Ojingeo-jjigae

A bold, red-hued stew of fresh squid, tofu, and vegetables in a gochugaru and doenjang broth.

Ojingeo-jjigae is a seafood jjigae built around squid — a plentiful, affordable, and versatile protein in Korean coastal cooking that lends the stew a distinctive sweet-oceanic flavour and a pleasantly firm, slightly chewy texture. The squid is cleaned and cut into rings and tentacle sections, then added to a broth built from anchovy stock seasoned with gochugaru, gochujang, and a small amount of doenjang, creating a layered, spiced base that is simultaneously fiery and savoury. Tofu, zucchini, and mushrooms round out the stew, absorbing the seafood-inflected broth into their porous structures. One of the distinctive qualities of squid in a stew is the ink that leaches from the body cavity if not fully cleaned, darkening the broth to a murky, dramatic colour and adding an additional umami depth — some cooks deliberately leave a little ink for this effect. Coastal cities and fishing villages along Korea's east coast and the south coast serve ojingeo-jjigae at the same establishments that sell live squid for raw preparations, making the stew a natural accompaniment to a multi-course seafood spread. Its unpretentious, direct flavour makes it a reliable weeknight option for Korean home cooks with access to fresh squid.