kimchi, Onion and Garlic until the onion gets a little transparent.
Add the Cheonggukjang and stir fry some more.
Add the stock and bring to a boil.
Add the Zucchini, Mushrooms, Chillie, Gochugaru and Tofu. Boil for 3 minutes.
Take the heat down and skim the scum off the surface.
The Korean phrase ‘ulken hada’ (얼큰하다), which means ‘it is refreshingly spicy’, is a phrase appropriate for any season. In summertime, Koreans enjoy bowls of hot spicy soup to sweat out the heat. And in the winter, hot spicy soup is consumed to warm up the body. Yukgejang (육개장, shredded beef soup), is the perfect “refreshingly spicy” soup to warm your body.
Gosari (고사리) is the primary vegetable in yukgejang. Gosari is the Korean word for bracken, or fiddlehead ferns. Only the young shoots are eaten. Sometimes they are sautéed in garlic and set on the dinner table as one of the optional banchan (반찬) on the dinner table, but most Koreans recognize gosari as a crucial ingredient in bibimbap and yukgejang.
I don’t think gosari has any wondrous medicinal benefits, other than as a good source of some minerals and fiber. Someone told me that in the old days Koreans used gosari as a meat substitute, although it’s not a good source of protein. Also, of note, gosari eating populations maybe linked with high rate of stomach cancer.
My girlfriend’s question about the gosari in my bibimbap inspired me to make some yukgejang. Personally, I don’t like making yukgejang, as it is too time intensive. I also think purchasing the ingredients costs more than ordering it at a Korean restaurant. But if you are serving more than two people, do not trust the restaurant ingredients, and/or just want to make this wonderful soup, this is how you do it.
Yukgejang (Korean Shredded Beef Soup)
Main Ingredients: 4 qts. Water 1/2 lbs. Gosari (saeng gosari – 생고사리) * 2 lbs. Flank Steak 6 cloves Garlic, crushed 1 medium Onion, sliced 6 stalks Green Onion, chopped into 3-inch pieces 1/2 lbs. Mung Bean Sprouts, rinsed
Spices: 2-3 Tbsp. Salt 1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper 3 Tbsp. Korean Chili Powder (Gochugaru)
Optional: 2 Eggs, beaten 1/2 lbs. Pyogo (Shitake) Mushrooms, sliced 1 oz. Dangmyun (당면) or about ½ lbs. reconstituted in warm water. 2 tsp. Hondashi or Dashida**
Total Prep Time: 2-3+ hours
Serves: 4-6
1. Bring about 4 quarts of cold water along with the flank steak in a stock pot
2. After about 30 minutes to an hour, take the steak out and put it in a bowl to cool 3. Skim the blood and other impurities from the beef stock
4. Add garlic and onion to the stock, and salt and pepper to taste
5. When the flank steak is cool enough, shred the beef into long strips of about ¼ inch in width
6. Add beef and gosari into the soup (pyogo mushrooms goes in at this time)
7. Skim for additional blood and other impurities from the soup
8. After about an hour of boiling under medium heat, check for more impurities, then add the chili powder, mung bean sprouts, and green onions
9. Adjust the seasoning or add water to taste with salt (hondashi or dashida, if necessary)
10. Add the beaten eggs in the soup at the last minute, stir (not too much), and then serve
* Notes: Use saeng gosari to save time. If you can only find the dried kind, soak it in water overnight. You may also cut the gosari and shredded beef into 3 inch length to match the green onions and mung bean sprouts.
** Use hondashi or dashida only if you messed up on the water levels. I do not believe in using them as soup base, but as a flavor enhancing agent of sorts. I mainly use them when I’m pressed for time.
The base to any soup or stew, Korean or otherwise, is a good broth or stock. This article will discuss three methods for adding beef flavor, from the easiest to the most complex.
Debra Boutin, M.S., R.D., chairwoman of Bastyr University’s Department of Nutrition and Exercise Science, described the healthful aspects of bone broth in a natural medicine column:
Properly made bone broth contains measurable amounts of calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium and other minerals, as well as collagen, gelatin and amino acids. These nutrients are beneficial for bone and joint health, for muscle strength and action, and for maintaining connective tissues and the gastrointestinal tract.
The gelatin in bone broth has been shown in some studies to stimulate digestion and protect the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. It also is thought to improve digestion of milk, beans, meat and gluten-containing grains.
The Weston A. Price Foundation also has an article detailing the health benefits of bone broth.
Bone broth will give needed calcium to those on a dairy-restricted diet for health reasons or less availability of dairy products, such as in Korea compared with the U.S.
Easiest: Dashida Dashida (다시다) is a Korean instant beef stock. It comes in large bags and is found in many grocery stores in Korea or Asian markets in the U.S. You don’t need to use more than a teaspoon or so in most soups. A caveat: It is high in salt and monosodium glutamate (MSG).
More difficult: Korean beef broth Korean beef broth takes a little more time to make — about two and a half hours — but the little extra time will produce a much better beef broth. It won’t have MSG, unless you want it.
Ingredients 2 pounds beef brisket 8 quarts (roughly 8 liters) of cold water (enough to fill a large soup pot)
Instructions 1 Rinse the brisket in cold water.
2 Place the brisket into into a pot, covered with cold water, and bring to a boil.
3 Once it’s boiling, turn down the heat to a simmer.
4 Allow it to simmer, uncovered for a couple of hours.
Add some aromatics of your choosing (such as ginger, onion, celery, carrots, thyme, black peppercorns, etc.) and boil until the brisket is completely cooked.
Skim the foam off the top periodically to remove fat and impurities.
5 Once the two hours are expired, retrieve the beef and slice it for the soup or stew or reserve it for future use.
The same can be done with the broth: Use immediately in your soup or stew recipe or store in the freezer for future use.
Most challenging: Beef bone stock Beef bone stock is the most time-consuming option but will reward you with a robust and healthful base for any soup, stew, gravy or sauce your want to make.
Summarizing the steps for sizzling and simmering
Roast beef bones in the oven until they turn brown.
Place the bones in a pot, cover them with cold water and boil until scum appears on the surface.
Clear the scum off the broth and add aromatic ingredients, such as ginger, onion and black peppercorns.
Continue to boil for at least three to four more hours. Some stock connoisseurs recommend simmering the bones for 12 to 72 hours all together.
Ingredients 2-4 pounds meaty beef stock bones (include some knuckle bones and a hoof) 1 pound meaty rib or neck bones (perhaps, oxtail with meat still on it) olive oil 1 onion, peeled and quartered 2 celery ribs (a bunch/stalk contains several ribs), cut into 1-2 inch pieces 2-3 garlic cloves, unpeeled 10 black, red or white peppercorns
Instructions
This is where the fun starts: in your broiler, not on the stovetop. (Photo by Tammy Quackenbush)
1 Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Rub the onions with oil, and place them into a large roasting pan with the bones. Roast the bones and onions for about 45 minutes, turning the bones over about 20 minutes into the roasting time. If the bones start to char, turn the heat down. The bones should be deep brown, not black.
Pre-roasting the bones is a crucial step in this recipe. If you simply put raw bones into the pot and start boiling, the smell will be horrendous and traumatic.
The meat and the bones are golden brown and the onions are a little caramelized but not overly so. (Photo by Tammy Quackenbush)
2 Place the bones and onion into a stockpot.
3 Place the roasting pan on the oven on low heat, covering two burners. Pour a half-cup of water into the pan and let the water come to a boil. Use a metal spatula to scrape off all the cooked bits at the bottom of the pan and add them to the stockpot.
4 Fill up with cold water until there’s enough water to cover the bones by one to two inches.
This is when it's good to skim off the top. It's also the most time-consuming task in creating consomme starter. (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)
5 Bring to a boil briefly, then turn down the heat for a simmer.
Do not take your eyes off the stock pot for the first hour. Carefully remove the scum on top with a spoon.
After removing the scum, add the rest of the vegetables and aromatics to the pot and continue to simmer.
Skim off the white scum rising to the top.
When the water level sinks below the bones, add more water and return to a good simmer. Continue periodic skimming.
Do not dump hot oil or fat down the kitchen drain. It will solidify and block your pipes. Save the grease in a small jar for future use, or discard it in the trash after it has cooled.
6 After simmering the bones for three to 12 hours, remove them from the pot with tongs or a slotted spoon. I simmered my stock for eight hours.
7 Line another large pot with a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Ladle the broth through the screening material into the other pot. Allow the broth to cool before storing it in the refrigerator.
This is what it looks like after it's been refrigerated for a few hours and skimmed. Notice how thick the broth appears. (Photo by Tammy Quackenbush)
8 Skim the fat off the cooled stock. Discard the fat in the trash, or save it for another recipe.
At this point, you can put the pot back onto the stove and continue to simmer until you have reduced it by half to make a more concentrated stock.
This step might come in handy if your freezer space is very limited.
After more than eight hours of keeping an eye on this concoction one Sunday, I ended up with eight cups of broth, which I put into small sandwich bags and stored in the freezer for future use.
It is often the case where I should just let the ingredients speak for themselves. Gather together a few seasonal ingredients in a pot and boil down with water. Season with soy sauce. One spoonful with a piece of vegetable and hot, earthy broth, you will see how quickly you can put together autumn in your bowl.
Jeongol (전골) is something in-between hot pot (thinly sliced meat and vegetable ingredients are dipped in hot broth) and stew (ingredients are simmered for a long time). Water or stock is added just enough to bring out the flavors of ingredients – usually lots of vegetables in addition to a few main ingredients, which define the name of jeongol from seafood (해물; hae mul) to cow or pig intestines (곱창; gop chang) to mushroom (버섯; beo seot). Its most fun feature is that jeongol is cooked at the tableside to be shared with everyone.
A proper – as commonly described in cookbooks – mushroom (버섯; beo seot) jeongol would start by sautéing ground beef. Add stock. Sliced Napa cabbage leaves are another common ingredient, along with a variety of mushrooms and other greens.
I was lacking a few things to make a ‘proper’ mushroom jeongol for this unplanned dinner, but that wasn’t going to stop me. Luckily I had just gone to Chinatown for my big grocery shopping, so I had fresh shitake mushrooms (표고버섯; pyo go beo seot), button mushrooms (양송이; yang song e) and enoki mushrooms (팽이버섯; paeng e beo seot) to use as feature ingredeints. For greens, I had scallions, garlic chives and perilla leaves. I also took out a block of tofu and cut to thin slices. Sprinkle of chili powder on top. This would be more than enough.
With some extra time I had, I made mushroom tofu pockets. I poured hot water over frozen tofu skins (유부; yu bu) to get excess oil out and quickly thaw them. Press tofu skins with paper towel and cut off one end, which allows the skin to open like a little pocket. With the stems I had after cleaning the mushrooms, I chopped them finely and sautéed with onion which would fill the tofu pockets. I tied the pockets with garlic chives after quickly blanching in boiling water – this makes the garlic chives easier to handle but still sturdy enough to tie the tofu pockets.
I found a packet of udon noodles which, of course, was added to the pot. After a bowl of udon noodle soup with mushrooms, I added some tteokguk tteok, thin oval shaped rice cakes, most widely used for the New Year’s Day rice cake soup in Korea. After a bowl of mushrooms and rice cakes, we felt all warm and full and happy. Sorry, no pictures of those as I was too busy eating.
Yet if you are familiar with the Korean jeongol process, the end is only marked by rice.
I reduced the rest of the broth and chopped up a couple of mushrooms that were still in the pot. I added a big handful of finely chopped kimchi. A bowl of steamed rice goes in. Enter eggs, chopped scallions and toasted laver flakes. Finish with sesame oil, ground pepper and toasted sesame seeds.
I see long winter months with many variations of jeongol coming my way…
