Geundae-doenjangguk (Soybean Paste Soup with Chard)

Hello! I am feeling a little under the weather this weekend so I decided to make some soup. I often see recipes that use fermented soybean paste (doenjang) but I had not had the opportunity to try one of them yet. Well this week that has changed! This soup looked really simple and delicious, so I decided to try it. This weeks recipe comes from a new cookbook I got Maangchi's Real Korean Cooking. I was so excited to get this cookbook! It comes highly recommended and I can see why. It is full of amazing recipe's that easy to follow. There are tons of beautiful pictures but I wish it contained a few more of the cooking process. For me, visuals work really well and I like to see the steps. That's why I tend to include pictures of the steps as I go along.
This weeks playlist is a little different. I'm still on a T.O.P kick but this song is not from any of his or BIGBANG's albums. This song was from a recent drama he appeared in call The Secret Message. The drama is an interesting and complex love story filled with memories of past loves. At times it was heart breaking but in the end I was happy. This song is different that T.O.P's normal tracks. For one, he does not rap and two it has an acoustic vibe to it. It's beautiful and heartfelt. I would love for a man to sing for me like that one day. You can check out the song "Hi, Haruka" here. I still get chills overtime I hear it.

Now onto your favorite part, the cooking!

Ingredients
1 pound Swiss Chard, stems trimmed
1/3 cup fermented soybean paste (doenjang)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 green Korean chili pepper (cheong-gochu), stemmed and chopped
1 red Korean chili pepper (hong-gochu), stemmed and chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
10 large dried anchovies (mareun-myeolchi), heads and guts removed
7 cups of water

Step 1.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the chard and let it cook until wilted. About 3 minutes. Stirring with a wooden spoon occasionally. Drain the chard in a colander under cold running water until cooled. Drain and squeeze out any excess water.

Step 2.
Chop up the chard into small pieces and place it back in the pot. Add the soybean paste, garlic, peppers and flour. Mix well. (I could only find green peppers so I used two)

Step 3.
Tie the anchovies in a cheesecloth and add to the pot. Then add the water. Cover and cook for 20 minutes over medium-high heat. Turn the heat down to medium and boil for another 10 minutes.

Step 4.
Removed the anchovies from the pot and discard. Now the soup is ready to eat! Or you can let it cool and refrigerate it up to a week in an airtight container. Make sure to reheat before serving.

This soup was very delicious. It's not as spicy as some of the other dishes I've made but it was just what I needed. This recipe was so simple and easy to make. I think most people would be able to make this without any issues. Join me next week for another adventure in Korean cooking! I hope you have an amazing week :)

Xoxo,
Rachel