Alternative names | Soft tofu stew |
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Type | Jjigae |
Place of origin | Korea |
Main ingredients | Sundubu (extra soft tofu) |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 순두부찌개 |
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Hanja | -豆腐-- |
Revised Romanization | sundubu-jjigae |
McCune–Reischauer | sundubu-tchigae |
IPA | [sun.du.bu.t͈ɕi.ɡɛ̝] |
Sundubu-jjigae (순두부찌개) or soft tofu stew is a jjigae (Korean stew) in Korean cuisine. The dish is made with freshly curdled soft tofu (which has not been strained and pressed), vegetables, sometimes mushrooms, onion, optional seafood (commonly oysters, mussels, clams and shrimp), optional meat (commonly beef or pork), and gochujang (chili paste) or gochu garu (chili powder). The dish is assembled and cooked directly in the serving vessel, which is traditionally made of thick, robust porcelain, but can also be ground out of solid stone. A raw egg can be put in the jjigae just before serving, and the dish is delivered while bubbling vigorously. It is typically eaten with a bowl of cooked white rice and several banchan (side dishes).
The origins of using unpressed tofu in Korean cuisine is not well documented, but records from the Joseon dynasty archives show an early form of sundubu jjigae being served. Some historians assume that unpressed tofu use spread to the masses during the Joseon dynasty.
In the 1990s, Korean immigrants in Los Angeles brought sundubu jjigae to the United States. Hee Sook Lee, a first-generation Korean immigrant, opened the first sundubu restaurant in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles.