Korean Cooking Project Kimchi Tofu Soup 김치순두부찌개

Kimchi Stew (김치 찌개) is one the Koreans favourite soup which is available all year round at their dinning table. It is sometime known as either "Kimchi Soup, Kimchi Stew or Kimi Jjigae " which is all referring to a pot of piping red hot soup made with Kimchi, Tofu and Meat or Seafood.

Although I have being to Korea about 2 years ago during our winter trip (read more HERE),  I have never come across my mind to learn how to prepare Korean dishes at home. As friendly speaking I am not a fan of their well-known appetizer; Kimchi(김치) or Korean Rice Cake (Tteok - 떡) which can be used to cook soup, stewed or noodles. (stay tune for my upcoming Korean Rice Cake with Ramen - Rabokki)

KIMCHI TOFU SOUP
(김치순두부찌개)

Recently I am into watching Korean drama craze whereby it makes it curious and keen to learn some of their basic homecook dishes shown in the drama such as Kimchi Stew(김치 찌개), Spicy Korean Instant Ramen, and Japchae(잡채) and etc. So without hesitate I loot back quite a number of Korean Ingredients(read more HERE) to start this Korean Cooking Project.

(Serves: 2 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
150g of Kimchi(김치)
200g of Chicken Fillet, cut into strips
150 - 200g Napa Cabbage(大白菜), cut into thick sections
1 Box Silken Tofu, cut into thick section
2 Stalks of Spring Onion, cut into sections
1 Medium Brown Onion, sliced
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 Tablespoons of Gochujang(고추장)
600ml Of Boiling Water
Salt and Pepper

Method:-

1. Place a hot pot or pan on the stove, saute minced garlic with some 1 teaspoon of sesame/cooking oil till fragrant. Add in chicken fillet and cook till it changes colour to almost white.

2. Add onion, spring onion, kimchi and gochujuang and give it a quick stir till combine before adding water and bring to boil.

3. Add in napa cabbage and simmer over the mixture over medium low heat for about 10 minutes.

4. Lastly add in tofu and simmer for about another 5 - 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish with extra spring onion or cut chilli.

5. Serve hot with steamed rice.

For the first dish of my Korean Cooking Project, I would like to share with you this simple "Kimchi Tofu Soup ( 김치순두부찌개)" which could be prepared in about 15 minutes time.  And this is definitely a perfect soup for cold weather such as rainy days to go with a bowl of hot steamed rice or ramen.

JAPCHAE(잡채)

(Preview)

Stay tune for my next Korean dish which is known as "Japchae(잡채)", or also known as "Korean Stir-fry Noodles with Beef and Vegetables". 

Read More..

Steamed Stuffed Tofu

This is one of the many earlier dishes I wanted to share last year.



Its really easy and fast to prepare. Theres an alternative which I will be sharing too. This is one of the dishes I had consider making for Chinese New Year but it is one of the dishes that my MIL refused to even taste when she was staying with us. Haiz. I didnt want to put her in a difficult position so I didnt ask her why she didnt try it when she said, 很好吃 (tasty). Haiz.



Cooking for adults are so much more difficult that cooking for children. Especially, when the person used to cook really well.



Heres my recipe if you are interested to try out.



Ingredients:

• 100g Minced Pork or Chicken


• 100g Minced Prawn


• 2 tubes Egg Tofu


• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce


• 1 teaspoon Chinese Cooking Wine


• 1/3 teaspoon Sugar


• A dash of Sesame Seed Oil


• Tobiko (optional)

Sauce to mix well:

• 2 tablespoon Water or Chicken Stock


• 1/3 tablespoon Oyster Sauce


• 2 teaspoon Chinese Cooking Wine

How to do it:

1. Slice tofu into 6 pieces.


2. Gently scoop some tofu out from the center.


3. Mix the scooped out tofu, minced pork and prawn together.


4. Add in 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine each into the meat and mix well.


5. Top tofu with a heap of minced meat.


6. Sprinkle on some tobiko if you like. Use finely chopped  carrot if tobiko is not available.
   
   


7. Steam for 7 minutes.


8. Remove and carefully drain away the liquid.


9. Pour over the sauce and continue steaming for another 5 minutes or till meat is cooked.


10. Drizzle on some sesame seed oil and immediately.
    
    

Alternative:

• Replace minced prawn with whole prawn sliced on the backed. Use half a prawn if its too big.
  
  


• After adding the minced pork or chicken to the tofu, place the prawn on top of the meat. Remember to cut down the seasoning for the meat since you are using only minced meat without prawn.
  
  


• You can thicken the sauce with cornflour and pour it over the the dish instead of using it to re-steam the dish.


• Replace Step 7 onwards with the followings steps.


• Steam till meat is completely cooked.


• Drain away 2/3 of the liquid from the dish.
  
  


• While steaming the dish, combine 5 tablespoon of Stock or Water, 1 tablespoon of Oyster Sauce and 1/3 tablespoon of Chinese Cooking Wine and bring to a simmer.


• Thicken with Cornflour Mixture.


• Pour sauce over the dish and drizzle on sesame seed oil.


• Serve immediately.

Read More..

April 20 Budget Meal Seaweed and Minced Pork Soup Fried Bitter Gourd Omelette and Ma Po Tofu

I have being craving for those Cze Char style Seaweed Soup recently and after asking around for a quick and easy recipe. I managed to settle on Alices version where she is very patience to guide me through  the steps during one of our chat on MSN. Her method was pretty good with boiling of  fresh ikan bilis stock and she also share on how to "clean" the seaweed by frying it dry in a non-stick pan which will enhance its fragrance and at the same time removes any dirt that is trapped in between the seaweed.

This set of Budget Meal cost about S$6.60 which is good enough for 2 - 3 servings.

SEAWEED SOUP

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
1/4 Portion of Dried Seaweed, cut from a 20cm round
60g Minced Pork
2 Garlic Cloves, lightly pound
1 - 2 Slices of Ginger
1 Stalk of Spring Onion, cut into sections
1 Medium Tomato, cut into wedges
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 Litre Hot Water
1/2 Cube or Knorr Ikan Bilis Stock

Method:-

1. Marinate minced pork with light soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper and corn starch for about 5 minutes.

2. Heat up 1/2 Tablespoon of oil in a soup pot, saute ginger, garlic and spring onion till fragrant then add in minced pork and continue to stir-fry for a few minutes till cooked through.

3. Pour in hot water and bring to boil, add stock cube, let it simmer for 2 - 3 minutes. Remove the garlic, ginger and spring onion before adding in the tomato and seaweed.

4. Turn off the heat, slowly swirl in the beaten egg and serve.


Total cost for this dish is about S$1.80 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Seaweed = S$0.40
~ Egg = S$0.20
~ Tomato = $0.20
~ Minced Pork = S$1.00

Whenever we visit any Cze Char(煮炒) stalls, we will always order either their "Bitter Gourd Omelette" or "Egg Foo Yong(芙蓉蛋)". Here we can also prepare a simple version of this delicious omelette dish at home according to personal preference. If you are not sure on how to choose the bitter gourd, you can always ask the stall owner for help. But if you are getting it from supermarket, just try to get those with bright jade green colour and wider pattern lines so that they are not on the extreme bitter taste.

BITTER GOURD OMELETTE

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
2 Large Eggs
100g (1/3 Portion of a Medium) Bitter Gourd, thinly sliced
2 Garlic Cloves, finely minced
1 Teaspoon of Light Soy Sauce
Dash of Pepper and Sesame Oil
1.5 Tablespoon Oil for frying Omelette

Method:-

1. Before cooking the bitter gourd, add 1 teaspoon of salt and marinate for 5 minutes, wash and squeeze dry to reduce the bitter taste.

2. Heat up oil in frying pan, saute garlic until fragrant. Add in bitter gourd and mix well.

3. Stir-fry the bitter gourd until soft, slowly swirl in the beaten egg (beat egg, light soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper together till combined) .

4. Pan-fry at medium heat until set, turn it over and continue to fry until golden brown.

5. Dish up and serve.


Total cost for this dish is about S$0.90 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Bitter Gourd = S$0.50
~ 2 Eggs = S$0.40

It has being long since I last set my wok with this popular Chinese dish which is known as Mo Po Tofu(麻婆豆腐). It has a combination of tofu (beancurd) and minced meat that cooks in a spicy chili and bean based sauce. For this home version of Mo Po Tofu, I used the instant Lee Kum Kee Mo Po Tofu sauce which is slightly mild compare to the original "spicy" taste that we ate from Chinese Restaurants.

MA PO TOFU

Ingredients: (Serves 2 - 4)
90g Minced Pork
250g Soft Tofu, dice in 1" cubes
2 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar, optional
1 Packet of Lee Kum Kees Ma Po Tofu Sauce

Method:-

1. Preheat frying pan with 1.5 tablespoon of oil and saute minced garlic till fragrance before adding in the minced pork.

2. Stir-fry minced pork till cook through, pour in Lee Kum Kee Sauce For Ma Po Tofu and simmer for 10 seconds.

3. Slowly add in the drained tofu and give it a quick stir to absorb the flavour from the Ma Po sauce and slightly thickened. (You can add in some sugar to balance the spicy and salty taste from the sauce)

4. Dish up on serving plate, sprinkle with some chopped spring onion and serve immediately with warm steamed rice.


Total cost for this dish is about S$3.90 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Silken Tofu = S$1.50
~ Lee Kum Kee Sauce = S$1.40
~ Minced Pork = S$1.00

Using simple ingredients like EGG and TOFU you can also whipped up something delicious like what we had for dinner. And I am sure most of you can also come out with some other delicious dishes using these simple ingredients too. Most important you know what is good for your family and  I am sure you will try to incorporate as many healthy ingredients as you can in your daily cooking.

Read More..

Fish paste Tofu with Vegetables 鱼胶蔬菜豆腐

In my last post, I mentioned that I will be sharing how I did the sushi-style Fish-paste Tofu.



This is one of my kids favourite. Its a good alternative to get the kids to eat their vegetables. I used to make this for them when they are younger and they love it because of the colours but had no idea the colours with make using vegetables.



Once they accepted the dish and were always requesting for it, I reveal to them the mystery ingredients. They began to realise then that some vegetables are really not that hard to swallow. ;)



You can also add in some other chopped ingredients for texture. However, do not overload the additional ingredients. As the fish paste may not be able to hold it together if there are too much of it.

Ingredients:

• 200g Fish Paste


• 1 tube Egg Tofu


• 1/3 Carrot or 1 handful Broccoli Florets


• Corn Flour for dusting


• Oil for pan-frying


• Optional chopped ingredients


• a stalk Spring Onion; green part only, if using to tie to rice ball

How to do it:

1. Mix or blend all ingredients, except spring onions, till smooth.


2. If adding chopped ingredients, add only after blending.


3. Oil a dish.


4. Spread paste in dish.


5. Steam for 15 - 20 mins, depending on thickness of paste.


6. Cut into smaller pieces and remove carefully from dish. You can flip it over to a bigger plate if the cooked tofu is not to deep. Otherwise the tofu will break into pieces from the drop.


7. Dust lightly with corn flour.


8. Pan fry on all sides till lightly brown.


9. Side aside.


10. Meanwhile, boil some water with half a teaspoon oil.


11. Turn off heat and place in the fish paste tofu on the rice ball and tie with soften spring onion.


12. Serve.

Note:

• I didnt not add any seasoning as fish paste is usually seasoned.


• You may wish to add 1/2 teaspoon light sauce and a dash of pepper when blending the mixture if you like.


• You can try using other vegetables if you like.

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Pan Fried Fish Tofu 香煎鱼肉豆腐

I have been making this Fish Tofu for a few years. In the beginning, it was to incorporate vegetables to food that my veggie hater son likes to eat.



4 years passed and Im still making this but it never fail to make my son to eat more even its stuffed with chopped veggies. Yes, he still hates veggies. :/

Ingredients:

• 150g Fish Paste


• 1 tube Egg Tofu


• 2 stalk Baby Bok Choy, chopped


• 2 Crabstick, chopped


• a dash of Pepper (optional)

How to do it:

1. Cut the tip of egg tofu and squeeze tofu out to a bowl.


2. Add in fish paste, chopped baby bok choy and crabstick.


3. Add pepper and mix well.


4. Take a deep dish, oil all sides well for easy removable.


5. Spread fish tofu paste.


6. Cover with foil.


7. Steam for 15 minutes or till cooked.


8. Removed and cut into pieces.


9. Pan fried the steamed fish tofu with a little till slightly brown on all sides.


10. Serve.

Note:

• You can use other type of vegetables if you like.


• If you want it with a crispy outer skin, dust it with corn flour before pan frying the fish tofu.


• I used the Happy Call Pan to pan fry the fish tofu.


• I placed the tofu cubes on the sides of the pan so I can pan fry 2 -3 sides at the same time.


• Cover the pan and pan fry for a minute each time over medium low heat.

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