100 Favorite Dishes, No. 89: Sundubu Jjigae at Musiro Korean Restaurant

Leading up to September's Best of Dallas® 2017 issue, we're sharing (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes, the Dallas entrées, appetizers and desserts that really stuck with us this year. It's one of those dishes that, when you translate its name into English, doesn't sound entirely exciting: soft tofu...

By Beth Rankin

May 16, 2017

Korean spicy soft tofu soup (sundubu jjigae) at Musiro in Carrollton's Korea Town. Beth Rankin

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Leading up to September's Best of Dallas® 2017 issue, we're sharing (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes, the Dallas entrées, appetizers and desserts that really stuck with us this year.

It's one of those dishes that, when you translate its name into English, doesn't sound entirely exciting: soft tofu stew, a specialty at Musiro Korean Restaurant in Carrollton's Korea Town. But this steamy, bubbling bowl of savory heat is as exciting as it is comforting.

As with any Korean dish, you can expect an array of banchan (small side dishes) to flood the table just before your dish arrives. And when your soft tofu stew (sundubu jjigae in Korean) arrives, it's quite the show.

Served in an uber-hot clay bowl on a wooden plank, the stew — which comes in variations ranging from veggie to kimchi to seafood or dumplings — is still boiling when it hits the table. The first thing you should do: grab the single egg sitting amidst your banchan and crack it into the bowl while watching the soup's broth thicken as the egg cooks. Once it cools down enough to dip in, you'll find an immensely spicy, savory, flavorful dish made with silky tofu and, in our case, assorted seafood (haemul sundubu jjigae), including clams and whole shrimp.

Throw a scallion pancake in the mix for a starter and you've got a massive, memorable meal that's soul-comforting even to those who've never witnessed a bubbling bowl of sundubu jjigae.

via GIPHY

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Beth Rankin is an Ohio native and Cicerone-certified beer server who specializes in social media, food and drink, travel and news reporting. Her belief system revolves around the significance of Topo Chico, the refusal to eat crawfish out of season and the importance of local and regional foodways.

Contact: Beth Rankin

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