By Britney Kang | Photography by John Francis Ducusin
By now, Filipinos are well-acquainted with kimchi, the Korean national dish consisting of fermented chili peppers and vegetables, the most commonly used being Napa cabbages.
Using kimchi as an ingredient in other dishes, however, is something we are less familiar with. Koreans use kimchi pretty extensively in other dishes, which adds an interesting savory dimension to dishes because of its fermented and salty flavors.
Because of the red hue of the gochugaru (red chili flakes) paste, which is used generously to coat every leaf when preparing kimchi, the stew looks more spicy than it actually is. The stew actually presents a milder version of kimchi as the broth dilutes its concentrated flavors.Once in awhile, though, you get the kimchi version, which is more tart and works up your appetite quite a bit.
Kimchi Chigae
- 200g kimchi
- 1/4 onion
- 30g leek
- 80g tofu
- Korean pepper powder
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 3 cups water
- 1 can of Korean tuna fish
Preparation
1 Separate some of the kimchi leaves one by one and chop the rest.
2 Slice the onion.
3 Cut the leeks into 4 to 5 cm long.
Method
1 Boil water with onion and pepper.
2 In a separate pan, stir-fry kimchi for 10 minutes.
Try not to burn the kimchi because the burnt flavor will transfer to the broth.
3 Add tofu, tuna, leeks, onion and Korean pepper powder.
4 Boil for 15 minutes on medium heat.
5 Add salt for seasoning and serve warm.