Kimchee Jjigae 2, the easiest Korean stew you can make

After indulging myself with deep-fried turkey feast for Thanksgiving and got busy taking all the Christmas stuff out to decorate the house afterward...

I simply don't have much energy to cook. 

But I gotta eat..., you know.

So here I am.

I am going to make an easiest Kimchee stew in the world.

Only 4 ingredients and you will get a nice pot of stew that can awaken your soul for the spirit of Christmas. 

All because I found a container of store-bought kimchee (kimchi) I purchased about 2 month ago that I totally forgot about its existence... (I left it in my 2nd fridge where I don't check often)

Doenjang Jjigae, the ultimate Korean comfort

Doenjang Jjigae (Korean soybean paste stew) reminds me of my father.

As I recollect, he loved this stew.

My father passed away almost 6 years ago by car accident.

And I didn't even get to say good-bye to him.

After he is gone I realized that I never had a chance to serve this stew for him.

In fact I never got a chance to cook anything for him.

And that hurts me...,

and brings me to tears.

I know he would have enjoyed this stew very, very much.

My mother used fix this stew quite often just for him.

Of course her Doenjang paste is all home-made, and she has her secret to give this stew more depth.

Kimchee Stew, what goes around comes around

Kimchi, Kimchee, I love Kimchee.

Fresh or rotten (?), hot or cold...

When I was in the college once upon a time in the far far west, one of my roommate threw away my precious bottle of Kimchee one day telling me that my cabbage was rotten. She did not apologize. Next day I threw away her cheese telling her that her milk went rotten and stinky. It was.
No questions were asked. We didn't fight but I made my point.
Life is funny sometimes.
Several years later I bumped into her at the mall. It turned out that she married to someone who loves Korean food and keeps a bottle of Kimchee in the fridge all the time!
And I married to a guy who has to nibble on cheese and crackers pretty much every night.
We laughed...
What goes around comes around.

 If you have the stinky rotten Kimchee (Kimchi) in the fridge, don't throw away. Make a pot of stew.

Important: Your Kimchee needs to be VERY, VERY FERMENTED. If you are starting with store bought jar of Kimchee let it sit on the counter for at least couple of days. You want the Kimchee to be so old that you don't want to eat as is.

You will need; Kimchee of course, pork belly or butt, tofu (I use firm), onion, garlic, kimchee juice, Korean soy sauce, rice wine, rice cake (optional), anchovy and sea kelp (optional).

 

I must be an anchovy in my previous life. I love them. If you don't care for it, forget about them. Use water instead. I won't be offended.
For the stock, boil first and let it simmer for 10 minutes, strain the stock and discard the anchovy and the sea kelp.

Season your pork with Korean soy sauce, rice wine(Mirim), and garlic. Set aside.

This is Ms. Kimchee, a lady in red. Shake her bum bum gently to remove some stuffing inside over the sink.

Slice any way you like.

Slice the onion.

In a small bowl, combine some chili with some kimchee juice and rice wine.

In a somewhat shallow pot, spread onion on the bottom and place kimchee slices on top.

Scatter the oink-oink, I mean the pork...

Place tofu slices on top and smother the chili flake sauce on anywhere you like.

Pour the reserved kimchee juice all over,

 

and the anchovy stock or water.
I forgot to take a picture but you can add some rice cake slices if you happened to have. (I always save a few slices whenever I make rice cake soup for this purpose. Helps thicken the stew)

Now, my lady in red is totally immersed. Cover and boil.

When it gets boiling like this, reduce the heat to low.

 

Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes.  You want your lady to be nice and tender.

February and March are the month when Kimchee stew is eaten the most in Korea.

Why?

Because all the Kimchee which has been made during Nov/Dec to last through the winter finally comes to an end of their shelf life. 

April brings the spring cabbages. The new Kimchee will be born in a glory.

 But my old fermented Kimchee will never go out of spotlight.

She will not step down to a clearance rack.

 Let it shine!

in the name of STEW...

Kimchee Stew

(김치찌개, Kimchee Jjigae)

makes 4-6 servings

1/4 head of fermented cabbage Kimchee (about 1 lb), stuffing removed and sliced

2 1/2 cup anchovy stock or water

1/3 lb pork belly or pork butt diced

8 oz firm tofu, sliced

1/2 large onion, sliced

1 garlic, chopped

 2 tsp Korean soy sauce

2 Tbsp rice wine, divided

1/2 cup Kimchee juice

1 Tbsp Korean chili flakes

6-8 rice cake slices (optional)

Anchovy stock:

5-6 large dried anchovies

3 dried sea kelp squares

3 cup water

In a bowl toss pork slices with Korean soy sauce, 1 Tbsp rice wine, and garlic. Set aside.

In another small bowl, combine Korean chili flakes with 2 Tbsp of Kimchee juice and 1 Tbsp rice wine and set aside.

In a shallow pot, spread onion on the bottom, layer Kimchee slices, the pork, and the tofu slices on top. You can add rice cakes if you want to. Drizzle the Korean chili flake mixture over. Pour the rest of Kimchee juice and the stock (or water) over everything.  Cover and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 25-30 minutes, covered, until the cabbage gets soft and tender. Garnish with green onion if you wish. Serve hot with rice. 

Anchovy stock: Bring anchovies, kelp, and water to boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. If you let it rest for a few minutes the stock will have better flavor. Strain the stock and discard anchovies and kelp.

Printable recipe

Chicken Soojaebi and Radish Kimchee Salad, humble to fancy

I was contacted by Lisa from Korean American mommy blog and she invited me to post a dinner idea for her "Around the world dinner" on Korean food. Her blog is awesome, full of good healthy recipes for both Korean and other cuisines. I am happy to participate to show you the Korean version of chicken and dumpling.

Before I start I am going to show you something pretty.

These are juices from carrot, parsley, and beet. I just puree them in the blender with little bit of water. Aren't they pretty? 

Yup! I am going to add them to dumplings. The dish is called Soojaebi. Don't let the # of ingredients in the recipe discourage you. It is actually easy and simple to make. With addition of these super nature food you will be glad that you are feeding your loved ones with something healthy, pretty, and yummy at the same time. It is fun to make with kids, too. 

Oh, by the way, you can use any vegetables that are rich in colors... pumpkin, spinach, purple potatoes, red cabbage, kale, etc. They all work great.

Let people see the true colors of nature!

 Chicken split breast w/ bones, radish, onion, garlic, carrot, parsley, beet, potato, zucchini, flour, red chili flakes, Korean soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Whew! Did I include everything this time?

First of all, juice your chosen vegetables with some water, each separately.
FYI, I filtered the carrot puree in a coffee filter to get smoother juice. I didn't filter the others.

Prepare 3 mixing bowls. In each bowl, mix in 1 cup of flour, pinch salt, and the juice of one vegetable.

I added about 1/3 cup of juice and mix with fork, and then knead with a hand for 1 minute and form a ball shape dough.  No need to be exact consistency but do not make them too sticky (more like bread dough consistency).

♪♫ " I see your true colors shining through..." ♪♫ 
You can use right away but cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. It gives dumpling nicer texture.

Meanwhile, let's make stock.

"May I take your coat?" Politely ask chicken to get her skin off.

 Cut up radish, onion, garlic and have them bath with chicken. Nothing like a hot spring in winter... Don't you agree, Mrs. Hen?
BTW, don't skip the radish in the stock. It gives very nice flavor in the soup.

 After about 30 minutes she is well poached. Keep the stock, discard everything except Mrs. Hen.

 Shred her and set aside.

 Make sauce to go with Soojaebi. Just combine Korean soy sauce, Korean chili flakes, garlic, green onion, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Green chili is an optional.

Cut potato and zucchini into 1/4" thick slices.

Bring the stock back to boil, add chicken, sliced potato, and zucchini slices.

 Take out the three gorgeous girls from the fridge and give them some squeeze.

 If you have little people at home, have them do the tearing job for you. They think it is play dough... They can even roll out the dough and cut out with cookie cutter if they want.
You know, if they make, they will eat. Kids are funny that way.

 Or just tear directly over the pot when the soup is boiling. They cook in no time, but you gotta work fast. Try to stretch out the dough thin and tear off.

Boil for 1-2 minutes, done! Serve the soup with sauce since the stock has no seasoning in it. If you need to serve this to young ones, just add Korean soy sauce with sesame oil and some green onions.

Cabbage kimchee or radish kimchee salad is perfect side dish (banchan) to serve with.

 

 Make sure you serve with the sauce. Just drizzle around the soup and mix.

My bonus post today! A side dish to go with Soojaebi...

 It is called 무우생채 (moowoo-sangchae), quick radish Kimchee salad. Very easy and quick to make.

The recipe will follow below.

Soojaebi once was a very humble food.

When rice was hard to harvest, meat was scarce right after the Korean war,

everyone had to eat plain Soojaebi.

My parents won't eat the plain one

because it reminded them the harsh days of their young life.

But I am changing the recipe to upgrade.

It is no longer humble, it is fancy now for the time of abundance.

A colorful meal that taught me the lesson,

"Abundance is, in large part, an attitude."

 Chicken Soojaebi

(닭 수제비, Korean chicken and dumpling)

makes 4 servings

For the stock

2 lb chicken split breast with bones, skin removed

4" piece Korean radish or daikon radish, cut up

1/2 large onion, cut up

3 garlic cloves

8 cup water

For the dumpling and soup

2 small carrot, peeled and juiced with 1/2 cup water, filtered if possible

1 bunch parsley, juiced with 1/2 cup water

1/2 beet, peeled and juice with 1/2 cup water

3 cups flour, divided

3 pinches salt, divided

1 zucchini, sliced into 1/4"

1 medium potato, peeled and sliced into 1/4"

For the sauce

4 Tbsp Korean soy sauce

1 Tbsp Korean chili flakes

1 tsp garlic chopped

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sesame seeds

1-2 green onion chopped

1 green chili chopped (optional)

For the stock put all the ingredients in the pot, boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Strain the stock and reserve the chicken. Shred chicken and set aside.

Meanwhile make dumplings. In 3 medium mixing bowls, place each bowl with 1 cup of flour and pinch salt. Pour 1/3 cup of each vegetable juice into bowls seperatley. Mix with a folk until moistened and knead with hand for 1 minute in the bowl. Form a ball shape dough (you will get 3 different colored dough) and cover with plastic. Chill for 30 minutes if possible so the gluten can rest.

Make sauce with given ingredients and set aside.

Return the stock to the pot and let it boil over medium heat. Add the reserved chicken, potato and zucchini slices and let it boil. Stretch the dough thinly with hand and tear off into bite sizes and drop into the pot. You need to work fast on this part. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Ladle soojaebi into the individual bowls and drizzle the sauce over. Serve warm with radish Kimchee salad or cabbage Kimchee as side dish.

Note: You can tear the dough and place on a platter in advance before you boil the soup.

Printable Recipe

Radish Kimchee Salad

(무우생채, moowoo sangchae)

1 1/2 lb Korean radish or Daikon radish

2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Anchovy sauce or 1 1/2 tsp fish sauce

2 Tbsp Korean chili flakes

1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

2 tsp garlic chopped

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 green onion chopped 

Peel the radish and thinly slice them. Julienne the slices into 1/8"sticks. Place the radish into a bowl, toss with salt and let it sit for 10 minutes. You will see some water extracted from the radish. Rinse them with water and drain. 

Place the radish in a bowl again and add the rest of the ingredients. Toss well until they are well incorporated. Serve as side dish. They can be kept in the fridge for 1 week.

Printable recipe

Korean Soft Tofu Clam Stew, bring out the innocence in you

 

 Have you ever tried to run away from your home when you were a kid?
I think I did once, but only lasted less than 1 hour. I was 7 or 8 years old, I think. I was mad at my mom and my sisters for some reason. I only went about 3 blocks, got scared, and went back home. I don't think my mom ever noticed that I was gone.

 I went to Norman Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge last weekend. Stockbridge is a beautiful town in west end part of Massachusetts. I understand why Mr. Rockwell loved that place so much.
It was about 8 hours drive form Northern Virginia where I live. Why did I go there?
Well, I was in the mood of New England clam chowder and missing the beautiful fall foliage there, plus I always have been a fan of Mr. Rockwell's works. I saw his famous "The runaway" and it reminded me of my somewhat-forgotten childhood.

 There is no artist that captured everyday life of American people more charming and nostalgic than Norman Rockwell did. Even though I did not grow up in this country, I could still relate my Korean childhood and rediscover my innocence through his works. They are honest, sincere, and yet brings out smile from your heart.

My family of four continue the journey toward the east from there, Cambridge, MA.
We used to live in Cambridge while my piano man was attending law school.  It has been 10 years since we left. Some stayed the same but some has changed. I remember how much I enjoyed the fall season in this region of U.S. We often went to the farm in Vermont to get maple syrup and cheese, go up to Maine to eat lobsters and see the northern ocean.

 The lake at Concord, MA

I did have my clam chowder, twice, in our 4 days of trip! One in the roadside caboose cafe of small town in Connecticut, and the other one in the famous Colonial Inn at Concord, MA. They both were good.

So, what does this Korean soft tofu clam stew called Soondubu Jjigae(순두부찌개) has to do with Norman Rockwell or New England?
Nothing! Absolutely nothing!
I don't know Mr. Rockwell ever had tofu in his life but he should have eaten clams, though.
I just wanted to comfort myself in this chilly weather with this hot stew and try to find my Korean innocence along the way.

Warning! This is spicy stew, in case you want to knock yourself out...

 The list is long this time.

Korean soy sauce, chili oil, chili flakes, mushrooms, clams, Asian leeks,

red and green chili, onion, garlic, dried anchovies and sea kelp, egg, beef, and soft tofu...

 Did I miss any? 

I hope not...

 Close up for the main ingredients;

The clams, beef, and the tofu

I happened to have precooked clams (that's why their mouths are open) in my freezer 

so I did not have to clean myself.

If you buy fresh clams (even better), soak them in salted water in a bowl covered with dark plastic bag  and keep them in the fridge over night.
That will get rid of all their ocean gunk in them.

  

First, make anchovy stock.

For detailed instruction click here.
You will need about 1 1/2 cup.

Prepare the vegetables.

Chop, dice, slice, tear or whatever...

In a heavy bottom pot, heat the chili oil over medium heat.

Saute beef, onion, garlic, with chili flakes for 2 minutes.

Now, I added 1Tbsp of chili flakes. That is on the very milder side.

If you want to knock yourself out add 2Tbsp or more.

If you want to knock someone else out... 

Well, all I can say is, follow your guts.

He/she might curse you when he/she sits on the toilet.

Add the stock to the pot.

Let them boil, about 1 minutes.

Cut the tofu package with knife.

Don't panic if the water squirt out.

Squeeze out big chunks of tofu into the pot.

Let it boil for 1 minute.

If you are using fresh clams, add with tofu and boil for 2 minutes.

Add mushroom, and chilies.

I add my clams last since they are already cooked.

Season with Korean soy sauce.

You can use fish sauce instead as a substitute.

Lastly add Daepa (Asian leeks), and crack one egg in the pot.

Turn off the heat and cover.

The heat in the pot will cook the egg white and some yolk.

If you want your egg to be cooked completely just keep the stove heat on.

Taste it first and season with salt and pepper if you need.

You can add a tiny bit of sesame oil if you like.

Done!

I am having a lunch with meditation,

with a tissue in one hand in case I need to wipe my nose.

Life goes on with time no matter what.

We all get older and wiser.

Our body will fade away just like the leaves,

but our spirit will remain the same. 

Once in a while,

Bring out the innocence of the past. 

You will find gratitude and joy of life itself.

For that reason,

I thank to Mr. Rockwell

for the memories of my childhood in a country far far away...

 Soft Tofu Clam Stew

(순두부찌개, Soondubu Jjigae)

 makes 2-3 servings

1package soft tofu
1/4lb beef chuck in small chunks
1/3lb clams cleaned
1/2 small onion diced
1 garlic chopped
1Tb chili oil
1-3Tb Korean chili flakes, depends on your preference
1/2 package Enoki mushrooms or other types of mushrooms
1 1/2C anchovy stock*
1/2 red chili sliced
1/2 green chili sliced
1/2 Asian leek sliced
1Tb Korean soy sauce or 2tsp fish sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1/2tsp sesame oil, optional

Heat chili oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Saute beef, onion, garlic with chili flakes until beef is browned and the onion becomes translucent. Add Anchovy stock to the pot. Let it boil for 1-2 minutes.

Cut the tofu package and squeeze out the tofu into the pot. Make sure you keep the tofu in big chunks. Add clams and let the stew boil for 1 minute. You will see the clams starting to open. Add the mushrooms, chilies, and leeks. Season with Korean soy sauce or fish sauce.

Crack one egg and add it to the pot. Cover the lid and turn off the stove heat. The heat inside of the pot will cook the egg. if you want to cook the egg completely, just keep the heat on for 1 more minute.
Taste it first and adjust seasoning by adding salt and pepper. You can drop a tiny bit of sesame oil if you like.
Serve with hot bowl of rice and make sure you have a napkin with you.  :)

*Anchovy stock
6-7 dried large anchovies
2-3 slices of dried sea kelp
2 cups water

Combine all in a pot, cover, and let it boil for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it sit for 20 minutes covered. Remove the anchovies and the sea kelp.

Printable recipe