An Experimental Kimchi Jjigae (김치 찌개)
Sam G.: The fridge stinks.
Diva: -sniffs- I don’t smell anything.
Sam G.: Well I’ve got a big nose so I’m pretty sensitive to smells.
Diva: -sniffs fridge again- Nothing stinky is hitting me yet.
Sam G.: It smells. Like really bad.
Bewildered, I sniffed the fridge about every hour, thinking that my morning sinus was probably fogging up the system and thus needed a little time before it cleared off. Lo and behold, I was the cause of this clinging stench lingering on the fridge shelves and what was the bringer of stink? Kimchi. Who would have guessed that this lovely-tasting Korean pickle could turn out to be a major stink bomb? The smell just kinda came and went when you peered into the fridge. You could only smell it if you really stuck your head in and moved it from top shelf down — something you’d normally do to check out what food you’ve got in the fridge. Blimey. It was pretty bad. I was in a pickle (don’t mind that pun, eh).
The only thing to do was either eat it straightaway or cook it and then seal it up in airtight lunchbox. I did the latter. I had stuffed my face with kimchi and tofu for lunch, I wasn’t going to do it again for dinner. It would be too sad. There wasn’t very much kimchi left anyway to bother repacking the damn thing in a lunchbox so I decided to turn it into a soup as my younger sister advised. She is the queen of Korean food. Actually, she is just a Korea-obsessed chick. It’s truly adorable and very handy when you’re craving something Korean.
This jjigae is rather experimental because instead of using a kimchi broth or adding gochujang, a Korean chili paste, I played around with Japanese kombu stock and added konnyaku to produce some sort of nabe hot pot / jjigae creation. It surely isn’t authentic and thinking back on the time I had real kimchi jjigae, the taste is very different and you can blame this on the difference in stock and lack of gochujang. However, the taste wasn’t bad at all and you can say it is a less spicy and milder version of the real McCoy. I’d make this again, this time without all my post-its stuck up everywhere declaring my love for all types of food and therefore, apologetic for bringing home Stinky (as I would now call my yummy Korean pickles). Gosh, let’s try to avoid that embarrassing situation in the future!
Experimental Kimchi Jjigae
Ingredients
- 1 chicken breast, sliced into strips or chunks
1 tbs sake
a handful shiitake mushrooms, stalks removed and tops slit
2 bundles konnyaku
1 cup kimchi
2 cups water
1/2 to 1 packet tofu, sliced
2 spring onions, sliced
1/2 cup chopped white onions
1 tbs vegetable oil
- For seasoning:
2 tbs kombu soup concentrate
1/2 tsp hot chili powder
1/2 tsp minced garlic
soy sauce, optional
In a large saucepan, heat some vegetable oil. Lightly sauté the minced garlic and white onions. Then add the kimchi and 2 cups water. Bring it to a boil, then add the sake, kombu concentrate, hot chili powder and half the spring onions. Give it a good stir before adding the chicken to cook. Leave this to cook and simmer about 10 minutes with the lid on.
Next, add the shiitake mushrooms. Give it a taste and add more chili powder if needed or a little soy sauce if needed. Then gently slide the tofu into the soup. Cover and let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes on low heat. Remove lid after simmering, turn the heat up slightly. Add the konnyaku, give it a stir to let heat through.
Serve with the rest of the spring onions.
