Kimchi Chigae (Kimchi Stew)

I had quite an eventful weekend this week, JLo and I took a weekend trip to Berlin! Yep, it was a spur of the moment idea, really. And it only took 3 hours to get back to sweet civilization :) This was like, our 4th-5th time there we skipped all the sight-seeing and went straight for the fooood! We had the usual beef noodles, sushi buffet, burger king, dunkin' donuts...etc. But what made this trip worthwhile was Villa Rodizio!! Ahhhh, nothing beats some good old Brazilian barbecue... sigh. I can't wait to go back for our 3rd time! Hmm, what else... we were also lucky enough to see the Lamborghini Reventón which, according to JLo, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience since there are only 20 of them in the world? Yea... hmm, that was pretty cool i guess..hahaha. Anyways, i don't want to bore anyone much further so back to today's topic-- Kimchi Chigae! I decided to use up half of the Kimchi i made a few weeks ago (will update soon) for Kimchi Chigae. I got the recipe from maangchi.com. Maangchi is this really cute Korean lady that became a youtube celebrity from her food videos. You should check out her website some time... I also made a few of her Korean side dishes for dinner tonight and they were fantabulous. Below is a picture of our attempt of a complete Korean dinner... but damn those ikea plastic containers, 超級扣分.

Kimchi Chigae (Kimchi Stew)
from maangchi.com
INGREDIENTS:

• 500g pork, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 cups of chopped kimchi, chopped (or to taste)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon of hot pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper paste
• 1 cup of shiitake mushrooms, soaked (optional)
• 1 stalk green onions, sliced
• 1 package soft tofu
• sesame oil
• water

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a pot or skillet, saute the pork and onions for 3 minutes.
2. Add in the chopped kimchi and its juice.
3. Then add in hot pepper paste, hot pepper flakes, mushrooms (optional), sugar, and green onions.
4. Pour enough water to cover all ingredients.
5. Close the lid and let it boil for 10 minutes. Turn down the medium heat and let it simmer for another 15-20 minutes.
6. Add in the tofu and boil for another 5 minutes more.
7. Add some sesame oil and chopped spring onions right before serving.

Kimchi Chigae (Kimchi Stew)
with korean side dishes and bulgogi