Kimchi, Tofu and Vege soup

I'm experimenting with making, and changing my own recipes so i thought i would post what I've done and you can suggest changes or try it out for yourself. portions of veges are rough estimates.

this is one of my newer experiments, using kimchi, an ingredient which i love which comes from Korea, its pickled, spicy vegetables, most commonly cabbage. I get mine from the korean grocery story, but you can make your own or just skip it out completely.


Kimchi, Tofu and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

Kimchi  1/4 of a cup or less (i have no idea how much i used.. i just threw some in there XD)
Chinese Cabbage   1 1/2 cups (or regular cabbage)
1 carrot
1/2 green onion
1 kumara (Sweet potato)
some amount of Fried Tofu/ or Firm Tofu*
1 garlic clove and an equal amount of diced ginger
Some Broccoli


1 Tbsp of Soy sauce  (salt reduced) (rough estimate)
1-2Tbsp of Sweet chili sauce
1 teaspoon of Sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon of Extra virgin olive oil.
1/2 teaspoon of Mirin (optional)
Chicken or Vegetable stock

* i used fried tofu and kimchi together because the sweetness of the fried tofu compliments the tartness of the Kimchi. The Type of Kimchi i got is also very garlicky. if you do it without kimchi i suggest a little more garlic and a little bit of vinegar and more of some of the other veges. Also healthier recipe would be to use Firm Tofu for the soup instead of fried.

First using the Olive oil, stirfry the onions, garlic, ginger and Kumara, (and cabbage if you want) this strengthens the taste and caramelises them a bit. don't cook them too much just brown them a bit.

Boil water in a pot. I go by feel when it comes to water, add stock (1 tspn?) i don't like my soups too watery. but water boils off so be a bit generous.. Put in all the veges and garlic and such into the boiling water, add broccoli and other sauces, soy, sweet chili, sesame seed and possibly mirin though i think the mirin might be unnecessary., Bring to boil for a few minutes then simmer until the vegetables go soft.

Slice the tofu up and add it. if fried thin slices, if firm, then slice into cubes (will break less easily) simmer for a few more minutes. Taste broth and add seasoning to taste.

If you want to make it more fulling you could put in some rice or udon noodles.  either put them into the soup, timing it so that they are done as the soup finishes, or if you make more than enough for one meal so you can freeze some like i do. cook noodles separately and add them to the soup as you serve. (storing cooked noodles in soup leads to very very mushy noodles)

I'm still working things out so there are no exact times or measurements yet. I probably should use less of the sauces next time as not that healthy, and the sesame seed oil may not be needed, but i a deep rich broth since the contents is quite bland. probably will use more ginger and boil the ginger in the broth for longer.. but not sure what this will do.but feel free to have fun.

meat version
since i know some people cant go without their meat, you could add bacon, pork or Chicken to this. dice the meat up into smallish bits and brown the meat with the garlic and onions, and let the rest of it cook when you boil the soup. Pork goes really well with kimchi,

Enjoy,