Soon Dubu Jigae

Today we're having lunch at the House of Tofu. So I'm expecting everything tofu to come my way. Mr Stomach is wondering what's up with this spate of healthy food of late. First it's the sushi rice thingy, now tofu beancurd. Heck, I dunno. Maybe the fact that I've been having a hard time seeing my toes has something to do with it.

Anyway, I finally settled on soon dubu jigae (순두부찌게). That's soft beancurd stew.



Sorry for the crummy photos. Again, snapping without the flash isn't a good idea when indoors. But I hate to use flash as it's a nuisance to others. So bear with the yellow tinge. No not me, the photos.



Lots of side dishes here. The soon dubu jigae is that bubbly pot with the sunny side up at the bottom of the pic. We'll come to that later. As always, let's go through the side dishes first.



This is the soon dubu, or soft beancurd. This is the exact same thing that is used in the soon dubu jigae, except here it's served plain as a side dish along with the soya sauce mixed with sesame seeds (top left corner of the pic).

It jiggles to the shake and is silky smooth and soft. It's texture and taste is exactly the same as what the Chinese would call to-fu-far. To-fu-far is actually served as a desert sweetened with syrup or mix in with soya bean milk. But I digress. Here in Korea it's served at room temperature as an appetiser with salty soya sauce. Interesting.



Next is glass noodles sauteed with soya sauce, with some shredded carrots, green vege (I forget what it is), fungus mushroom and sesame seeds thrown in. A nice savoury side dish but would be better if served warm.



This is beancurd with a firmer and compact texture. It's sliced from a bigger block into little squares. Served with soya sauce mixed with chili powder, chili oil and spring onions. The plain and clear taste of the tofu goes well with the spicy salty sauce.



This is mini haemul pajeon, or seafood pancake. This little nugget holds diced octopus, spring onions and diced carrots. It's a savoury pancake and tastes nice, BUT is not fresh. This must have been prepared early in the morning and left in the cold for waaaay too long. By the time it reached the table, it's all hard and dry.



Now this is the main course. Soon dubu jigae. KRW5,000.

What you have here is a potful of the soon dubu (soft beancurd), 4 clams (yes I counted!) and a spoonful of chili paste (gochujang) in seafood stock. Topped with spring onions, sliced fresh green chili and break an egg on top.



I like soon dubu jigae. The plain soon dubu blends well with the spicy and robust seafood stock. Some places even add dried shrimps into the stew for added flavour. (sidenote : dried shrimps gives off a different flavour to fresh shrimps and is usually used as a flavour enhancer)

However, I am somewhat disappointed with the soon dubu jigae here. The stock is flat, there's too much soon dubu leaving little room for the soup to balance the bland soon dubu, and it's not spicy enough. It's unlikely that I'll be back here anytime soon. Thumbs down.

Sorry for the anti-climax. :o)