Comments on: Kongbiji Jjigae (Ground Soybean Stew)

By: Alice

Alice — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 19:38:14 +0000

Je l’ai fais hier mais sans viande car je suis végétarienne, c’étais tellement délicieux et réconfortant ! J’ai adoré !

By: Jong Rho

Jong Rho — Sun, 07 Nov 2021 01:41:24 +0000

My Mom used to make this in the wintertime, but instead of cabbage kimchi, she used young radish kimchi (cheonggak-kimchi), especially the leaves, that was starting to get…ripe. She reserved the overripe cabbage kimchi to make either kimchi-chigae (which I still don’t eat) or beandeduk (which I love and make regularly). And instead of small pork ribs she used the cheaper pork with bone pieces like neck bones. I remember it was somewhat difficult to get to the meat with those bones.
When I got older and moved out, I started making this myself but using my Mom’s recipe, it took quite a while so I only made it once a year, in a big batch, and froze most of it in individual 2-cup plastic containers with twist caps. However nearly two decades ago in Manhattan, they opened a country-style Korean restaurant where they served biji using ground meats and I thought that was an excellent idea. It also solved the problem of trying to fit bones in those small plastic containers.
With the pandemic, I’ve started cooking a lot more frequently at home especially as I have not stepped foot in a restaurant, Korean of otherwise, in a year and a half. When my overpriced Kitchenaid food processor stopped working, I decided to try a Ninja blender. I gotta say that the the multiple levels of blades in the Ninja make the job of pureeing the soybeans (and mungbeans for beandeduk) much easier and faster. Of course you have to be extra careful when washing the blades.
I have tried other ground meats as well – chicken, beef and now bison – and I use low sodium chicken stock instead of water. I tend to make the biji a lot less salty than most recipes but then my Mom used to make a table sauce to spread on it from soy sauce, vinegar, rice wine, some gochukaru and lots of minced scallions, so I do that as well.

By: Hyosun

Hyosun — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 01:16:18 +0000

In reply to Sunny. I just use my electric blender. Hope you try it.

By: Sunny

Sunny — Sun, 07 Mar 2021 17:55:06 +0000

This is a favorite dish of mine! Can you tell me what you use to grind the soaked soybeans? Much thanks! 😋

By: Min

Min — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 04:08:12 +0000

5 stars!

By: Min

Min — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 04:07:06 +0000

Thank you so much for this recipe! I remember this as perfect comfort food from my childhood.

One question I had… 6-7 cups of liquid (total) seems like a lot for one dry cup of soybeans… Is that right? I made this last time and it didn’t look as chunky as your does in the picture.

I’m figuring 3 cups broth (reduced) + 2.5 cups blended + 0.5 cup kimchi juice.

Thank you again for all you do!

By: YH

YH — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 20:54:23 +0000

Do you know what adjustments I would need to make for the instant pot?

By: Hyosun

Hyosun — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 04:39:50 +0000

In reply to ju hyun. Of course. Use chicken stock as well to add some depth of flavors. I'd cube it since you will be adding raw chicken to the stew. Enjoy!

By: ju hyun

ju hyun — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 00:55:49 +0000

Hi Hyosun,
Would it be possible to substitute chicken if you don’t eat pork or beef? If so, would you shred it or cube?

By: Hyosun

Hyosun — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 02:23:13 +0000

In reply to Gisela. Awesome! I like your modification. Sounds really good. You must be a good cook! Hope your songpyeon turns out well too. Happy Chuseok!