Soupy Sales

Hungry?
Korean Cuisine offers many rich, healthy soups and stews. Of course, to a foreigner like myself, soups can be rife with danger. A lot of unknown ingredients can float around in a brown or orange-tinged broth! The scariest being the infamous dog meat soup of course. But don't believe the hype-it is only consumed in certain eateries at certain times of the year. Recently, my co-workers treated me to a duck stew containing herbs from Korean traditional medicine. I have enjoyed many yummy varieties of duck in Korea and China, so I was game for a new treat. Then my bowl came-with a branch inside it?! There's the medicine plant, a helpful co-worker explained when I looked perplexed. I didn't realize the chef would throw the ENTIRE shrub-bark, leaves,roots and all in the stew pot to add flavor and nutrients!

Still, the search for some cold day comfort food does present challenges. I speak woefully little Korean and dislike most seafood. A blustery, end of winter day makes me crave Mom's Irish beef stew. NOT so easy to find in Gunpo. What soup is available? Even in a smaller town, one can usually find a variety of nutritious soups and stews to choose from....Choosing is the trick! Some chicken and pork soups, despite the innocent photos on the restaurant menu, mysteriously contain fish scales. Fish soup can contain eyeballs. I have been served this lovely brew,I kid you not! :( Some soups, while containing no fish per se, are cooked with a hint of fish oil. So these stews still taste "fishy" to a picky eater like me.

So far, my favorite Korean soup is filling, nutritious, and predictable. The leaders of my hiking club introduced me to it last winter. Vegetarian (clam free) and milder (less kimchi) versions can also be ordered at many eateries. I mispronounce it "soon-dubu...," yet usually people understand. Here's how to make it...

Soon Tubu Jjigae
(Korean spicy tofu stew)
Yield: 4-6 servings
INGREDIENTS and PREP. AMOUNT:
Oil- 2 tablespoons
Garlic- minced 2 tablespoons
Korean pepper powder- 1 tablespoon
Beef stock- 4 cups
Cabbage kimchi- shredded 1 cup (use less if you are a spice wimp, like me)
Soy sauce- 1 tablespoon
Soft tofu- cut into 1" cubes 4 cups (2 pounds)
Clams- chopped, with juice 1 cup (variation-some places will just throw one small clam in the bottom of each bowl)
Scallions- chopped 3-4
Sesame oil- 1 tablespoon
METHOD:
Basic Steps: Sauté → Simmer → Garnish
Heat the oil over medium flame in a clay hotpot or large saucepan. Add the garlic and pepper powder and saute until garlic just starts to brown.
Add the beef stock, kimchee and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 10-15 minutes until the kimchee softens.
Gently stir in the tofu and clams with their juice. Adjust seasoning with soy sauce and Korean pepper. Simmer another 5-10 minutes.
Sprinkle with scallions and drizzle with sesame oil. Serve piping hot in bowls with steamed rice.
Enjoy! :)
Still hungry?
Last week I also tried the popular "army soup" or (Former US President) "Johnson's Stew" that my boyfriend often has for lunch at the Nobu chain. After our hike last Saturday, some of us stopped into a restaurant where the "Private's soup" as they called it there, was the specialty. It contains several foods that would come in an American soldier's rations, such as Spam, Hot dogs, and salty ramen noodles, blended with ground meat, veggies, and traditional Korean spices. I was a little bit frightened by the pot full of processed foods when it came! However, as it simmered in front of me on the gas range on our table, it started to smell oddly tempting. (God only knows how much sodium is in that pot, though!) It even tasted yummy, in a unique way, as the Korean spices balanced out all the faux pork. My boyfriend, (the aspiring photo journalist?) snapped a photo of it and I will try to post that here later. So, while I enjoyed the army soup, and it has a storied history in the parts of South Korea borderng ROK and US army bases, I do not recommend it's consumption while bonding with a sweetie. That soup gives both parties a serious case of gas! :)