Sundubu Jjigae: Silken Tofu and Egg Technique

Sundubu jjigae — soft tofu stew — is the Korean stew that demonstrates the most delicate end of the Korean flavour spectrum: silken tofu in a spicy broth, an egg cracked in at the table, served in the bubbling stone pot that arrives still cooking. The technique requires understanding how silken tofu behaves in heat (it sets further, not dissolves) and how to cook a raw egg in hot broth without over-setting it.

A spicy broth (gochugaru, garlic, onion, seafood or meat base) into which silken tofu is carefully placed in large chunks, an egg cracked over the top at the end of cooking, served in a stone bowl that arrives at the table still bubbling.

• Japanese yudofu (silken tofu in dashi broth — same gentle never-boil principle), Chinese silken tofu soup (same delicate handling requirement), Korean haemul jjigae (same stone bowl service principle)

Sundubu jjigae succeeds through contrast: the fierce heat of gochugaru against the cool, silky tofu; the flowing egg yolk against the clean broth; the bubbling stone bowl against the delicate protein within. It is the Korean dish that most clearly demonstrates how intensity and delicacy are not opposites.