I cannot eat most Japanese miso soups, even though I do like miso, aka soybean paste. There’s nothing WRONG with Japanese miso soup–it’s just that I love Korean “miso soup” even more, having grown up on its more pungent flavor.
In my mind, miso soup is supposed to be wild and rustic; Japanese miso soup is well mannered and mild, perhaps more refined. And I prefer the imprint of “wild and rustic” in my mind; perhaps for me, it’s just like how ketchup has become synonymous to Heinz. I just think that “wild and rustic” is how miso soup is SUPPOSED to taste like.
Korean “miso soup” (”doen-jang gook”) is based on Korean soybean paste and is a lot more pronounced in miso flavor, even mildly spicy, and the best pastes even have chunks of fermented soybean in them.
When I can get my hands on homemade soybean paste, that’s what I use–otherwise I use the Pulmuone brand or experiment around, like with the above brand. I’m still on a search for a decent (nay, excellent) manufactured brand of soybean paste. I’ll let you know if I run across a lifelong Korean soybean paste mate.
My mother used to make me a soup called “doen-jang shi-rae-gi gook,” which uses soybean paste as a base. The literal translation for the name of “shi-rae-gi gook” is “soybean paste trash soup” or “soybean paste garbage soup” but I’m going to use the moniker, “discards soup” because it sounds just a tad more savoury.
“Discards soup” is very much just that: made up of odds and ends. Because of the soup’s rustic nature, you can just about put any edible green into the recipe, whether it be spinach or dandelion greens…or in this case, Korean chrysanthemum leaves (”sook ggat”) and Korean radish leaves, freshly picked from my garden.
Likewise, you can add other ingredients as you please, and as they are available (there aren’t that many rules to a “trashy soup”). You can add sliced daikon radish, or sliced tofu cubes. If you have garlic, slice some up and add it. Feel free to improvise–after all, one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure.
I love this dish for its utterly simple nature–which begins with its recipe. You boil some water (you can do that, right?)…add several spoonfuls of Korean soybean paste to taste…add sliced garlic and tofu and greens (or any other odds and ends)…and boil.
In a few minutes you have a proper Discards Soup.
Serve with rice (or not), and enjoy. You can make this soup as hearty (adding more ingredients) or lean (fewer ingredients) as you like. Me? I like to make it as hearty as possible, often loading the soup up with greens and tofu and even red hot pepper flakes for an extra kick.
9 responses so far ↓
JDo // June 10, 2007 at 6:26 am
i’m with you on the miso v. doen-jang issue — for me, doen-jang dominates. i’ve tried making hearty soups with miso and it doesn’t work. it tastes bad, and i’ve decided it’s the miso, not what i’m doing with it. doen-jang, on the other hand, is perfect for variety.
c(h)ristine // June 12, 2007 at 1:14 pm
yep–I can’t believe they’re even in the same family, really. It’s like comparing ketchup with barbecue sauce.
Dissident Chef // June 12, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Ah,
were in the hell is my bowl? I’m on way over.. and I’m mad and HUNGRY..
hahahhaha
its a pirates life for me..
sam // June 14, 2007 at 11:06 am
aw. i love anything with doen-jang in it. i’m living overseas at the moment and it’s hard to get my hands on korean ingredients. but my mom sends me doen-jang and go-choo-jang so i got my basics. alot of times i just make blend of doen-jang and go-choo-jang and eat it as a deep with cucumbers and lettuce. but whenever i can find tofu, i make a version of your trashy soup. i use a ground dried anchovy powder as a base.
c(h)ristine // June 14, 2007 at 12:10 pm
ah you reminded me, Sam–I often do include dried anchovies into my soup for a heartier taste. I’ve never tried the powder itself, but I think it would produce a similar result, and would help the more anchovy-squeamish populace out.
English Muffin Crab "Au Gratin" // June 17, 2007 at 2:30 am
Perfect for lunch or brunch
4 English muffins, halved
1/2 cup (120ml) Summersweet Crab and Three Cheese Dip
fine bread crumbs
parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Green onions, finely diced for garnish
Preheat the oven to 325F (170C). Arrange the English muffin halves on a baking sheet. Sprea…
annie // June 19, 2007 at 3:58 pm
i love my miso soup as trashy as it comes…i add egg and spam. yes, i said SPAM! i’m a part okinawan air force brat…can’t help but like the stuff. i’ve always thought my japanese miso held up well to my ghetto treatment but youve got me curious about the korean kind, especially since you don’t have to worry about it boiling. and i loooove sook ggat ( japanese shinguku, i believe). I shouldve thought about growing it myself…darn!
HCG // July 8, 2007 at 5:23 am
My all time favorite green is minari (korean watercress) and I have made doenjang chigae with it.
Kind of funny story — my parents received doenjang base (the dried fermented soy bean paste in hard blocks) from overseas via mail. Um, not sure if anyone has ever experienced the uh aroma of it, but suffice to say if you DON’T know what the smell is it will drive you nuts. Frankly, it’s a horrible odor. Wellthe container housing it happened to be open the day the German wallpaper hanger was in their house as well as the Chilean cleaning lady…
c(h)ristine // July 8, 2007 at 9:36 am
annie: sook ggat is so terribly easy to grow–you’ll find yourself trying to keep up with it (I’m looking for sook ggat recipes right now because the plant keeps growing and growing).
Good luck!
HCG: minari is awesome–and I think you are speaking of “meiju!” My mom would buy some at a store in Koreatown in LA and make her own doenjang paste. Thank goodness we had a big enough backyard that the neighbors didn’t smell it.
Leave a Comment