Spicy Kimchi Stew

Soup.

You can't go wrong with soup, especially in the winter. Lately it's been really chilly and I have decided to make kimchi soup. Kimchi soup is a great dish to make and it's fairly simple, its composed of Shiitake mushrooms, pork, tofu, cabbage kimchi, vegetable oil, garlic, vegetable stock, springs onions, and salt (Song). while cooking this I had to first stir fry all of the raw meats, tofu, and vegetables first so that all of the ingredient would be evenly flavored and cooked. In the book it recommended that firm tofu was used because "...better suited to firm tofu, rather than soft tofu, because it is less likely to break up during cooking." (Song) that was really interesting to me because I never thought soft tofu where that delicate.

So after I was done stir frying the next step was to pour in the vegetable stock in, but I realized that I didn't have it so, I was forced to use water as a substitute which made me a little sad. I still wonder if the water makes any difference from the stock, but well never know now since its a little too late. BUT the soup didn't turn out bad, I mean it was a bit bland but over all it wasn't bad.

Besides the taste being bland I felt as if something was missing, so i decided to look around my house and I ended finding some frozen udon. I thought maybe if I added some udon it would be a great combination and it was! This dish is very satisfying when you want something sour and spicy on a cold day, also this could be eaten with rice, noodle, or by it's self.

What are some new dishes that you have made that you either added or taken out an ingredient to satisfy your taste buds?
 Song, Young Jin. The Food & Cooking of Korea. London: Lorenz, 2007. Print.