Kimchi soup with pork and tofu
It’s not jjigae (which is a stew) and it’s not traditional Korean kimchi soup either. The heat is milder, there’s a subtle sweetness and the soup base is decidedly Japanese.
Servings 3 people
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons sesame seed oil
- 450 grams thinly sliced pork belly (14 oz) cut into bite-sized pieces
- ¼ cup Japanese soy sauce
- ¼ cup sake
- ¼ cup mirin
- 1 onion peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 cups kimchi cut into bite-sized pieces (do not discard the juice)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons dashi granules
- 1 small carrot peeled and thinly sliced
- ½ to 1 teaspoon chili flakes optional
- 1 300-gram block silken tofu (10.5 oz) cut int one-inch cubes
- ½ cup sliced scallions
Instructions
- Heat the sesame oil in a pot.
- Spread the pork slices on the hot oil and leave to cook for a minute or so. Stir and cook just until no longer pink.
- Pour in the soy sauce, sake and mirin. Cook until the pork slices have soaked up most of the liquid.
- Add the onion and cook with occasional stirring until translucent.
- Add the kimchi with the juice.
- Pour in about six cups of water.
- Stir in the dashi.
- Taste and add fish sauce, as needed.
- Add the carrot slices and chili flakes.
- Simmer for 30 minutes.
- Stir in the tofu cubes and simmer for another ten minutes.
- Taste the broth, add more fish sauce, if needed, then turn off the heat.
- Add the scallions to the kimchi soup and stir.
- Serve your kimchi soup with pork and tofu immediately.
