Name: Cheonggukjang (Fast-Fermented Soybean Stew)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: 500 ml rice rinsing water; 8 pcs dried anchovies; 1 piece dried kelp; 150 g cheonggukjang; 100 g pork; 100 g sour kimchi; 150 g tofu; 0.3 pc courgette; 0.5 pc onion; 0.5 stalk spring onion; 1 pc green chilli; 1 tbsp gochugaru; 1 tbsp garlic; 1 tsp soup soy sauce; 1 tbsp perilla oil

Ingredients

2servings

Broth
rice rinsing water · from the second rinse; or anchovy stock500 ml
dried anchovies · guts removed, for the stock8 pcs
dried kelp · 5cm; lift it out once it boils1 piece
Solids
cheonggukjang · with the beans still whole; goes in last150 g
pork · shoulder, finely chopped100 g
sour kimchi · well fermented, chopped — it tames the smell100 g
tofu · bite-size150 g
courgette · half-moons0.3 pc
onion · roughly cut0.5 pc
spring onion · sliced on the bias0.5 stalk
green chilli · sliced on the bias1 pc
Seasoning
gochugaru1 tbsp
garlic · minced1 tbsp
soup soy sauce · season here, before the paste goes in1 tsp
perilla oil · for frying the pork1 tbsp

Steps

Simmer the anchovies and kelp in the rice water. Lift the kelp out as soon as it boils, give the anchovies 5 more minutes, then strain everything. Kelp left in turns the broth slippery.
⏲ 8 min
Fry the pork in perilla oil in an earthenware pot. Once it turns white, add the sour kimchi and fry 3 minutes more. Frying the kimchi first rounds off its sourness and holds down the cheonggukjang smell.
⏲ 5 min
Pour in the stock and add the onion, courgette, gochugaru and garlic. Simmer over medium heat for 7 minutes, until the vegetables are done and the broth has taken on flavour.
⏲ 7 min
Season with the soup soy sauce now. Once the paste is in you cannot adjust it — cheonggukjang is salty in itself, so adding more to fix a bland broth only makes it pungent and salty.
⏲ 1 min
Add the tofu and simmer 2 minutes.
⏲ 2 min
Lower the heat before stirring in the cheonggukjang. It should not go into a hard boil.
⏲ 1 min
Give it 2-3 minutes only. The longer cheonggukjang boils, the more of its nutty aroma leaves and the more its characteristic sticky threads break down. Keep it at a bare simmer, bubbling only at the edges.
⏲ 3 min
Add the spring onion and chilli, wait 30 seconds, then take it off the heat. Serve in the pot, with rice.
⏲ 30 sec

Tips & Variations

Variations

How it differs from doenjang jjigae: the doenjang in doenjang jjigae ferments for months or years and its beans are mashed. Cheonggukjang ferments for two or three days and keeps its beans whole, which is where both the texture and the famous sticky threads come from. Same beans, same salt, different time — Fermentation basics covers why that changes everything.
Without kimchi: leave the sour kimchi out and the stew is much gentler, with the bean aroma in front. It also leaves the smell fully exposed, so for a first taste of cheonggukjang the kimchi version is friendlier.
With biji: stirring in okara for half the volume softens the broth and mutes the smell — common in Gangwon and Chungcheong.
Thick, over rice: cooked down with little liquid and mashed tofu, it is eaten stirred straight into rice rather than as a stew. Use half the stock.

Tips

Do not boil it long. This is the mistake that ruins it. The aroma compounds are volatile: ten minutes of boiling leaves only the stale note behind, not the nutty one. Two to three minutes after the paste goes in.
Season before the paste, not after. Salt levels vary a lot between brands. Get the broth right first and treat the cheonggukjang as aroma — see Salt and seasoning.
Use an earthenware pot. It keeps bubbling at the table, and cheonggukjang smells stronger as it cools.
If the smell is daunting, fry the kimchi properly in perilla oil and be generous with the green chilli. The point is not to mask it but to give it company.
For why fermented soybeans taste of so much, see Building umami.

The basics behind this dish

Cooking basics →

More of the same kind

Soup →

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