Spicy Tuna & Potato Stew, Korean style

This Korean style spicy tuna and potato stew is made with a canned tuna. This stew is known as a camping stew in Korea. It cooks short, and tastes savory to serve with rice.

Korean Spicy Tuna and Potato Stew

We had been extremely busy these past few weeks. Sometimes life throws you something that you don’t want to catch. This time it has to do with moving. We had to move to another house in Buenos Aires. To make the long story short, the moving went well and everything is in the right place now.

We had been neglecting with cooking and we apologize for not posting new recipes as often as we should. However, here is one short recipe that you can turn a can of tuna into a savory stew in a short time.

We called this spicy tuna and potato stew (참치 감자찌게, chamchi gamja jjigae). This stew is well known as a camping stew in Korea. Yes, people like to make this when they are camping in the nature. Cooking a short stew on a campfire is quite fun and a can of tuna travels much easier than a piece of fresh cut meat.

All you need is:

• a can of tuna
• some potatoes
• zucchini
• a few basic Korean condiments

It can be ready quicker than the rice and taste so good. Of course you don’t have to go to camping to make this stew. Try make it in your own kitchen. You will love the spicy tuna in the form of stew!

If you enjoy spicy Korean stew, don’t miss out our dakdoritang (hot braised chicken), yukgaejang (beef and vegetable soup), and kimchi jjigae!

How the dish comes together

First, make the seasoning paste by combining Korean chili paste, chili flakes, garlic, Korean soy sauce for soup, and anchovy sauce.

In a pot, dump diced onion, potatoes, and anchovy stock (or water). Add the seasoning paste and bring everything to boil.

We highly recommend to use anchovy stock for deeper in flavor, but you can use plain water if the dried anchovies are not your thing.

Add the zucchini slices and a can of tuna (drained). Continue to cook until everything is tender. You will need to use solid tuna which you can actually see the solid meat chunks inside the can.

Lastly add some green onions and chillies, and it is ready to serve. Short, right?

As with other Korean stew, you will need to serve this with some rice. Now you have an unfussy and savory meal ready in no time. How about that?

• Yield: 4 people
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 15 minutes
• Total: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 can (7 oz) oil packed solid tuna, drained
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 medium size potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 3 cup anchovy stock or water, see note below
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 green chili, sliced, optional
• 1 tbsp Korean chili paste (gochujang)
• 1 tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
• 1 tbsp Korean soup soy sauce (gukganjang)
• 1 tbsp Korean anchovy sauce, optional
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Method

1. In a small bowl, combine Korean chili paste, chili flakes, Korean soup soy sauce, garlic, and anchovy sauce. Mix well.
2. In a soup pot, combine anchovy stock (or water), onion, and potato slices. Add the seasoning paste above and bring them to boil.
3. when potato slices are somewhat tender, add the zucchini and the tuna. Continue to boil for another 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning as you like.
4. Lastly add the green onion and chilies and the stew is ready. Serve hot with rice.

Notes

To make anchovy stock, bring 3 cups of water with 6-7 large dried anchovies to boil. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the anchovies.