Korean Beef Cabbage Leaf Stew

Quick answer

Total time: 55 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 9

About this dish

This comforting Korean stew features tender beef brisket and blanched napa cabbage outer leaves simmered in doenjang stock.

Thinly sliced brisket is first seared in perilla oil, then stir-fried with doenjang and gochugaru for a minute to bloom the aromas. Water and the cabbage leaves are added, and the pot is simmered over medium-low heat for twenty-five minutes. This slow cooking allows the rich meat broth to permeate the fibrous leaves, making them tender. The perilla oil adds a nutty finish that balances the salty notes of the fermented soybean paste. Slicing the beef against the grain ensures the meat remains soft and easy to chew. Blanching the greens beforehand reduces grassy flavors and yields a cleaner soup. The stew is seasoned with soup soy sauce and finished with sliced green onions before being served hot.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmountUnit

boiled napa outer leaves350 gg

beef brisket250 gg

doenjang1½ tbsptbsp

gochugaru1 tbsptbsp

perilla oil1 tbsptbsp

minced garlic1 tbsptbsp

green onion60 gg

soup soy sauce1 tbsptbsp

water1200 mlml

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Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

6 steps

1

Heat

Squeeze 350 g of boiled napa outer leaves firmly until they feel damp rather than wet, then cut them into 5 cm lengths.

If they smell grassy, blanch them once more, cool them, and squeeze again before cooking.
2

Control

Slice 250 g of beef brisket thinly against the grain before heating the pot.

This cut helps the meat soften during the 25 minute simmer and lets the broth pick up beef flavor more quickly.
3

Control

Add 1 tablespoon perilla oil to a pot and warm it over medium heat.

Add the brisket and stir for about 2 minutes, spreading the pieces so the surfaces brown instead of boiling in their juices.
4

Step

Add 1 tablespoon minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds, just until fragrant.

Add 1.5 tablespoons doenjang and 1 tablespoon gochugaru, then stir for 1 minute so the paste coats the oil and meat without burning.
5

Control

Add the prepared napa outer leaves and 1200 ml water, then bring the pot to a boil over high heat.

Once bubbling strongly, lower to medium low and simmer for 25 minutes with the lid slightly open.
6

Control

Check that the napa outer leaves are tender and the brisket pulls apart along the grain.

Season with 1 tablespoon soup soy sauce, add 60 g diagonally sliced green onion, and simmer 3 more minutes before serving hot.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Brisket and blanched napa cabbage leaves create a meaty, hearty ugeoji soegogi jjigae.
Finish cue: Check that the napa outer leaves are tender and the brisket pulls apart along the grain.
Avoid this: Add 1.5 tablespoons doenjang and 1 tablespoon gochugaru, then stir for 1 minute so the paste coats the oil and meat without burning.