This Korean tofu soup is made with silken tofu and veggies in a spicy gochujang broth! Its comforting, healthy, and can be on the table in about 30 minutes.
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon gochugaru (or more, to taste)
- 5 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons gochujang (plus more, to taste - up to 4 tablespoons total - see Note)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, cleaned and sliced
- 1 small zucchini, quartered and sliced
- 4 ounces fresh spinach leaves (about 2 cups, packed)
- 1 (12.3 ounce/349 g) package silken tofu, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- Salt, to taste
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
- 2 scallions, sliced
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Coat the bottom of a large pot with the peanut oil and place it over medium heat.
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Add the onion. Sweat the onion for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until it becomes soft and translucent.
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Stir in the garlic, ginger, and gochugaru. Cook everything for about 1 minute, until the mixture becomes very fragrant.
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Stir in the broth, gochujang, soy sauce, vinegar, mushrooms and zucchini. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil.
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Lower the heat and let the soup simmer for about 8 minutes, until the mushrooms and zucchini are tender.
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Stir in the spinach and tofu. Let the soup continue simmering just until the spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes.
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Remove the pot from heat and stir in the sesame oil. Optionally, season the soup with salt to taste. Adjust any other seasonings to suit your taste, adding gochujang, soy sauce or rice vinegar if needed.
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Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with chopped scallions and sesame seeds.
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Serve.
Start with less gochujang if you're not sure how much you can tolerate. You can always add more when the soup is almost finished cooking.