a big pot of kimchi soup (kimchi jjigae)
craving kimchi soup for many days on end
Impromptu dinner parties are my favorite. Last night I was reminded. a morning of surfing at ocean beach, followed by an afternoon of roaming around renegade craft fair, called for an evening of soup with friends.
Kimchi soup has been on mind lately. After a long flight to D.C. a few weeks ago I uber eats-ed Kimchi soup and fell in love. The bright, intense flavor - spicy/tangy/umami - , the jiggly silken tofu, the little containers of banchan (Korean sides) that accompanied it. It soothed, comforted, and restored me after a draining day.
When my friend suggested getting dinner at a tofu house in NYC a two weeks later I was very excited to try this soup sans the plastic. it was freezing cold outside thus tucking into a steaming bowl of spicy kimchi soup sounded ideal. We arrived hungry, ready to eat. And drink. grape soju was being poured. the banchan arrived first and I couldn’t help snack on it. a bowl of lots of tiny salty fried fish, kimchi, smashed spicy cucumbers, a hand-sized fried fish, and lots more. the soup came piping hot - so hot that you crack a raw egg into the broth and it will quickly poach.
Fast forward to last night. Kimchi soup still be circling my brain. I pulled up a recipe from the Korean Vegan, and went to work chopping vegetables and chatting with my flatmates. The base of the soup is a vibrant chili oil made with gochugaro. a simple stir of gochugaro into hot oil and it blooms into a fiery red foam. Then, stir in the veggies and coat them in the oil. the additions of gochujang, kimchi, soy sauce, and broth then bring the soup to life. My favorite part is spooning the jiggly silken tofu into the piping hot broth. The soup bubbled away on the stove as I chatted with my guests.
More faces popped in. And there was lots of wine going around. My brother was there. and three of my flatmates and two of their friends. My friend George. My two coworkers even came. the soup filled all of our bellies and had some (George) sweating on the couch. these nights remind me why I love cooking. To see my friends smiling with red faces but still going back for seconds. To bring people together that wouldn’t ordinarily be sitting and eating soup together.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed my first real newsletter :) & hope this inspires you to share a bowl of soup with a friend (homemade or not)