Veggie Intense 김치국밥 (Kimchi Gukbap)

김치국밥 (Kimchi Gukbap, a type of kimchi soup I guess) is another one of my favorite Korean dishes and almost a staple in my cooking here in Japan. Yes, I do make lots of Korean/Japanese fusion type things, since I like both the spice in Korean food and the crazy freshness of veggies I get at my local JA down the road. I make my own kimchi (recipe soon) to avoid the use of fish paste and to add more spice than the Japanese kimchi you mostly find here. I also use whatever vegetables are in season so it comes out pretty cheap as well. This dish always leaves my tiny apartment very fragrant and my stomach very happy.



Makes about 4 nice servings
Ingredients:

A bit of oil for frying
Sliced onion, about 1/2 onion works
Fresh dried red chiles (とうがらし/唐辛子). About 4,5,6 depending on how hot you prefer. Diced up with much of the seeds removed
Diced ginger and garlic, enough for taste
고추장, red pepper paste, called コチュジャン in Japanese, maybe less than a tablespoon
고춧가루, red pepper powder, straight up とうがらし powder with no added extras, about 2 to 3 teaspoons.
Some dashi konbu, either in little powder packets, or a big piece of kelp
Some fueru wakame, dried seaweed, cut up into bits (I usually use scissors)
Tofu, one package. Soft or firm depending on likes
Bean sprouts, もやし in Japanese. 1/2 a package
Kimchi, a nice big portion
Fresh steamed rice, enough to put in bowls and pour soup over

Seasonal vegetables, cut up, such as:
Shiitake mushrooms　しいたけ
Eringi mushrooms　えりんぎ
Enoki mushrooms　えのき
Green peppers　ピマン
Spinach　ほうれんそう
Carrots　にんじん
Even potatoes and pumpkins,　じゃがいも and　かぼちゃ

In a large pot, なべ, fry the onions, the dried chili, the garlic, and the ginger over low heat. This may be incredibly fragrant, so be sure to ventilate your kitchen if you can. Else you may be coughing and tearing up a bit.

Add the chili powder and fry quickly.

Add about a cup of water to the pot. Put in a bit of the powder from the dashi konbu packet, or/and the big piece of kelp, mix well. Add in all the vegetables, the fueru wakame, and the tofu. Pour in more water to cover everything slightly. Bring everything to a boil, and then boil on low heat. Keep on low heat so all the flavors will mesh well, and until any harder veggies like potatoes cook thoroughly.

After about 10 to 15 minutes or until everything is cooked well, add the bean sprouts and the kimchi. Mix well, and let boil for a bit until the bean sprouts cook, about 3 minutes.

In a large bowl, place a bit of freshly cooked rice. Pour a nice serving of the soup over the rice and you're ready to eat. Delicious!

Note: I make my own kimchi because I don't find the kimchi sold in most Japanese stores to be very spicy, plus they tend to all have fish sauce. But you can use the store-bought stuff for this recipe if you'd like; the dried peppers and chili powder should offset the non-spiciness of the store bought kimchi in this recipe. As always, feel free to play around with amounts and ingredients.