Kimchi Sundubu Jjigae (Spicy Soft Tofu Stew with Kimchi and Pork)

Welcome to another week of my adventures in Korean cooking! This week I decided to go with a dish that has always captivated me. I think it is so cool that this dish is served bubbling. It's also spicy, delicious and the perfect go to dish. I had the fortune of tasting this dish at BCD Tofu House on Saturday. Normally when I cook it is the first time I am both cooking and tasting the dish. I enjoy it when I can taste a dish prepared by someone familiar with this style of cooking. It helps me to gauge how I well my dishes come out. I can tell you, this one turned out great!
This week on the playlist we have two songs that make me want to dance! I love to dance and music is very important when it comes to setting the tone of the dance. I really enjoy Kpop because the music always has the most amazing beat and it is one of my go-to's for dancing. The first song is by none other than the amazing BOA. She is so beautiful, talented and an amazing dancer. A friend of mine introduced me to this song and I am so thankful. BOA is amazing and this video showcases just how awesome she is. The song is Eat You Up. This song has all the great elements of a Kpop song but the lyrics are in English. I appreciate this because I love understand the words in a song and knowing what it is about. The dancing in this video is phenomenal. I think anyone who loves to dance will appreciate the choreography. The next song is If You Do by GOT7. I really enjoy the dancing in this video. I love how they use movement to convey the emotions of the lyrics. The music is emotional yet upbeat and I love it. But I will admit that I get frustrated with the girl that is the subject of the song. If a girl says "It's up to you if you want to break up. I don't care.  Just do whatever you want. It doesn't matter to me. I'll just go to sleep." That person is manipulative and please break up with them.
Now it's time for some stew! Are you ready? I got this recipe from Maangchi.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup anchovy stock (You find the recipe here)

2 tablespoons hot pepper flakes

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon vegetable oil.

1/2 cup ground pork or pork belly

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 clove minced garlic

1 green onion, chopped

1/2 cup well-fermented kimchi, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 tube of soft tofu (sundubu)

1 egg

Step 1.

Combine the red pepper flakes and sesame oil in a small bowl.

Step 2. 

Heat up a 3 cup earthenware pot on the stove over medium high heat for 3 to 4 minutes. 

Step 3.

Add the vegetable oil, onion and garlic. Stir and allow to cook for 1 minute.

Step 4.

Add the pork and allow to cook until the pork is no longer pink.

Step 5.

Add the kimchi and allow everything to cook for 1 minute. 

Step 6.

Add the 1/2 cup anchovy stock. Cover and allow this to cook for 7 minutes over medium heat.

Step 7.

Add the salt and sugar and mix well.

Step 8.

Add the soft tofu to the pot. Gently break it up with a wooden spoon.

Step 9.

Add the hot pepper mixture and spread it with a spoon.

Step 10.

Crack the egg onto the stew. Let it bubble and sizzle for 1 minute.

Just sprinkle with some green onions and it is ready to serve with some rice! I think this is one of my favorite dishes that I've made. Although there are lots of steps it's not too hard to make. It is so delicious and I imagine that I will make it a lot more. Thank you for joining me on my adventure. If there are any dishes that you think I should make please leave them in the comments. I look forward to seeing you next week for another adventure. 

XOXO,

Rachel 

Kang Doenjang

Hello! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I'm sorry that I haven't posted about the EXO concert. Things have been crazy busy and I haven't had to opportunity to sit down and write the post. But I promise it will be worth the wait. This weeks recipe is going to be a little different. I actually don't have a recipe for this dish. I saw it being made in a section of a YouTube video that I watched. It looked so delicious so I tried to recreate the recipe as best I could using only visuals. It turned out pretty delicious and I think it looks pretty close to how it looks in the video. You can check that out here and tell me how I did. The recipe I made is at the very end of the video.
This weeks playlist is a bit different. I've been branching out and listening to different groups so that I can widen my music selection to share with you.  The first song is Roll Deep by HyunA featuring Ilhoon of BTOB. The song itself is pretty fun. It's got a good beat and is fun to sing along to. The video is interesting. It touches on imagery seen in other artist's videos. Ilhoon's superman robe reminds me of G-Dragon's Wonder Woman robe in the Crayon video. HyunA at one point has a definite Miley Cyrus vibe. I enjoy HyunA because she's beautiful and badass. The next song is Just Right by GOT7. I really enjoy the message of this song. They're telling the girl that she's beautiful just the way she is and doesn't need to listen to people telling her she has imperfections. The song is fun and upbeat. The music video is a little funny but I enjoyed it. I always find it interesting to see the dance moves they pair with a song. This video definitely features some interesting ones. Both these songs are really great and I love dancing to them :) Maybe one day, if you're lucky, I'll post a video of me dancing and singing along with some Kpop songs.

Now it's time for my recipe!

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
5 green Korean peppers
7 Shiitake mushrooms
2 tablespoons gochujang
3 tablespoons doenjang
1 tablespoon minced garlic
water

Rice and Red Leaf Lettuce to eat it with.

Step 1.
Combine the beef, peppers, mushrooms, garlic, gochujang and doenjang together in a medium sized pot and mix well.

 

Step 2.
Add enough water to cover the ingredients. I added about 2 cups.

Step 3.
Cover and cook on medium heat until the ground beef is cooked through.

Now its ready to eat. I took a piece of red leaf lettuce and put some rice and then some of the Kang Doenjang on it and ate it that way.

It turned out pretty well. It was very delicious. Next time I think I will add less water. This could also be made in a small portion, which I think would be better. What are your thoughts? Do you have any recipes you think I should try? What's been your favorite recipe so far? Leave it in the comments below.

XOXO,
Rachel