cooking around the world

in ,

Now that we’re trapped at home all day, it’s nice to spice up the home cooking with some food from other countries and cultures. I’ve made Vietnamese chicken (baked over a bed of salt), Japanese boneless fried chicken and today for lunch, soft tofu stew (Kimchi Soondubu Jjigae) adapted from a recipe from this Korean site. It was seriously easy and fast. And delicious.

Here’s my version:

1/2 a package of extra soft/silken tofu
1/3 cup thinly sliced kimchi
3 ounces pork or beef (I used one small pork sausage out of its casing)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 cup broth
2 to 3 tablespoons juice from kimchi
salt to taste and pinch black pepper
1 scallion, finely
1 egg (optional)

Combine the kimchi, sausage, garlic powder and sesame oil in a small pot, and place it over medium heat. Stir-fry until the meat is almost cooked, 3 - 4 minutes. Pour in broth and the juice from the kimchi. Bring it to a boil, and continue to boil for 3 - 4 minutes. Add the soft tofu, salt to taste (start with 1/4 teaspoon) and black pepper. Cook for 4 -5 minutes. Add the chopped scallion just before removing the pot from the heat. If desired, crack an egg into the stew to serve while it’s still boiling hot.