Jangjorim is a soy sauce braised beef Korean side-dish. It’s one of the most popular banchans (side dishes) and is perfect for an easy but delicious weeknight meal or lunch box. My mom used to pack a large tupperware of jangjorim for me in college so I could have something to eat for several days and not have to eat out so often! I also remember stopping by a tiny Korean store that sold banchan when I first moved out of on my own after college. I would mix the beef pieces into a warm bowl of rice, butter and kimchi. Yum.
What is jangjorim?
Jangjorim is a soy sauce braised beef Korean banchan. The beef used is often eye of round steak, beef brisket or shank. I’ve also used meats that are cut for pot roast and that has worked well. The beef is first boiled with a mixture of vegetables like Korean radish, scallion, garlic and more to make a beef stock. The beef stock is then used to make the sauce with soy sauce and the beef is further simmered to make the meat pieces tender but still slightly chewy.
Additional ingredients like hard boiled eggs and peppers are added. The eggs are delicious when braised and the peppers add the perfect kick to a salty dish.
How to enjoy jangjorim?
Tear the beef chunks into strips and pieces. Plate the beef strips onto a plate with a hard boiled egg and some braised peppers. Spoon the sauce over the plate. Enjoy with a bowl of rice and kimchi!
I like to spoon some sauce over the rice. Soy sauce, butter and rice is also a classic simple dish that is enjoyed in Korea, particularly for young kids or poor college students. It’s actually delicious and using jangjorim and the sauce is an upgraded version! Add a small piece of butter in the rice bowl and a spoon of the jangjorim soy sauce. Mix it around and take a bite with some kimchi! Add a egg and it couldn’t be better! DrJuh has enjoyed the last few days of jangjorim with butter and eggs.
Storing jangjorim
Store in a airtight container for a few days in the fridge. You can enjoy cold, with a bit chewy texture from the meat or leave out in room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving. It can also be microwaved for about 15-30 seconds. DrJuh prefers it at room temperature and no microwave.
Jangjorim (Soy Sauce Braised Beef)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs (700 g) beef brisket or eye of round steak
- 6 cups (1.4 L) water
- 7 ounce (200 g) Korean radish
- 2 white part of scallion
- 7 garlic cloves
- ½ medium onion
- ½ tsp black peppercorns whole black pepper
- 4 hard boiled eggs
- 8 spicy peppers shishito or serrano peppers work well here
Sauce
- 5 ½ Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 ½ Tbsp soup soy sauce 국간장
Instructions
- Soak the beef in cold water for 2+ hours to drain out the redness (blood). Change the water 2 or 3 times.
- Parboil. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add in the beef pieces and simmer for about 5 minutes. Drain the water and clean the pot.
- In a pot, add in 6 cups of water. Place in the radish, white part of scallion, garlic cloves, onion and black peppercorn. Bring the pot to a boil. Add the beef pieces back into the pot. Continue to simmer on medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and drain the stock broth (must save!). Discard all of the vegetable ingredients except the radish! Add 2 ½ cups (600 mof the beef broth back into the pot. Add in the soy sauce and soup sauce. Continue to add the beef and radish back in. On high heat, bring the pot to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer on medium-low. Continue to simmer for 15 minutes with the pot covered.
- Add the hard boiled eggs and spicy peppers. Turn the eggs over a few times so the egg gets fully simmered in the sauce. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until tender.
- Serve. Tear the meat into strips. Place on to a bowl, pour some sauce over the meat. Plate some peppers and an egg. Enjoy!
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