This thick stew (pictured) is made from kimchi – the famous spicy pickled Chinese cabbage. It is well-known that Koreans eat a lot of kimchi – in fact, about 18 kilograms per person each year. It is classed as a superfood and packed full of everything we require to keep healthy.
In Seoul, there is even a kimchi museum. Years ago, mountain-loads of kimchi would be made in autumn to last through the winter months and would be buried underground in large clay pots; nowadays, with the LG and Samsung technology, every household is blessed with a kimchi fridge!
This is a soup that my dad has every morning for breakfast. My mum loves it when she comes to visit me as she gets time off from the daily routine of cooking traditional Korean breakfasts. The dish is packed full of vitamin b and I guess you could say it is Korea’s equivalent to Vegemite.
Kimchi Stew – Kimchi Jigae
Serves 2
Ingredients
8 cups water
100g Chinese radish, sliced
1 onion, sliced
30g thick seaweed, kelp
1 tbspn sesame oil
300g kimchi and juice – the older the better
1.5 tbspns Korean chilli powder
1 tbspn minced garlic
½ tbspn minced ginger
Pinch pepper
Pinch salt
150g firm tofu, cubed
2 stems spring onion, finely sliced
Method
Make the stock by boiling 8 cups water and adding the Chinese radish, onion and seaweed. Boil for 30 minutes or until the radish is soft.
In a saucepan, add the sesame oil and fry the kimchi lightly for a couple of minutes. Add the chilli powder, garlic, ginger, pepper and salt, and continue to fry at a low temperature. Now add 4 cups of the radish and onion stock, then some of the kimchi juice, and bring to the boil.
When boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Just before you are ready to eat, add the cubed tofu and sliced spring onions. You may need to add more stock during cooking, as it can evaporate.
Serve with a bowl of rice, and if you like it really spicy, add some fresh chilli. This soup can be eaten as vegetarian or you can add tuna or pork belly.
Chung Jae Lee is former head chef and owner of Adelaide’s Mapo Restaurant. He was named best SA chef in the 2012 Restaurant & Catering Awards for Excellence and is author of the recently released Korean Cookbook: A Twist on the Traditional. This is the first of a regular series of articles and recipes he will be contributing to InDaily’s Food & Wine section.
