Kimchi Chigae (Kimchi Stew) 韩国泡菜汤

Kimchi chigae is one of the most common food that you can find in most of the Korean restaurants. It is mainly cooked in a Korean claypot with cabbage kimchi, tofu, green onions and other ingredients. This is very simple to make and the rich flavour can increase your appetite easily especially in the hot weather like this while warming you up in the chilly weather. Both epic! You can add either seafood or pork into the stew to enhance the flavour. I used pork in my recipe and it tasted amazing. 

I was brought up in a Chinese family and soup is more like a side dish for us. When I first had Kimchi Chigae in a Korean restaurant in London, I was given a bowl of rice. So I get the meat and vegetables from the chigae and eat with the rice. I noticed some weird stares from the staff (Koreans apparently) but I did not know what I have done wrong. This happened a few times until I saw it on a drama and I realised that Koreans have their way in eating this. They add the rice into the stew, lightly press the rice to the bottom and then only they scoop the soup, rice, ingredients in the stew into their bowls for serving. Hmm...I've learnt this up and found it taste a lot better eating this way because you can enjoy the flavour of the stew itself so much better. Try this out and hope you will like Korean food a little more from now on ^^

Ingredients: (serve 2-3)

100g Cabbage kimchi (cut into 2cm wide)

100g Pork (belly/loin, thinly sliced)

200-300g Tofu (cut into cubes)

150g Oyster Mushroom

2tbsp Garlic （finely chopped)

2tbsp Sesame oil

500ml water

a pinch of salt

Steps:

1. Heat a pot (you can use claypot if you have one) at medium heat and add sesame oil followed with garlic. Stir a little and add the pork into the pot and sir fry until the meat becomes lightly golden.

2. Add kimchi in and stir fry for a few seconds.

3. Add water into the pot and bring to the boil. Cover the pot with lid and lower the heat to let it simmer for 20minutes.

4. Remove the lid and turn to high heat. Mushrooms and tofu can now be added into the soup. 5. Stir very gently to avoid breaking the tofu. 

6. Simmer under high heat for 5 minutes. Taste and add salt to adjust to your taste. Remove from heat and ready to serve. 

Enjoy!

Tips: You can add some hot pepper paste (gochujang) if you want more heat and thicker soup!