Welcome to Theme 6 of Easy Korean Cooking Class: Korean soups ("chigae" and "gook")

Theme 6: Korean soups ("chigae" and "gook")

"doyenjang chigae" with beef, potato, onion garnished with green onion and "gochugaru"

Meeyok gook: Korean seaweed soup

Korean soupy dishes are called “chigae” (saltier and heartier) or “gook” (lighter and milder in taste). 

Cooking Tip:

  In a nutshell, "chigae" has less cooking liquid with a more robust flavor than the "gook" type of soups.  An example of the former would be  “doyenjang chigae".  An example of the latter would be a seaweed soup called "meeyok gook".  You can substitute miso paste, a Japanese style soybean paste, if you do not have the Korean version.  My cooking tip would be to cook the veggies first and then add the soybean paste and garlic towards the end for flavor and nutrition (Fermented food is best eaten when it is not overly cooked/heated!)  In general, you would need 2 cups of water for 1 TB of soybean paste.   This soup will taste better the next day as the flavors will continue to develop over time!

Now, using the cooking tip, let’s make:

Easy Korean doyenjang chigae with potatoes, onions, and tofu

Ingredients:

Fermented bean paste (1 TB, "doyenjang" or miso), 1 med. potato, 1 onion, garlic (1 clove, finely chopped, optional), tofu 1 lb

Steps:

1. Measure out 2 cups of water and pour in a small pot (2 qt).

2. Turn on heat to high, add potato (roughly chopped) and onions.  

3. When cooking liquid comes to a boil, reduce heat to med, and cook until the vegetables are almost cooked (cooking times would vary depending on the size of the potato pieces, but will take about 5-10 min)

3.  Add 1 TB of the bean paste with garlic, stir well. 

4. Add the tofu (cut to bite sizes) and cook for 5 more min.

5. Cover lid, and remove pot off heat and wait, let sit for about 10 more min before serving.  Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Variations:

With this basic recipe, you can create so many different versions of Korean style hearty soups!  You can certainly use different veggies such as mushrooms or zucchini; pretty much any veggies will do!  You can use meat as well.  Beef or pork would be especially good in this type of soup.  If meat has been already cooked (leftover meat, for example), you can add it at the end.  If the meat is raw, I would brown the meat in the oil (with 2 drops of sesame oil mixed in with the cooking oil), then add cold water and follow steps 2 through 5.  You can also crack an egg at the end and let the soup simmer for 4-5 min until the egg cooks to your desired doneness!

Korean shrimp soup using summer squash and fish balls

The ingredients for the shrimp soup cooking liquid: 
gochujang, doyenjan, garlic and sesame oil.

Hope you enjoy your new creation!  Please share your thoughts below and thank you for visiting the blog!! 💗😊