[Yachae: vegetable, Gang: strong, intense, duenjang: Korean soybean paste, jjigae: stew]

Gangdeunjang-jjigae literally means strong or thick soybean stew. I think the more accurate description is that gangduenjang-jjigae is in-between a ssamjang (쌈장, soybean dipping sauce) and a regular duenjang-jjigae (된장찌개, soybean paste stew). Today, I made a vegan gangduenjang-jjigae with bausut dashima broth (버섯 다시마국물) and various vegetables. You can use any kinds of vegetables you like and vary the spiciness by adding less or more chili peppers. You can also use myulchi broth instead and add diced tofu, a canned tuna or minced beef if you want to add more protein. I served this yachae gangduenjang-jjigae with red leaf lettuce and kketyip (깻잎, perilla leaves) along with samgyupsal-guyi (삼겹살구이, grilled pork belly).

Related recipes: Chadolbagi-duenjang-jjigae (차돌박이 된장찌개): Soybean Paste Stew with Thinly Sliced Brisket, bausut dashima broth (버섯 다시마국물), Duenjang-jjigae (된장찌개): Soybean Paste Stew, myulchi broth (멸치육수), samgyupsal-guyi (삼겹살구이, grilled pork belly)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
• 1/3 zucchini, finely diced
• 3 shitake mushrooms, finely diced
• 2 green chili peppers, such as jalapeño, finely diced
• 2 red chili peppers, finely diced – optional
• 3 tablespoon of grated moo (무) or daikon – optional
• 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic
• 1 cup of busut dashima broth or myulchi broth
• 3 tablespoons of duenjang (된장, Korean soybean paste)
• 1/2 tablespoon of gochujang (고추장, Korean red pepper paste)
• 1/2 tablespoon of honey, maeshilchung (매실청, Korean apricot syrup) or agave syrup
• 1 scallion, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

1. Make busut dashima broth (버섯 다시마국물) or myulchi broth (멸치육수). (Click on the link to learn how to make these broths.)
2. In the meantime finely dice all the vegetables. I used the shitake mushrooms from the busut dashima broth.
3. Mix the duenjang (된장, Korean soybean paste), gochujang (고추장, Korean red pepper paste) and honey.
4. In a small pot or ttuckbaegi (뚝배기, Korean earthenware pot), add all the vegetables except for the scallions, 1 cup of broth and top it with the duenjang mixture.
5. Let it come to a boil and lower it to a simmer. Cook for about 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are fully cooked.
6. Add the scallions, drizzle about 1/2 tablespoon of sesame oil and garnish with toasted sesame seeds. Serve with rice and ssam (쌈), which are cooked or raw vegetable leaves. You can used fresh red leaf lettuce, kketyip (깻잎, perilla leaves) or cooked steamed cabbage leaves.