Kimchi Mandu Guk (Kimchi Dumpling Soup)

새해 복 많이 받으세요! 

잘 지내셨어요? 새해연휴는 보람되게 보내겠지요. 나, 파티 축하를 많이 했어서 연말 연시 후에 너무 너무 숙취였어요 😅

보통 새해 소원은 없지만 올해 몇 가지 소원을하고 싶어요. 소비절약하고 싶어서 쇼핑을 줄여야해요. 건강을 위해서라면 규칙적으로 운동을 계속하고 싶어서 절주해야 해요. 또한 더 건강한 식습관 가지고 싶어서 더 요리해야 해요. 열심히 한국어와 프랑스어 공부를 계속하고 싶어요. 마지막으로 가족과 사랑하는 사람들과 많은 시간을 계속 보내고 싶어요. 

새해에는 항상 좋은 일만 있길 바라고 건강하기를 기원해요 😊
 
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2021 got off to a roaring start so it was an awfully belated realisation that social media is awash with this year's crop of New Year's resolutioners; a great many folks had, as with the commencement of every new year,  embarked on some kind of diet. 

Me, I've never really been one to make New Year's resolutions, simply because they tend to the unsustainable and tbh, I have never kept a single New Year's resolution (also because all of my resolutions were lose weight ones 😅😬😬😅). 

Also, I've always thought New Year's resolutions superfluous: if I wanted to do (or change) something, I'd just do it; I wouldn't mosey about and idle till the next year to roll around to get to it. BUT, to each their own, and if the perceived new-ness of a new year is what it takes to jumpstart whatever motivation is required to effect whatever change one intends to make, then whatever works! 2020 was one kind of a catastrophic year for many, and with all of the intolerance we see these days, we could all do with heaps more understanding of different perspectives. As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks.  

Unsustainable New Year resolution-diets aside....it was entirely serendipitous that our first meal of 2021 turned out an "eat clean" nutrient-dense one. We were craving something soupy and light, to settle our tummies after the debauchery of the year-end's festivities. But it was pouring out and getting food delivered was a non-starter. 

So I rummaged around the freezer, found some kimchi dumplings and kale and thought, let's do a dumpling soup!! The chiller yielded a bunch of enoki and a couple of leftover ajitsuke eggs, so I threw those in too, and voilà, a one-dish meal ready in super quick time and with minimal fuss.  

 
Ingredients (feeds 2):
 
16-20 kimchi dumplings 
150gm kinky kale, leaves only, stalks removed
150gm enoki mushrooms
180gm Japanese inaka soba
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp ponzu
dried seaweed strips for garnishing
bawang goreng + shallot oil for topping


Directions:

1) Bring chicken stock to boil, add enoki, stew for about 10 minutes. 

2) In the meantime, fry minced garlic on medium heat with sesame oil, until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

3) Add mirin and ponzu, swirl around for about 30 seconds. Turn off heat. 

 
4) Transfer the garlic-mirin-ponzu mixture to the pot with the chicken stock and enoki. Stir through.

5) Add kale, simmer for about 5 minutes to allow it to wilt. 

6) In the meantime, cook soba in salted boiling water according to packet instructions. Drain and set aside. 

7) Add kimchi dumplings to the pot to cook through. 

8) Dish up soba with dumplings and soup, serve with Japanese soy egg-halves, a sprinkle of seaweed strips, lashings of fried shallots and shallot oil for added flavour. 


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