You know the day. Something at work went sideways, the weather turned, and by the time you get home you don’t want to cook so much as you want to be fed. Every food culture has an answer for that evening. In Korea a lot of people reach for sundubu jjigae — a small clay pot that arrives at the table still boiling, with tofu so soft it barely holds its shape and a broth the color of brick.
This sundubu jjigae recipe takes about 25 minutes and needs one pot. Fair warning before you start: it lands around a 3 out of 5 on heat, and you can dial that down without wrecking it. I’ll show you where.
Quick Facts
| Total time | 25 minutes |
| Serves | 2 |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Spice level | 3 of 5 (drop the gochugaru to 1 tbsp for a 2) |
| Vegan? | Yes — full swap list below |
What Is Sundubu Jjigae?
Sundubu jjigae (순두부찌개, roughly soon-doo-boo jji-gae) is a stew built on sundubu: uncurdled, extra-soft tofu that hasn’t been pressed into a block. It’s sold in plastic tubes, and it has the texture of very loose custard. Drop it into a red, chili-oil broth with pork or seafood, crack an egg on top, and eat it with a bowl of rice on the side.
The word jjigae means stew — thicker and saltier than a soup, meant to be shared from the center of the table rather than served in individual bowls. Sundubu jjigae is one of the most ordered lunches in Korea, and Gangneung on the east coast is known for a gentler, snow-white version made without chili at all.
Fans of Itaewon Class will recognize the dish. The stew runs through the whole series as the recipe the main character inherits from his father and slowly makes his own as his little bar finds its feet. Which is about right for what this food is — sundubu jjigae is not a celebration dish. It’s the pot you make when you need to keep going.
Ingredients
| Ingredient (for 2) | Where to get it, or what to use instead |
|---|---|
| Sundubu, 350–400 g / 12–14 oz | Refrigerated tofu section of any Korean or Chinese grocery, in a tube. Silken tofu in a box is the everyday substitute — it’s a touch firmer and holds its edges more, but it eats almost the same. Do not use soft block tofu; it’s a different texture entirely. |
| Pork belly or shoulder, 100 g / 3 1/2 oz | Sliced thin. Swap in 150 g of mixed frozen seafood, thin-sliced beef, or 100 g of sliced shiitake. Mushrooms give you savor but no fat, so add an extra teaspoon of oil. |
| Gochugaru, 2 tbsp | Korean coarse chili flakes. Closest pantry stand-in: 1 tbsp sweet paprika plus 1 tsp cayenne — right color, right heat, but gochugaru has a slightly fruity, sun-dried quality that paprika can’t reproduce. Never use standard chili powder blends; the cumin in them will take the pot somewhere else. |
| Anchovy-kelp stock, 500 ml / 2 cups | Made by simmering dried anchovies and kelp for 10 minutes. No anchovies? Water plus 1 tsp instant dashi is the fastest honest swap. Or simmer a 5 cm / 2 in square of dried kelp in water for 10 minutes and add 1 tsp soy sauce — cleaner, less oceanic. Plain water works in a pinch; the stew comes out noticeably flatter. |
| Fish sauce, 1 tsp | Southeast Asian fish sauce is fine. Or 1/2 tsp anchovy paste. For a vegan pot: 1 tsp soy sauce plus a pinch of salt. |
| Kimchi, 3 tbsp | Optional but worth it if you have older, sour kimchi. Without it, add 1 tsp rice vinegar and 1 extra tsp gochugaru — you get the acidity, not the fermented depth. |
| Garlic, onion, scallions, egg | Standard supermarket. |
| Soy sauce, toasted sesame oil | Any Korean or Japanese brand. |
A note on the pot. Restaurants use a ttukbaegi, a small unglazed earthenware bowl that holds heat so well the stew is still boiling three minutes after it hits the table. A 1-liter saucepan or a small cast-iron pot does the job. You’ll just lose the theater and it’ll cool faster.
Sundubu Jjigae Recipe (Korean Soft Tofu Stew)
Ingredients
Method
- Heat 1 tbsp neutral oil in a small heavy pot over medium heat and cook the sliced pork until the edges brown, about 3 minutes.
- Turn the heat to low, add the gochugaru and minced garlic, and stir constantly for 30 to 45 seconds until the oil turns deep red and smells toasty. Do not let it darken past that or it will taste burnt.
- Add the onion and chopped kimchi and cook 2 minutes, until the onion softens.
- Pour in 500 ml / 2 cups stock, raise the heat, and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes.
- Open the tube of sundubu and squeeze it into the pot in large pieces. Do not stir hard — nudge the curds apart with a spoon so they stay in soft clouds.
- Simmer 4 to 5 minutes, until the tofu is heated through and the broth is bubbling at the edges.
- Season with 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tsp fish sauce. Taste and adjust with salt.
- Crack the egg into the center, kill the heat, and let it sit 60 seconds so the white just sets. Scatter scallions and finish with 1 tsp toasted sesame oil. Serve straight from the pot with hot rice.
How to Make It
- Brown the pork. One tablespoon of neutral oil in a small heavy pot over medium heat. Add the sliced pork and cook about 3 minutes, until the edges are browned and some fat has rendered out. That fat is what carries the chili flavor, so don’t rush this.
- Bloom the gochugaru. Turn the heat to low first — this matters. Add the 2 tablespoons of gochugaru and the minced garlic and stir constantly for 30 to 45 seconds. The oil will go deep, glossy red and start smelling toasted. Pull it off the moment that happens. Gochugaru scorches in seconds and burnt chili is bitter in a way nothing fixes.
- Add onion and kimchi. Two minutes over medium heat, until the onion turns translucent and the kimchi loses its raw crunch.
- Pour in the stock and boil. All 500 ml / 2 cups. Bring it up hard, then let it simmer 5 minutes so the broth pulls flavor from the pork and kimchi.
- Add the tofu in big pieces. Cut the corner off the tube and squeeze it into the pot, then break it into four or five rough chunks with a spoon. Resist stirring. The whole appeal of sundubu is those soft, ragged clouds, and a vigorous stir turns them into cloudy sludge.
- Simmer 4 to 5 minutes, until the tofu is hot through and the surface is bubbling steadily around the rim.
- Season at the end, not the beginning. One tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce. Taste. Kimchi and stock both bring salt, so how much more you need varies every time.
- Egg, scallions, sesame oil. Crack the egg into the middle, turn off the heat, and give it 60 seconds under residual heat — the white sets, the yolk stays liquid. Scatter scallions, drizzle the teaspoon of toasted sesame oil, and bring the pot to the table. Rice on the side, not underneath.
The Vegan Version
This one converts cleanly, which isn’t true of every Korean stew.
Skip the pork and use 100 g of sliced shiitake or king oyster mushrooms, browned in 2 tablespoons of oil instead of 1. Build the stock from dried kelp only: a 5 cm / 2 in piece plus 2 dried shiitake simmered in 500 ml of water for 15 minutes, then removed. Replace the fish sauce with 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of white miso stirred in at the end. Check your kimchi label — most commercial kimchi contains fish sauce or salted shrimp, so use a vegan brand or leave it out and add the vinegar swap.
The result is lighter and a little sweeter than the pork version. It’s genuinely good, not a consolation prize.
Tips and Storage
Low heat before the chili goes in. If I could put one rule in bold, it’s this. Nine out of ten bitter sundubu pots come from gochugaru hitting oil that was too hot.
Don’t over-salt early. The broth reduces while the tofu heats, and kimchi keeps releasing brine. Season in the last two minutes.
Watery stew? Usually too much tofu liquid. Tip the tube’s water out before squeezing the curds in, and give it two extra minutes at a real simmer.
Leftovers keep 2 days covered in the fridge. Reheat gently on the stove — the tofu breaks down under a microwave’s uneven blast and turns grainy. Don’t freeze it; sundubu comes back spongy. The stew is better the next day anyway, once the chili has settled into the broth.
FAQ
Can I make sundubu jjigae without gochugaru?
You can, but plan for a different dish. One tablespoon of sweet paprika plus a teaspoon of cayenne gets you close on color and heat. Or lean into it and make the white version from Gangneung: skip the chili entirely, use kelp stock, and season with salt and a splash of soup soy sauce. It’s a real regional style, not a compromise.
What’s the difference between sundubu and regular tofu?
Sundubu is tofu that was never pressed — the curds are left loose and wet, so it’s closer to custard than to a block. Regular firm or medium tofu has had the water squeezed out of it and holds its shape. Silken tofu is the substitute that gets you closest.
Do I have to add the egg?
No. It’s traditional and it makes the broth rounder, but plenty of restaurant versions skip it. If you do add one, take the pot off the heat first — a boiling stew scrambles the egg into threads instead of poaching it.
Related Recipes and Where to Eat It in Korea
If you liked the chili-oil-and-fermentation base here, kimchi jjigae is the same logic with sour kimchi doing the heavy lifting. Gochugaru, fish sauce, and dried kelp all appear in our Korean pantry starter kit, which is worth reading before your first Korean grocery run. And for another dish that people found through a screen, there’s the ram-don from Parasite.
In Korea, sundubu jjigae is everyday lunch food — you’ll find it at nearly any baekban restaurant, usually for ₩9,000–12,000 (about $7–9 as of 2026), with rice and a few side dishes included. If you’re heading over and haven’t done it before, our sister site’s guide to ordering food in Korea covers the phrases and the table etiquette, including what to do with all those little dishes that arrive unasked.
Sundubu Jjigae Recipe (Korean Soft Tofu Stew)
Ingredients
Method
- Heat 1 tbsp neutral oil in a small heavy pot over medium heat and cook the sliced pork until the edges brown, about 3 minutes.
- Turn the heat to low, add the gochugaru and minced garlic, and stir constantly for 30 to 45 seconds until the oil turns deep red and smells toasty. Do not let it darken past that or it will taste burnt.
- Add the onion and chopped kimchi and cook 2 minutes, until the onion softens.
- Pour in 500 ml / 2 cups stock, raise the heat, and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes.
- Open the tube of sundubu and squeeze it into the pot in large pieces. Do not stir hard — nudge the curds apart with a spoon so they stay in soft clouds.
- Simmer 4 to 5 minutes, until the tofu is heated through and the broth is bubbling at the edges.
- Season with 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tsp fish sauce. Taste and adjust with salt.
- Crack the egg into the center, kill the heat, and let it sit 60 seconds so the white just sets. Scatter scallions and finish with 1 tsp toasted sesame oil. Serve straight from the pot with hot rice.