Ground soybean stew with pork

This stew is a by-product of the tofu-making process, using up the leftover soy pulp. It has a very nutty flavour and can be eaten as a meal by itself or served with rice. I suggest using pork shoulder for this dish, but you can also use belly.

Ground soybean stew with pork. Credit: Armelle Habib / Hardie Grant Books

• serves

  2

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 200 g (7 oz) pork shoulder, trimmed and finely chopped
• 200 g (7 oz) cabbage kimchi, aged for 1–2 months, chopped
• 1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean red chilli powder)
• 750 ml (25½ fl oz/3 cups) anchovy & kelp broth (see Note)
• 1 tbsp salted shrimp
• ¼ onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 300 g (10½ oz) soy pulp from making tofu
• 1 spring onion (scallion), trimmed and sliced diagonally
• 1 hot green chilli, destemmed and sliced diagonally
• 1 tbsp traditional Korean soup soy sauce (see Note)

Instructions

1. Heat the vegetable and sesame oils in a saucepan over a high heat and brown the pork.
2. Add the kimchi and gochugaru and stir-fry for another 3 minutes. Add the anchovy and kelp broth and bring to the boil.
3. Once boiling, add the salted shrimp, onion and garlic and boil over a high heat for 3 minutes.
4. Add the prepared soy pulp, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Add the spring onion, green chilli and soup soy sauce and cook for another minute.
6. The stew is best served with steamed rice, but you can also enjoy it as a healthy, low-calorie meal without the rice.

Note

• Chosun ganjang roughly translates into soup soy sauce and is a fundamental condiment in various Korean soup dishes. What sets it apart is its distinctive fishy, umami-rich flavour, coupled with its light colour. You can find chosun ganjang at Koeran and Asian grocers.
• To make anchovy and kelp broth, place a 5 × 5 cm (2 × 2 in) piece of dried kelp and 15 g (½ oz/½ cup) dried anchovies in a saucepan with 2 litres (68 fl oz / 8 cups) water and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove the solids. This makes about 2 litres – store broth in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The broth can be used in a wide range of dishes.

This is an edited extract from Chae: Korean Slow Food for a Better Life by Jung Eun Chae (Hardie Grant Books, HB$60). Photography by Armelle Habib.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.