This Kimchi Soup with Pork can be extended or varied in any number of ways and makes for a great starter, or a light meal all by itself.
Kimchi is not merely a side-dish, or pickled snack. Rather, it is often used as a cooking ingredient as well. Most notably, it can be added to fried rice, used as a primary ingredient in particular types of Korean stews known as Kimchi-jjigae, and is also used in a class of soups collectively called Kimchi-guk.
Today’s recipe is a simple and straightforward Pork and Onion Soup to which I have added a good, healthy dollop of my homemade Basic Kimchi to give it a sour and spicy finish…
The Basic Method
It isn’t a critical step, but if you wish to preserve the clarity of your soup, you should quickly blanch the meat and then rinse it very well to remove any ‘bits’ or other detritus. For this recipe, in order to enhance the flavor, I used Garlic Salt in the blanching water rather than regular salt, and also added a shot of Sesame Oil, too.
Make sure you choose a good quality of Chicken Stock for the Soup Base. The stock used here is my homemade Basic Chinese Chicken Stock, with a little extra rice wine is added for depth. You can add as much, or as little chili as you like.
The pork and the chicken stock are added as the final step in the cooking process. As mentioned, I have used a very simple homemade Cabbage Kimchi, but you can use a commercial product, or even something more complex than a plain Cabbage type. A Daikon Kimchi might work nicely, or you could try something with more of an Umami punch, such as my Kimchi with Conpoy and Dried Shrimp.
Finally, although you can serve this piping hot right from the cooking pot, you can also put it in the fridge and let it rest. As is often the case with soups and stews, the flavors really develop and blend together with refrigeration and the dish is often better the next day.
Your Recipe Card:
Kimchi Soup with Pork
Ingredients
- 1 qt. good quality Chicken Stock;
- 1/4 lb boneless Pork cut in to thin strips;
- ½ cup thinly sliced Onion;
- 1 cup Cabbage Kimchi
- Garlic Salt;
- Sesame Oil;
- Rice Wine;
- 2 or more whole dried Red Chilies.
Instructions
- Add a few pinches of Garlic Salt and a shot of Sesame Oil to a pot of boiling water, then quickly blanch the strips of pork for a minute or so until no pink remains. Drain, and then rinse the pork well under cold running water.
- Pour the stock into a saucepan and add the onion, dried chillies and a splash of rice wine Bring the soup to a gentle simmer until cook the onion is soft and translucent.
- Finally, remove the dried chillies and add the pork and Kimchi. Continue to simmer until the pork is cooked through and the flavours well blended and then serve hot.