Ground Soybean Stew (콩비지 찌개, KongBiJi JjiGae) | Aeri's Kitchen

Steps

1. 1Prepare ½ cup of dried soybeans, which are called MeJuKong (메주콩) in Korean. Wash the soybeans several times in cold water.
2. 2Soak the soybeans in water overnight. So if you are planning to make this stew, make sure that you plan the soaking time into your schedule, which will be at least 8 hours.
3. 3The next day, drain out the water. My soybeans rehydrated very well.
4. 4Add the soybeans and 1 cup of water into a blender. Grind them for about 30 seconds to a minute, depending on the power of your blender.
5. 5If the soybeans turns into a soft puree like this, they are good to go. You will get about 1½ cups. You can also use this as a batter (instead of flour) for Korean pancakes, to make gluten-free Jeon.
6. 6Chop ½ cup worth of pork into small pieces. Cut of pork works fine, you can even use ground pork. Also, other kinds of meats like beef, turkey, chicken, and seafood are good.
7. 7We also need to chop 1 cup of old, sour kimchi into bite-sized pieces. The older the kimchi is, the deeper the flavor will be. Also set aside about ⅓ cup of kimchi juice from your jar of kimchi.
8. 8In a heated pot, add the meat and season it with 1 tsp of sesame oil, 2 pinches of salt, and 1 pinch of black pepper. Fry it for about 3 minutes on high.
9. 9After 3 minutes, add the kimchi and fry for another 3 minutes on high.
10. 10After another 3 minutes, pour 1 generous cup of water and all the ground soybeans into the pot.
11. 11Add the seasoning ingredients: 2 tsp of hot pepper powder, 1 tsp soup soy sauce, 1 tsp fish sauce, 1 tsp minced garlic, and ⅛ tsp minced ginger. Mix it all together.
12. 12Once the stew starts to boil, cook it covered for about 12 minutes on medium. The ground soybeans can easily splash all over the places, so you have to cover it.
13. 13Meanwhile, chop ⅓ cup worth of green onions and 1 Tbsp of hot pepper. The hot pepper is mostly just for a garnishment, so you can skip it.
14. 14When the stew is almost done cooking, taste it and add about ½ tsp of salted shrimp (only the shrimp – none of the brine) to add an extra savory flavor.
15. 15Finally add the green onions and red hot pepper and cook 1 more minute on medium-high. If you want more broth in your stew at this point, add some more water.