Lunch and Dinner Menu

Breakfast and lunch today was Korean, and dinner, Japanese. Slurp! Cooked a big bowl of kimchee jigae early in the morning as I woke up very early (still very jetlagged since the trip back from SIN a week ago). Normally I will be too lazy to cook lunch but since I am today, I thought I should reward myself with something I love.

An extremely easy dish, that took me no more than 20mins to prepare and cook. Please pardon the unflattering picture; it actually tastes much much better than it looks. =P






Ingredients
1 to 1.5 cups kimchi with kimchi juice
1 pack tofu (cubed)
2 stalks scallions (sliced)
1/2 of large onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tps oil
2 cups water
approximately 1/4 cup gochujang (red pepper paste from Korean section in supermarkets)
2 - 3 tbsp gochugaru (red pepper flakes)
pork belly chunks thinly sliced (shabu-shabu-type is the best)

Directions
In pot, add a little bit of oil (just a little - pork already has a lot of fat, so you wont need much). Add minced garlic to flavor the oil. Then add in pork belly chunks and cook until meat turns white. Then add in kimchi chunks and cook for about 2 - 3 minutes (this will help the soup cook faster). Add in water (approximately 2 cups serves 4 individual servings). Bring heat up to high and boil for a few minutes. Add one scoop (a little less than 1/4 cup) of gochujang (red pepper paste) and stir until dissolved. Add a couple tablespoons of gochugaru (red pepper flakes). Let it cook on medium heat for approximately 5 to 7 minutes (this will allow for the kimchi to cook through). Stir occassionally. Taste and if needed, reseason with kimchi juice. Then add in tofu and onion. Let it cook for another 4 minutes or so before adding in the scallions. (add in scallions last because you dont want them to wilt completely).
* Add some cooked vermicilli if you're interested.


Hubby and I had Tonkatsu and Tempura with Japanese rice and curry awhile ago. Since my tempura flour are expiring soon, I reckoned I better use them before they go to waste (again). The Tonkatsu was much tastier and jucier this time round as compared to my previous attempts, as I was more liberal with the salt today and had "invested" in a bottle of meat tenderizer.



Recipes for Tonkatsu and tempura are easily available online. Try googling for one if you are interested. I'm dozing off while signing off this entry....














Gdnight!