Recipe: Gochujang jjigae

Regular readers will know that have a huge weakness for Korean food, so I thought it was time to start making it at home. Gochujang is the delicious fermented soy and chilli paste that appears in many Korean stews and BBQ dishes. This is my take on a traditional Korean stew, sweet and spicy it's not for the feint hearted but I personally will be making this a regular rotation in home cooked meals from now on.

Gochujang jjigae

1 onion
1 capsicum
1 carrot
2 cloves garlic
1 cup potato or sweet potato
3 tablespoons gochujang
1 cup water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 packet firm silken tofu
oil for frying

Method

• Prepare your vegetables; Dice the onion, julienne the carrot and capsicum, crush the garlic and cut the potato into cubes. 
• Heat a pan with a small pool of your favourite vegetable oil. 
• Stir fry the onions, then the capsicum. When the peppers are soft add the carrot and the garlic and stir fry until the garlic is soft. 
• Add the gochujang and stir fry to coat the vegetables. Add the water and stir so that the chilli paste forms a sauce. 
• Add the tomato paste and the sugar, stir until well integrated into the sauce. Taste at this point to balance the flavour, add more sugar or chilli to taste. 
• Add the potato and cover the stew, boil until the potato is soft. 
• Dice the tofu and add to the stew, cook for a further two minutes and then take off the heat. 
• Let the stew rest for 2 minutes and serve with rice and your favourite pickles. Serves 4.
• Great for vegans and vegetarians but for a meaty twist add diced fish cake in with the potatoes.