김치순두부찌게 [Kimchi-Soon-Tofu-Jjigye]
Here is our soup du jour! I love the look of a raw egg in my ttukbaegi, a traditional Korean hot pot. Ttukbaegi makes a perfect cooking and serving ware for most Korean guk (soups) or jjigye (stew), as it naturally retains heat for a long time and keep foods warm until you finish. Soon after taking this photo, we buried the egg under the tofu so that it slowly cooks while we spoon off tofus from the top. Enjoy~ :D
For 2 servings
Soup Broth:
dry anchovies (6)
dry kelps (2)
water (1 cup)
Seasoning:
red pepper oil (1 tbl)
chili powder (1 tbl)
sesame oil (1/2 tbl)
garlic (3, minced)
salted shrimp sauce (1/2 tbl)
Other:
clams (2-3)
onion (1/4 cup, chopped)
kimchi (1/4 cup, chopped)
mushrooms (2, sliced)
scallion or leek (1/2 stalk, sliced)
jalepeno and/or red pepper (1/4, sliced)
soft tofu (1 pack)
egg (1, raw)
1.
Bring dry anchovies and dry kelps to boil in water.
2.
In a separate pot, preferably a ttukbaegi, glaze with red pepper oil and add chili powder. Then stir fry chopped onions and minced garlic.
3.
Add sesame oil to sizzling pot from Step 2 and add chopped kimchi and clams together. Stir.
4.
Add 1/2 cup of anchovy and kelp broth from Step 1 to the sizzling mix of kimchi and seasonings in Step 3. Add soft tofu soon after. (In the picture, I switched the pot to avoid spillover...)
5.
Add other vegetables like mushrooms, scallion and some slices of chili if you prefer spicy.
6.
Season the soup with salted shrimp sauce and bring the soup to boil.
7.
Remove from heat. Add a raw egg on top before serving.
Related Recipe:
Soft Tofu Soup
된장찌게[Doen-Jang-Jji-Gye]
I can’t remember exactly when we had this particular Doenjang Jjigye (Soybean Paste Stew) for dinner because it comes from my backlog of recipes - in which I have about five recipes now waiting to be published - that I need to blog otherwise they will be sequestered into my hard drive without ever given a chance to shine. One other reason I can’t remember the exact date is probably because we have Doenjang Jjigye for dinner so often than any other dish or soup that its significance went unnoticed in my memory...
Last time I blogged about how to make Doenjang Jjigye, I used beef stock instead of using anchovy and kelp soup stock as this time. In fact, how to cook and what composes Doenjang Jjigye have no strict rules as long as Doenjang (soybean paste) goes in the soup. You could make it thick or light, with seafood or with meat, with added tofus or without, and etc. It all depends on what you feel like having on the day of cooking and, for me, more often what’s in my fridge that day. On this day, I must’ve had several packs of tofu in my fridge because I see I put lots of them in the soup.
For 2 servings
Soup base:
dried anchovies (10)
dreid kelp (2)
soybean paste (1 1/2 tbl)
red pepper paste (1/2 tsp, optional)
water (1 1/2 cup)
Main ingredients:
onion (1/2, small)
white zucchini (1/3, sliced)
shitake mushroom (1, sliced)
enoki mushroom (1/2 pack)
tofu (1/2 pack)
jalepeno and/or peppers (1/3, for garnish)
1.
Make soup base by bringing dried anchovies and dried kelps to boil in water.
2.
Meanwhile prepare vegetables.
3.
Fish out the anchovies and kelps shortly after the water starts boiling.
4.
Stir in the soybean paste.
5.
Add onions
6.
and the rest of vegetables.
7.
When the soup is boiling, add a little bit of red pepper paste. This is my secret ingredient (not anymore though (:).
8.
Slice jalapeno and/or red pepper to garnish the soup.
9.
Add tofu and garnishes and bring the soup to boil one more time before serving.
Related Posts:
Soybean Paste Soup
Soybean Paste
두부김치[To-Fu-Kim-Chi]
Technically, this is made up of two separate dishes: ‘fried kimchi’ and ‘steamed tofu.’ Both are very tasty by themselves, but when they are served together they create wonderful gastromatic synergy - the sweet soury and spiceness of fried kimchi is perfectly balanced by plain soft and warm taste of tofu...
Tofu Kimchi makes a wonderful side dish for a rice meal, but more popular is served as an anju (a side dish consumed with alcohol) with soju (Korean rice liquor). If the first thing you thought of after looking at the picture of above is soju, you are a true Korean soju lover, people will say. ;)
For 2 servings:
kimchi (1/2 bunch)
tofu (1 block, medium firm)
vegetable oil (1 tbl)
sesame oil (1/2 tbl)
sesame seeds (1/4 tbl for garnish)
sugar (1 tsp, optional)
1.
Steam a block of tofu or boil it in water for 10 to 15 minutes.
2.
Chop the top off napa cabbage kimchi.
3.
Glaze a pan with vegetable oil (1 tbl) and stir-fry kimchi.
4.
Add sesame oil and little bit of sugar to kimchi.
5.
When tofu is done cooking, move it onto a plate and cut into bite-size keeping the overall shape intact.
6.
Place fried-kimchi around the tofu and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
7.
Wrap tofu with a strip of fried kimchi to eat. :D
타이카레[Thai Curry]
I bought a bottle of Thai Yellow Curry Sauce at Trader Joe’s the other day and came up with this dish. I also named it basically after the ingredients that were used. I am not sure if such a dish exists in Thai foods, it really tastes good. Well, I have to give some credits to Trader Joe’s for the sauce though. :) When you cook, try it also with other meat or vegetables that you like such as beef, lamb, Bok Choy, and etc.
For 2 servings:
tofu (1/2 pack, medium firm)
broccoli (1 cup)
carrot (1/4 cup, sliced)
Thai Yellow Curry Sauce (1/3 cup)
oil
salt
1.
First, you need the sauce. I bought this Thai Yellow Curry Sauce in Trader Joes's. If there is no TJ nearby, I guess you could try making it yourself following some online instructions. Good luck! :P
2.
Pat dry tofu with paper towel before frying. Otherwise, the oil will be popping all over your stove...
3.
Cut tofu into bite-size cubes and sprinkle salt over them.
4.
Glaze a pan with enough oil and fry the tofu cubes until they turn golden brown on both sides on medium heat.
5.
While the tofus are frying, prepare vegetables.
6.
On a frying pan or a wok, add vegetables and fried tofu.
7.
Add the curry sauce and stir-fry quickly.
김치두부전골 [Kim-chi-To-fu-Jeon-Gol]
My mother-in-law used to be a professional chef. Though she’s now retired, I still find some traits of a professional chef in her when she’s at cooking.
First, she cooks at an incredible speed; At one moment, I’d see her opening a refrigerator door, and next I’d find something already being stir-fried on the stove and is ready to be served. She also cooks a lot both by the sheer quantity of food and the variety of dishes she prepare. Whenever we are eating at her place, I see her bring out side-dishes one after another only until there’s no more room on the table. It’s just overwhelming to see so many foods on a table sometimes. Lastly but not least, her dishes are so delicious that they leave our taste buds spoiled for a long time. Need I say more?
Looking at the picture of dinner table at my mother-in-law’s above reminds me of what she once told me about the three qualities of foods: they have to look good, taste delicious and are nutritious for our body. :D
유부 [Yu-Bu]
Tofu is one of the most popular ingredients used in Asian cooking. Likewise, its variations like fried bean curd (a form of fried-tofu) above also make wonderful additions to the wide spectrum of Asian foods. Supposedly, 'fried bean curd' is made by deep-frying dry tofu twice over at two different temperatures, and the process generates an air bubble in the middle and crisp outer skin, and fluffy and sagged fried bean curd at the end.
순두부찌게 [Soon-To-fu-Jji-Gye]
It was just few days after I launched this website, when Min and I went to visit my parents. And, my parents seemed to be very excited over the idea of KoreanHomeCooking.com, maybe more than I was (my dad is a super foodie and my mom is also a proud chef of the house). I think the foodie gene flows in my family ;D According to mom, dad had been talking for days about different dishes that mom could cook when we come home, so that I could blog about them.
When we woke up in the morning, dad already had a list of breakfast menus from which we were to choose one. Soft Tofu Soup was a winner for the day.
Although Soft Tofu Soup is one of my mom's expertise, mom got so nervous at one point that she forgot to add some ingredients and we had to remind her. She must've felt pressure under camera... :D
Please note that my mom's recipe below makes very mild, less spicy Soft Tofu Soup than ones found in restaurants.
For 5 servings
Main ingredients:
soft Tofu (5 packs)
hard shell clams (15)
oyster (10)
shrimps (10)
white mushroom (5-7, or any kind is fine)
onion (1/2, sliced)
sesame oil (1 tbl, or any kind of oil)
For seasoning:
red pepper oil (3 tbl)
chili powder (2 tbl)
water (1 tbl)
scallion (3 stalks, chopped)
garlic (3 cloves, minced)
salt
1.
Prepare seafood (oyster, shrimp, clams) aside.
2.
Cut vegetables and set aside.
3.
Prepare a mix of seasoning with red pepper oil, chili powder, minced garlic, chopped scallion, and water.
4.
Glaze the pot with sesame oil in high heat.
5.
Caramelize the onion.
6.
Add soft tofu. Some soft tofus are sold in tube packages. They are good, too. Tip: There is no need to add water here; the soft tofu will spit out water when it's cooked. You will see.
7.
Add rest of the vegetables and seafood.
8.
Add the seasoning mix. Close the lid and let it cook for 10 minutes at medium heat.
9.
Stir occasionally so that tofu is well mixed with other ingredients. The water in the soup came from soft tofu!
10.
If you like, add a raw egg to the soup right before serving.
Related Posts:
Kimchi Soft Tofu Soup
