Sundubu-jjigae


Sundubu-jjigae or soft tofu stew is a jjigae in Korean cuisine. The dish is made with freshly curdled soft tofu, vegetables, sometimes mushrooms, onion, optional seafood, optional meat, and gochujang or gochu garu. 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.
Extra soft tofu, called sundubu in Korean, is softer than other types of tofu and is usually sold in tubes. Although sun in sundubu doesn't have Sino-Korean origin, sundubu is often translated into Chinese and Japanese using the Chinese character, whose Korean pronunciation is sun and the meaning is "pure". Thus in China, sundubu is called chún dòufu, and in Japan, it is called jun tōfu or sundubu.

History

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.

Overseas

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 Vermont Avenue, Koreatown. It has eventually explored back to South Korea due to its popularity.