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!

Jeyuk Bokkeum (Korean Stir Fried Spicy Pork) 韩式辣炒猪肉

A few weeks ago we happened to have popped into a chain supermarket that sells different kinds of imported groceries. We always like to hang around places like this because we can find so many things that we used to eat/use when we were in the United Kingdom especially snacks and some cooking ingredients from other countries. We actually went there for the bread flour (it is not easy to find bread flour in Malaysia) and we bumped into this Korean goods corner. I found this hot and spicy Kalbi Marinade and the picture on the label reminds us the grilled black pork in Jeju Island, South Korea. My husband was so excited and we got it home and made this spicy stir fried pork. This was the first time I used the sauce and I remember I saw red pepper paste and other ingredients on the label so I believed I do not have to add too much flavour into it. It is spicy, sweet and very hot! We liked it so much but I know I should reduce the marinade next time to avoid sausage lips after eating this XD

Ingredients: 
300g Pork belly (about 1inch wide but thinly sliced)
1 1/2 tbsp of Hot and Spicy Kalbi Marinade (I added 3tbsp and it was fiery!!)
1/2 Onion (wedged)
2 cloves Garlic (sliced)
1/2 stalk Leek (cut into 1/2 inch wide)
100g Oyster mushrooms (washed and roughly sliced - they shrink after cooking)
some Cabbage Kimchi (roughly chopped) - optional
2tbsp Sesame oil
3tbsp water
A pinch of salt

Steps:
1. Add the marinade into the pork and stir well. Leave it aside for at least 20 minutes.
2. Heat a pan at medium heat. Add sesame oil and followed by onion and garlic. (Sesame oil get burnt easily so do not wait too long)
3. Stir fry the onion for a few seconds and add the pork (including the marinade) into the pan. Stir fry until the pork is crispy on the outside.
4. Add kimchi, leek and mushroom and stir fry a little (do not reduce the heat).
5. The heat and ingredients dry up the pan in second. Add water from the sides at this stage together with a pinch of salt and stir fry until the sauce is reduced to the maximum. 
6. Remove from heat and ready to serve with steamed rice or wrap with fresh lettuce the Korean way of eating. Enjoy!