Inkyu’s Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Bean Paste Soup)
Inkyu Choi was born in Suncheon-si, South Korea in 1942. He was the third eldest among four brothers and two sisters. He is the father of three daughters and one son and the grandfather of four granddaughters and three grandsons. He now lives in Paju-si, South Korea with his son, daughter-in-law, and beloved three grandchildren. He is the maternal grandfather of Jiwoo.
The Secret of Doenjang: Sunlight, Salt, and Time
Halabeoji is modest, rather shy about his cooking skills. I tentatively bring up halmoni again as he reminisces
and ask if he still makes doenjang jjigae these days. His reply is quiet, tinged with longing.
“할머니가 보시면 자랑스러워 하실 것 같아요. 할아버지 요리 실력.”
“I think she would be proud. Of your cooking skills and devotion.”
“할머니가? 좋네. 그럼 죽은 사람이 내 된장찌개 맛볼 수 있다는 건데 그런 기회가 있다면 얼마나 좋겠어.”
“Your halmoni? That would be wonderful. The thought of her, only she could taste my doenjang stew, just once, even after dying… how good that would be.”
He chuckles after saying it, but it is not the sound of amusement. It is a laugh that carries grief.
“혼자 끓이면 그 맛이 안 나.”
“When I cook it alone, it doesn’t taste the same.”
Doenjang jjigae, once the heartbeat of the family table, has become something else when eaten alone. The taste shifts, not because the ingredients have changed, but because the company has.
He shakes his head at the convenience foods of today — factory-made pastes, instant stews in plastic. They are fast, tidy, and predictable. But they lack what time gives, and what presence gives.
And then, unexpectedly, his voice softens into hope.
“언젠가 지우랑 같이 시골 장터에 가서, 그 맛을 다시 찾고 싶다.”
“Someday, I want to go with Jiwoo to a country market, and find that taste again.”
Even loneliness, I realize, can ferment into something else: a seed of hope waiting for another generation to share.
🌱 Recipe Box: Doenjang Jjigae (Soybean Paste Stew)
Ingredients (4 servings):
2 tbsp doenjang (soybean paste)
1 tsp gochugaru (optional, for spice)
5 cups water or anchovy broth
1 small potato, diced
1 zucchini, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 block tofu, cubed
1 green chili, sliced
2 scallions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions:
In a pot, whisk doenjang (and gochugaru) into broth until dissolved.
Add potato, onion, and garlic. Simmer until potatoes are tender.
Add zucchini and tofu; simmer 5 more minutes.
Finish with chili and scallions. Serve bubbling hot with rice.