Seaside Tofu Village · Soft Curd
Chodang Sundubu
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It's set with actual seawater instead of the usual mineral coagulant — local tradition credits a 16th-century Joseon-era scholar, Heo Yeop, with inventing the technique himself, though no documentary evidence confirms the story.
Freshly pressed soy milk is curdled using clean East Sea seawater instead of the usual nigari or gypsum, producing an especially soft, delicately savory tofu, ladled warm into bowls or simmered into a bubbling stew. A cluster of family-run tofu restaurants in Gangneung's Chodang Village has served it this way for generations.
Why it's made this way: Chodang Village takes its name from Heo Yeop (pen name Chodang), a 16th-century Joseon scholar-official local tradition credits with first making tofu using Gangneung's seawater — a legend the neighborhood's tofu-makers still point to as the dish's origin.
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