Vegan Yukgaejang, Korean Spicy Beef Soup Recipe
Do you know Yukgaejang? It’s Korean Spicy Beef Soup. I do have a traditional Yukgaejang recipe, so please check it out!
https://seonkyounglongest.com/yukgaejang-korean-spicy-beef-stew/
Yukgaejang is a spicy and hearty Korean soup that I make every fall/winter time. After I became plant-based, I started making it without beef, and boy oh boy, this vegan yukgaejang is SO GOOD!!! It’s super flavorful, has lots of textures, and gives your soul a warm hug of a bowl. Yukgaejang is usually a very time-consuming soup, the total cooking time is about 5 hours. But the best part of this vegan yukgaejang is that it takes only 1/4 of the cooking time compared to the traditional one. 🥳
Yukgaejang is served with a warm bowl of rice and very minimum side dishes or just kimchi, and that’s it. Because yukgaejang has lots and lots of different vegetables that don’t need a whole lot of side dishes to eat with. This type of soup is Korean mom’s favorite kind of soup to make for the family so that they don’t have to worry about what other side dishes they have to make to go with the meal. Lol!
So try my vegan yukgaejang for this fall/winter time, you will fall in love with it!! It also freezes well, so great for a meal plan! Let’s get started!
Prepare 16 cups of vegetable broth. I like to use 1/2 tbsp yondu to make quick vegetable broth, but you can use any broth bouillon you want to use or use a homemade broth. When you use bouillon, check the sodium level because we want the flavor but not too much sodium for the broth.
Add 10×10″ dasima (dried kelp), 14 to 15 dried shiitake mushrooms, one bulb of garlic, and 1 tbsp black peppercorn in a large pot. Cover, and bring it to a boil. When boiling, remove the dasima (if it keeps boiling, the slimy part of the dasima will keep melting into the soup.), reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, simmering the broth, I went ahead and got some green onions from my garden. You will need A LOT of green onions for this recipe because green onion gives the naturally sweet and umami flavor to the soup.
Turn off the heat and remove solid ingredients from the broth. You can discard all the ingredients but keep the shiitake mushrooms and let them cool before handling- we are going to add them back into the soup. Shiitake is the best source to substitute beef flavor in plant-based cooking, in my opinion.
You can also reuse dasima, I like to add to dumplings or kimbap. Also, it can be a great wrapper, pickle, or just dip in chogochujang, a Korean sweet & sour chili sauce.
Let’s make the chili sauce and prepare the vegetables. Chop 1/2 cup of green onions and ten cloves of garlic. Add them into a large mixing bowl and add 5 tbsp gochugaru, Korean red pepper flakes, 5 tbsp sesame oil, 5 tbsp soy sauce, 5 tbsp yondu (or 3 tbsp mushroom seasonings), salt to taste and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Give it a good mix. Set aside.
Prepare 1 1/2 lb of your choice of protein and veggies. Of course, for this vegan yukgaejang, I prepared mushrooms and fried tofu. You can use only tofu or only mushrooms if you like. You can use yubu (fried bean curd), TVP, or whatever protein and veggie mixture you choose to use. Don’t use tender vegetables like bell pepper or zucchini, they will melt into the soup, and won’t have good textures.
Slice the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms and add them to the chili sauce along with your choice of mushrooms, tofu, and green onions. Mix well with your hand so the vegetables will marinate with the chili sauce flavor for 5 to 10 minutes.
Turn the heat back on to high for the broth. Add all the vegetables with chili sauce. Add 12 oz of beansprouts as well. Give it a good stir, bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until all the vegetables are softened.
This is the perfect time to cook some dangmyeon (Korean glass noodles) or prepare kelp noodles if you want to serve them in the soup.
Place some cooked dangmyeon or rinsed kelp noodles on the bottom of the serving bowl if you are using it, and pour the yukgaejang.
Serve with warm cooked rice and your choice of kimchi. Enjoy!
Vegan Yukgaejang, Korean Spicy Beef Soup
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
For the Broth
- 16 cups vegetable broth (I like to mix 1/2 tbsp Yondu per cup of water)
- 10x10 dasima, dried kelp
- 1 bulb of garlic, cut into half
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 14 to 16 dried shiitake mushrooms
For the Chili Sauce
- 1/2 cup chopped green onion
- 10 cloves garlic, chopped
- 5 tbsp gochugaru, Korean red pepper flakes
- 5 tbsp sesame oil
- 5 tbsp soy sauce
- 5 tbsp Yondu or 3 tbsp mushroom seasonings
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
For the Vegetables
- 1 1/2 lb of your choice of mushrooms such as enoki, portobello, oyster, shimeji, etc & your choice of protein (I like to use fried tofu, sliced into bite sizes)
- 20 to 25 green onions, cut into 3” long pieces
- 12 oz beansprouts
- Some dangmyeon (Korean glass noodles) or kelp noodles, optional
Instructions
- Combine all the broth’s ingredients in a large pot, cover it, and bring it to a boil. When boiling, remove the dasima, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove solid ingredients from the broth. You can discard all the ingredients but keep the shiitake mushrooms and let them cool before handling.
- Meanwhile, let’s make the chili sauce and prepare the vegetables. Combine all the ingredients for the chili sauce in a large mixing bowl and give it a good mix. Set aside.
- Slice the shiitake mushrooms and add them to the chili sauce along with your choice of mushrooms, tofu, and green onions. Mix well with your hand so the vegetables will marinate with the chili sauce flavor for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Turn the heat back on to high for the broth. Add all the vegetables with chili sauce. Add the beansprouts as well. Give it a good stir, bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until all the vegetables are softened.
This is the perfect time to cook some dangmyeon (Korean glass noodles) or prepare kelp noodles if you want to serve them in the soup. - Place some cooked dangmyeon or rinsed kelp noodles on the bottom of the serving bowl if you are using it, and pour the yukgaejang. Serve with warm cooked rice and your choice of kimchi. Enjoy!
- Cook Time: 40 mins
