Doenjang’s thick and chunky makeover: Gangdoenjang

Doenjang jjigae, Korean soybean paste stew, is Koreans’ favourite hearty consolation meals. The wealthy style of fermented soybean paste goes effectively with a humble bowl of rice. Doenjang jjigae recipes vary from these with assorted seafood to chadolbagi, or skinny brisket slices.

A long time in the past, doenjang jjigae specialty eating places have been a standard sight on avenue corners. They provided conventional doenjang jjigae, cheonggukjang and gangdoenjang, also called ggangjang. The three dishes are all primarily based on fermented soybeans, however differ of their cooking course of. 

To make doenjang, boiled recent soybeans are fermented for lower than per week. The lumps are then crushed to mix with brine, and rested once more in a crock for a minimum of 50 days or extra. The brine progressively turns into soy sauce, and the remaining finally turns into doenjang.

To make ggangjang, meat or seafood broth is added to doenjang, including taste and dietary worth to the dish. It is usually richer in texture and chunkier on the entire.

Cheonggukjang differs from doenjang in its fermentation interval. Cheonggukjang is fermented for 2 days on common, not like doenjang, which is fermented for a for much longer interval. If you wish to have much less sodium in your meal, cheonggukjang might be a greater choice, though its distinctive pungent aroma may have some getting used to.

Doenjang is comparatively tough to make at dwelling, given the appreciable period of time and persistence required. Specialty eating places across the metropolis middle cater to workplace employees who want one thing fast and hearty, particularly throughout their rushed lunch hour.

Listed here are three ggangjang eating places in Seoul that you simply would possibly wish to attempt. 

Todam restaurant

Todam restaurant is a three-minute stroll from Anam Station close to Korea College in northern Seoul. For six,500 received, diners have the choice of ggangjang or doenjang jjigae served with six sorts of banchan, or facet dishes.

Served on the desk in an earthenware pot and stored heat on a range, ggangjang at Todam is on the candy facet as a result of presence of cabbage.

“Aside from cabbages, I solely add onions, mushrooms and tofu. Over the past 30 years, we now have experimented with a lot of completely different substances in our ggangjang, however our longtime prospects love right this moment‘s easy model essentially the most.” Search engine marketing Quickly-hee, proprietor of the restaurant, informed The Korea Herald.

Watch out to not depart the range on for too lengthy, since ggangjang can get very salty because the liquid evaporates.

The restaurant additionally has kimchi jjigae and bulgogi hotpot on the menu.

Positioned close to Seolleung Station, simply 500 meters from the royal tombs of Seolleung and Jeongneung is Ggangjang Sigolboribap, a 28-year-old restaurant that at the moment has 5 chain areas in Seoul.

The place is legendary for utilizing one hundred pc Korean soybeans in making their doenjang, ggangjang and cheongukjang. An enormous bowl of recent seasonal greens is served along with boribap, boiled barley rice, recognized to assist digestion, together with banchan.

A traditional method to eat the dish is to place boribap into the vegetable bowl, add as a lot ggangjang as you want, and blend them up such as you would bibimbap. Ggangjang right here could be very thick in texture and in addition has a fiery kick, because it accommodates sliced recent inexperienced peppers.

Ggangjang is priced at 9,000 received and cheonggukjang at 10,000 received. Varied sorts of jeon are additionally on the menu. For the reason that restaurant is situated within the basement of a giant workplace constructing in Seolleung, weekday lunch hours are extraordinarily busy. 

Solmorang Ggangjangjip is situated close to Gwanghwamun Station, and is a five-minute stroll from Jogyesa Temple. It opened in 1986 on the identical location and at the moment operates two franchises in central Seoul.

Alongside the hallway that results in the second and third ground of the restaurant, photographs of its signature ggangjang dish being proven on TV applications in its early days are on show.

Ggangjang and beef chadolbagi doenjang are priced at 8,000 received. Black beans, bean sprouts, mulgimchi (kimchi pickled in chilly water), and spicy purple kimchi are served with the primary dish.

“Widespread eating places close to Gwanghwamun struggled to keep up enterprise amid the pandemic, however we stayed comparatively secure because of prospects who remembered ggangjang being a wholesome meal and continued to go to,” a supervisor serving at Solmorang Ggangjangjip stated with delight.

Ggangjang on the restaurant is comparatively tender in texture and gentle in style.

A roll of gyeranmari, or rolled omelet, with chopped vegetable fillings might be ordered for 8,000 received.