Sigeumchi-doenjang-guk (Spinach Soybean Paste Soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3-quart pot
• •Large bowl for washing spinach
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Tongs or long chopsticks

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the spinach

   Fill a large bowl with cold water and swish the spinach hard, especially near the root end where grit hides. Lift the spinach out, pour away the sandy water, and repeat 2 or 3 times until the water is clear. If the small pink root crowns are tender and clean, split them into quarters and keep them. They are sweet, and old cooks knew better than to throw sweetness away.

   Do not wash spinach in a colander under a quick stream and call it done. Sand sinks. Lift the greens out of the water so the grit stays behind.
2. 2

   Blanch briefly

   Bring a pot of water to a boil and add 1 teaspoon fine sea salt. Drop in the spinach stems first, then the leaves, and blanch 30 seconds for small cold-weather spinach or 45 seconds for thick bunches. Drain, rinse under cold water, and squeeze gently until it is no longer dripping but not dry. Cut into 2-inch lengths. This keeps the broth clean and removes the raw grassy edge without cooking the spinach to dullness.

3. 3

   Make the broth

   Put 6 cups water, the dried anchovies, and the kelp in a 3-quart pot over medium heat. When the water comes to a gentle simmer, pull the kelp out right away, before it turns the broth slick and bitter. Simmer the anchovies 8 minutes more, then strain them out. You should have about 5 1/2 cups of clear savory broth; add a splash of water if it reduced too far.

4. 4

   Dissolve the doenjang

   Bring the broth back to a gentle simmer. Put 2 tablespoons doenjang in a fine strainer, lower it into the broth, and rub it through with a spoon until the paste dissolves. Discard the coarse skins left in the strainer, unless your family likes them. Simmer 2 minutes so the raw edge of the paste softens. This is guk (soup), not jjigae (stew), so the doenjang should season the broth without thickening it.

5. 5

   Add spinach

   Add the blanched spinach and minced garlic. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes, just until the spinach loosens back into the broth and the garlic rounds out. Do not boil it hard. Spinach turns tired quickly, and this soup should still taste green and sweet.

6. 6

   Taste and serve

   Taste before you season. If the broth needs salt but already tastes enough of soybean paste, add 1 teaspoon guk-ganjang. If it needs more depth, add only 1 teaspoon more doenjang and simmer 30 seconds. Scatter the scallion over the top, turn off the heat, and serve at once with white rice and kimchi.

   For prewashed baby spinach, you may skip the blanching and add 150g directly at the end for 1 minute. The broth will be a little less clear, but on a weeknight that is an honest corner to cut.

Chef Tips

• •Buy cold-weather spinach when you can: short stems, deep green leaves, and pink root crowns. If the bunches are long, tough, and tired, use the recipe's method with young cabbage or napa leaves instead. Korean kitchens cooked by the season because the season is half the recipe.
• •Taste your doenjang before it goes into the pot. A dark, traditionally fermented paste may need only 1 1/2 tablespoons for this much broth, while a mild commercial paste may need the full 2 tablespoons plus the final teaspoon. Write down your brand and your number.
• •An unsalted anchovy-kelp broth bag is a safe weeknight shortcut. Use one bag in 6 cups water and simmer according to the package, then continue with the doenjang. Do not shorten the spinach washing. Mud in soup is not a modern schedule problem, it is careless hands.
• •For a meatless version, simmer 2 dried shiitake mushrooms and the kelp in 6 cups water for 15 minutes, then strain and proceed. The soup will be gentler and sweeter, without the sea-savor of anchovy broth.
• •Leftovers keep 2 days in the refrigerator, but reheat them gently and do not let the soup boil. The spinach will darken each time it is heated, so this is best cooked in the amount the table will finish.

Advance Preparation

• •The anchovy-kelp broth can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for 1 month. Bring it back to a simmer before dissolving the doenjang.
• •The spinach can be washed, blanched, squeezed, and cut up to 1 day ahead. Keep it covered in the refrigerator, then add it to the soup for the final simmer.
• •Assemble the finished soup close to serving. Doenjang broth holds well, but spinach does not improve by waiting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 410g)