Nibbles and Bites: Kimchi Jiggae [Kimchi Stew]
What do you do with a handful of kimchi, a package of ramen, a big handful of spinach, one whole onion (small onion), one potato and pork??
Well, my title is a dead giveaway, so good job! Yes, kimchi jiggae is right. A common dish in Korean households, kimchi jiggae is delicious, easy to make, and can be molded to suit your tastes and your ingredients on hand. What I mean by this is that there are a lot of ingredients that you can include or not include based on what you like to eat. I had lots of spinach, so I added spinach. I also wanted to eat potatoes, so I added potatoes (sorry to all Koreans out there who are shocked by my untraditional ways...forgive me!!). At the end of this post, I will post some other suggestions on what you can add to the pot that I did not add.
So cut your veggies and meat up. I did cubes for potatoes, and slices for the pork. And I cut the onions pretty small but you can cut it however you would like it. In your main pot, add water to the pot, based on how much stew you want. I did half the pot. Add a handful of kimchi onto the pot (more or less based on how much spice you can take, you can also add spicy pepper paste to make it more spicy and yummy) and let the water boil. After the water starts boiling, add in the potatoes. Marinate your pork in soy sauce and sugar for 15 minutes and then fry that in a pan with onions until they're almost fully cooked (you're going to boil it in the pot for awhile as well). Add that into the pot and then add the package of ramen noodles (the sauce packages are unnecessary). After that's been cooking for a bit, add the spinach finally! Make sure the noodles are done cooking and you're ready to turn the heat off and eat eat eat! Make sure you get some side dishes to enjoy along with this delicious stew! I have my preserved radish which is sweet and refreshing. And of course, milk! Definitely a must for those who have low heat tolerance.
Other ingredients to consider:
Especially if you have low spicy tolerance, eggs are a blessing in kimchi stew. In fact, I was originally going to add an egg into my stew, but I completely forgot about it! But seriously, when you bite into the egg yolk, it counteracts the spiciness of the stew and it's the perfect feeling. You must try it sometime!
Yum yum tofu! What would our korean dish be without tofu?? Unfortunately, I only have one block in my house right now and I must save ALL of it for my tofu stew coming up next week!!! I definitely prefer soft tofu over firm tofu, but, do what you like!
I confess. I detest mushrooms with a passion. I really tried to eat it, but I really don't enjoy the taste. But if you like them, by all means, add them! Bring more pleasure to your eating.
The universal ingredient to make food yummier! I actually did not have any on hand, so I somewhat substituted normal onions, next time, green onions for sure!
I believe the more traditional way to enjoy kimchi jiggae is to not add ramen noodles and to cook rice instead and eat those two together. And it is a delicious combo! So if you're a rice fan, go for it!
For you vegetarians or people who don't enjoy meat. Or maybe you just don't have any meat on hand. No worries! This dish tastes just as delicious without the meat!
Hope you guys enjoyed that and happy eating! For all you people who enjoy kimchi jiggae, what do you put in your kimchi jiggae?
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