Tofu soup

I'm excited to share with you another recipe! It's been a while since I found a dish I was enthusiastic about making. Today I made an easy homemade version of Korean tofu soup (jjigae). Authentic recipes call for kelp, clam, and anchovies for making the broth but as a student I don't have time to scout for these quality ingredients. I have to rely on quick but healthy shortcuts. This version took me about 15 min-20 min including prep time, so it passed the test breezily.

Kimchi tofu soup
3 spoonfuls of kimchi
Minced garlic
Vegetable broth
Gojujang
Hot pepper powder
Sesame oil
Dashi or dried seaweed, or both!
Tofu - soft or silken
Vegetables of choice - broccoli, mushroom, etc.
Green onions

Instructions
Chapter 1 is to find a brand of kimchi that suits your taste because that's going to be basis of the soup.
1. In a pot, add oil and minced garlic, cook until aromatic.
2. Add kimchi and stir-fry for 30s-1min.

Next step is to add 1.5 tbsp of gojujang. Wang is the brand that's available at my go-to Asian supermarket.

 

Add 1 tbsp of hot pepper powder for a medium-spicy level. Again, I used Wang. 

3. Stir, stir, stir. Let the flavors mature with the heat. 

Chapter 3 is to add water! My pot holds about 1 gallon of water so I filled it halfway with 1:1 ratio of water and vegetable broth.
4. Let it come to a boil and simmer for about 3 min.
5. Add dashi or dried seaweed. This is to give it that subtle abalone aroma. I didn't have dashi, so I took a box of these sesame-roasted seaweed and crumbled them up.
6. Add salt to taste.

Finally it's time to add whatever you like in your soup!
7. Cut up your tofu into half-inch squares and put it in the simmering soup. Turn up the heat, let it come to a boil, and lower the heat again to have it simmer again.
8. Cut your broccoli, mushroom, or any other veggies into bite-sized pieces and drop them in! By this time, the soup was up to the top of my pot.

If you are planning to cook other dishes, I recommend holding off the vegetables until 10 min before serving. You wouldn't want to overcook them!

When it's time to serve, turn off the heat before adding green onion (1 inch pieces) and a Tbsp of sesame oil. Now it is ready to serve! At times like these, I wish I had a stone bowl so I can crack an egg on top. Perhaps I'll scout out some in the near future.

 Hope you enjoy!