Sundubu Jjigae (Soft Tofu Stew)

Variations

• Seafood sundubu: Swap the pork for clams, shrimp, and squid for a cleaner broth.
• Kimchi sundubu: Stir-fry chopped sour kimchi in for an extra tangy kick.
• Mild version: Skip the gochugaru for a clear broth kids can enjoy.
• Perilla sundubu: Stir in ground perilla seeds for a nutty, silky finish.

Tips

• "Do not stir" is a statement about a gel, not about handling something fragile. Douhua explains the material in full: an acid gives you lumps and "a salt gives you a gel", and once it has set "a torn network does not rejoin". Sundubu is that gel with nothing pressed out of it, so every curd the spoon breaks is water let into the broth that cannot be taken back.
• Which puts it at the opposite end of one material from Mapo Tofu and Dubu-jorim. Mapo nudges the pan rather than stirring because its tofu is a block with the water pressed out; dubu-jorim presses harder still and browns a face onto it. Here there is no block to protect — the curd never left the state douhua sets it in, and the spoon is the only thing that can undo it.
• The ttukbaegi is equipment, not crockery. Heat control names this stew for it: unglazed earthenware is "slow to heat and slow to let go, which is why that stew is still boiling when it reaches the table". That stored heat is what the egg added last cooks on, so "leave it runny" is a description of where the pot will take it, not an instruction to stop early.
• Frying the gochugaru first is the fat-soluble rule, not a colour trick. Blooming spices has the aroma and the red pigment both dissolving in fat and not in water, so chilli stirred into the broth stays on the flakes while chilli given oil first spreads through everything the oil touches.
• Cook it in an earthenware pot (ttukbaegi) so it stays scalding hot and arrives still bubbling.
• Frying the gochugaru in oil first makes chili oil that deepens the color and flavor.
• Don't stir the tofu — spoon it in whole so the soft curds stay intact.
• Season with salted shrimp for a clean, savory depth.
• Add the egg last and leave it runny to soak into the rice.