Recipe All / Banchan / Others

Adding a Depth of Flavor

12.02.16

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Lately, I’ve been working on making my own stock and sauce that I can use daily. I know, this sounds time consuming but I can honestly say that it may be worth the time if you make your own banchan (side dishes) or do a lot of Korean cooking at home. By learning to cook using homemade stocks and sauces, you can easily add a depth of flavor without adding too much seasoning. Let’s just say the amount of sugar, salt and soy sauce that was being added to deepen the flavors seemed…well, bit alarming. The idea of it came from this one Korean cooking expert and recipe developer named Shim Young Soon (심영순). Now in her late 70s, she’s been developing recipes and teaching Korean home-cooking for past four decades in Korea. She is currently on Korean cooking battle show called Taste of Korea (한식대첩) as part of judges panel and still actively promoting the art and culture of Korean food. The sweet and savory sauce recipe is from Ms. Shim and it has changed the way I cook and eat around here. I hope it comes in handy for you as well.

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Recipe All / Soup & Stew

Kimchi Jjigae

10.19.16

img_0361Photography by Selina S. Lee

KIMCHI JJIGAE (김치찌개) – 2-3 Servings

INGREDIENT
1 ½ cup of fermented/ripen kimchi – recommends Im Soon Ja brand (임순자 익은김치)
½ block of soft tofu for stews (찌개용 두부)
1 cup chopped pork – mix of lean and pork belly
1 tsp preserved shrimp (pn. Saeujeot 새우젓)
1 chopped green onion
1 cup water
½ cup seafood broth – optional (멸치육수)
vegetable oil

PREPARATION
Kimchi should be fully fermented and ripen. It should be soft and bit sour. Newly made kimchi will not give same type of flavor in the stew. / Cut kimchi and pork in good bite size pieces (about 1.5”). / Cut half of tofu block and slice them thin (shown in picture above). You should get 2-3 pieces. / Chop green onion to add before serving.

COOKING INSTRUCTION
1. On high heat skillet, cook mixed pork until it’s almost crispy on the edges. Set it aside on kitchen paper towel to drain oil.
2. In a shallow pot add chopped kimchi with little bit of vegetable oil and saute them until it’s soft and cooked. Add cooked pork and saute a little more to mix.
TIP: You can add little bit of sugar when sauteeing the kimchi if you think kimchi is too sour. Sweetness balances out sourness really well! Also, I love using Korean nickel-silver pots (양은냄비) because it heats and cooks fast!
3. Add water and seafood broth and boil it for about 15 mins by closing the lid. If you are not using the seafood broth, add more water.  I like to add a tsp of preserved shrimp for the extra savory flavor!  NOTE: Seafood broths are usually made with dried kelp, dried anchovies.
4. On lower heat, add tofu and boil it for another 5 mins. Keep pouring the juice from the stew over the tofu to flavor it. Add chopped onions before serving. Don’t forget to serve it with a bowl of rice!