I've been hearing how "spicy" is the food trend of the year, and that is good news to me! For some reason the more satisfying meals I've been eating these days are the ones that have a strong heat component, be it a Mexican salsa, an Italian vegetable soup, or a dish of kimchi. And when it comes to heat, the Koreans know how to do it--stews served at the table still boiling hot, deep and richly red from the incomparable gochugaru chili powder.
So, with an eye on the latest food fashions (haha no, just kidding, I really just wanted to use up some leftovers and eat something spicy), I threw this stew together the other day. It's based on kimchi jjigae, or kimchi stew, in which very old, fermented kimchi gets used up in a delicious way. I didn’t have leftover kimchi, but I did have a whole lot of leftover kimchi juice and kkakdugi juice that I wanted to use somehow (remember how earlier I told you to save those juices? Waste not, want not!). This recipe is flexible—you can obviously use leftover cabbage kimchi instead of the fresh green cabbage, and you could even throw in old kkakdugi instead of the fresh mu (Korean daikon) if you wanted to. Use your favorite meat, or whatever leftovers you have on hand. This is a simple soup, it's basic home-cooking, and it should be a no-stress, easy-to-make meal. And it’s SO tasty!
Spicy Kimchi Juice Jjigae
Makes 2-4 Servings
1 cup Korean daikon (mu, 무), thinly sliced and cut into 1-2 –inch pieces
1 ½ cups green cabbage, cut into 1-2 –inch pieces
3 green onions, roughly cut into 1-2 –inch pieces (reserve a handful of the green ends for garnish)
1 ½ cups kimchi/kkakdugi juice
½ cup water
¼ cup shredded roasted pork
1 ½ cups firm tofu, cut in ½-inch dice
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 ½ cups firm tofu, cut in ½-inch dice
1 tsp. sesame oil
Place all ingredients except for the tofu and oil in a pot and cover with lid. Bring to a boil, then add the tofu and drizzle with the sesame oil. Cook 5 minutes more, until tofu is thoroughly heated through and cabbage has softened.
Garnish with reserved green onions and serve boiling hot. Add a scoop of 4-grain rice to your bowl of stew and enjoy!
Garnish with reserved green onions and serve boiling hot. Add a scoop of 4-grain rice to your bowl of stew and enjoy!