Spicy spam sundubu jjigae made by Korean actor turned celebrity recipe maker, Ryu Soo Young. A easy spicy recipe ready in 30 minutes and pairs perfectly with a bowl of rice.
This is another “Pyun-staurant” recipe by Ryu Soo Young, a popular Korean actor who has shown off his cooking skills and has many of the winning recipes.
This recipe is yummy but as a caveat, our family didn’t really think this recipe tasted like soft tofu stew or in Korean, sundubu jjigae. It had a lot stronger, saltier and more thick consistency than the Korean tofu stews we find in most Korean restaurants. It reminded us much more of a “jjageuli”, which refers to Korean stews that are reduced even more with potato which makes the soup starchy and thicker – similar to this recipe https://www.chopsticksandflour.com/korean-potato-and-spam-stew-gamja-jjageuli-baek-jong-won/ except this current recipe doesn’t include potato.
As I was trying out this recipe, I noticed that the sauce ingredients seemed like a lot – a larger amount of soy sauce and oyster sauce compared to other recipes I’ve seen. It’s still an easy weekday delicious spicy dinner to make so I’d recommend it! Though instead of eating it like regular soup, I’d think of it more between a stew and a spicy curry that can be eaten with a big spoonful of rice. Dr.Juh scooped some of the saucy stew on top of the rice and enjoyed it. He also made the comment that this was definitely thicker than a stew and he would not eat it spoonfuls of the broth without a big heap of rice. It was still delicious!
Sundubu; silken tofu
Sundubu (or soondubu), or silken tofu has higher water content than firm tofu and is extra soft and silky in texture. It’s the main ingredient in this dish and a perfect addition to any delicious stew. It can be found either in the usual rectangular tofu packages or also in large round tubes.
A few tips:
- When you take the spam out of the can, run the spam under hot water for a few seconds. It helps to remove the meaty odor.
- When stirfrying the gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes), you are essentially make gochu gireum (or red pepper oi), as the base of the sauce. Be careful not to burn the gochugaru to avoid it becoming bitter. Lower heat or even turn off, when you first add the gochugaru and bring up the heat after well mixed.
Enjoy with a big bowl of rice!
Spam Sundubu Jjigae (Korean Soft Tofu Stew) - Ryu Soo Young
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- ½ package silken tofu
- ½ can spam (180 g )
- 1 spicy pepper chopped serrano, jalapeno or spicy pepper of choice
- 2 scallion chopped
- ½ onion ½ inch slices
- ⅓ zucchini ½ inch thick bite size pieces
Soup Ingredients
- 300 ml water (1 ¼ cup)
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 3 Tbsp gochugaru Korean red pepper flakes
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
- ½ Tbsp sugar
- Heaping of black pepper
Instructions
- Run the spam under hot water for a few seconds to clean off the spam. Slice half of the spam into thin slices. For the other half, take the flat side of a knife and smash the spam into small chunks. This helps to bring out the flavor of the spam.
- Preheat a pot on medium heat with 2 Tbsp oil. Saute the smashed spam until lightly browned. More oil will form from the spam.
- Lower the heat a bit and add the minced garlic and continue to saute until toasted and becomes fragrant. Make sure the garlic does not burn. Add the chopped scallions and pepper. Continue to saute until lightly the scallions are lightly browned.
- Add the sugar and saute.
- Move all the ingredients to the side. Add the soy sauce to empty side of the pan. Let it slightly bubble and simmer and then mix in with the other ingredients. Pre-simmering the soy sauce for a few seconds will bring out a deeper flavor from the soy sauce.
- Add in the oyster sauce and mix well.
- Add the water and mix well with the sauce. Break up any clumps. Once the soup begins to simmer, add the onion and zucchini. Close the lid and cook on medium-low to medium heat for about 5 minutes until the onions are soft. Add the tofu. Spoon the spicy broth over all of the tofu. The water may not seem like enough at first but the tofu will bring out more water into the soup.
- Finally, add in the sliced spam. Spoon the broth over the spam. Add the pepper to taste. Ryu soo young mentions to twist a pepper grinder 20 times for the right amount.
- Serve with a bowl of rice.
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