How To Season Korean Beef Stew For The Absolute Best Flavor

Craving delicious Korean beef stew at home this week? Before you make it, chef Ji Hye Kim, owner of Miss Kim in Ann Arbor, Michigan has some expert tips for you. Following Kim's great tips, you'll be able to season Korean beef stew and achieve the absolute best flavor. Kim told Tasting Table, "Once you simmer the beef to get the beef broth ready, cool the broth with the beef still in it until it is tepid. Take the beef out and pull them with the grain. The pieces should be about 2 inches long. Then season [the beef] with soy sauce, scallions, garlic, sesame oil, and chili oil." Aside from these ingredients, you can also use doenjang, an essential Korean pantry staple, to season the meat. 

Feel free to skip the chili oil if you don't want a spicy beef stew. Kim's version of Korean beef stew is yukgaejang (육개장), or spicy beef and vegetable soup. She continued, "Let [the seasoned beef] sit while you finish all the other prep for this dish, then add back the beef along with all the other vegetables to simmer to finish. The additional seasoning that you give to the cooked and pulled beef will amplify the beefy and spicy flavors of yukgaejang."

Let's say spice and heat are what you're chasing when making Korean beef stew this week. To increase the heat level, we recommended seasoning the cooked beef with another Korean pantry staple: gochujang (고추장). This spicy Korean condiment, made with fermented soybeans, salt, glutinous rice, and chili, carries quite a bit of heat and concentrated flavor. Since it packs such a punch, people often dilute gochujang before using it.  

With such flavorful dish ready for dinner, you will want to balance it with side dishes, such as kimchi and Korean potato salad, and a bowl of steamed rice. Our gamja bokkeum (or Korean-style potatoes) recipe would also taste stellar when paired with flavorful Korean beef stew. To help calm your tongue, especially if the stew was extra spicy, wash things down with a cold glass of makgeolli, the oldest alcoholic drink in Korea.