Name: Doenjang-Sulbap - A Survival Recipe for Someone Who Can't Cook
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 to 3 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: Usamgyeop (thinly sliced beef brisket) — 300g; Doenjang (Korean soybean paste) — 2 tablespoons; Gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) — 2 tablespoons; Gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) — 1 tablespoon; Daepa (green onion) — 1 stalk, sliced; Oyster sauce — 1 tablespoon; Dubu (tofu) — 1/2 block, cubed; Water — about 2 cups; Hetbahn (instant microwaveable rice) or cooked rice; Optional vegetables (zucchini, onion); Korean broth pack — optional

I'm terrible at cooking. Whether I have ingredients or not, I just throw things in without really following any order. The result? I couldn't make anything edible, so I gave up on cooking altogether. These days, famous chefs share their know-how on their YouTube channels and TV shows. I never thought about trying their recipes, but recently I've started following them little by little. This recipe is based on Korean chef Jung Ho-young's and Korean cooking YouTuber (though his main job is being a singer….) Sung Si-kyung's recipes. It's pretty good, and I make it often. Once I make it, it lasts about 2-3 days.

Ingredients

- Usamgyeop (thinly sliced beef brisket) 300g - Doenjang (soybean paste) 2 tbsp - Gochujang (red pepper paste) 2 tbsp - Gochugaru (red pepper flakes) 1 tbsp - Daepa (green onion) 1 stalk - Oyster sauce 1 tbsp - Dubu (tofu) 1/2 block - Water about 2 cups - Hetbahn (instant rice) or rice - Vegetables to taste (hobak/zucchini, onions, etc.) - Broth pack (optional)

How to Make

First, stir-fry the usamgyeop in a pan.

Thinly sliced usamgyeop beef brisket stir-frying in a pan for doenjang sulbap

After rendering enough fat from the usamgyeop, add the sliced daepa and stir-fry together. (They say frying the green onion in oil brings out its aroma, but I honestly don't know what the difference is from adding it later.)

Sliced daepa green onion stir-frying with beef to release aroma

After stir-frying well, add about 2 cups of hot water, then add 2 tbsp doenjang, 2 tbsp gochujang, and 1 tbsp gochugaru and bring to a boil.

Doenjang, gochujang, and gochugaru simmering with beef broth in a pot

Add a broth pack to make the broth richer. If you don't have one, you can skip it.

Korean broth pack added to the simmering doenjang soup for extra depth

Cut the dubu into appropriate sizes and boil together.

Cubed dubu tofu boiling in the Korean doenjang stew

Taste occasionally and add more water or reduce it, then serve over hetbahn and enjoy.

Finished doenjang sulbap rice bowl served hot with beef and tofu

Close-up of Korean doenjang sulbap showing rich broth over instant rice

Tip

If you need the exact recipe, search for Doenjang-Sulbap on YouTube. It's typical of someone who can't cook… I ignored measurements and just followed the order. The photos are basically my "tastes-good" benchmark…. You can add hobak, onions, etc. according to your preference, but… I'm a real man so I don't eat vegetables and stuff.