Kimchee Tofu Soup

What am I doing having hot and spicy Kimchee Tofu soup in 100F weather!?  I should have made kimchee popsicles instead! Hey! Anything is possible in the world of cooking, right?

Kimchee is basically a Korean dish where vegetables are fermented in certain spices. I had a store bought kimchee bottle that I had to absolutely use up. And some leftover tofu from day before.  Since they were both Asian ingredients, I decided to put them together. I went online to see if such a thing exists!? Low and behold, someone had already thought of this concept and supposedly it is a very popular Korean dish. Ofcourse they had unique ingredients like Kelps, spice called Go chu jang, anchoives, etc.  So, I made up my own version of the soup. I really liked the wholesomeness that the beans brought to the soup. I would also add some ramen noodles to the mix next time.

Ingredients:

4 cups of water
2 Chicken bouillon cubes or chicken stock or veg stock or water
8 oz Extra firm tofu, cut in cubes
Oil plus Sesame oil (1 tsp)
3 scallions
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp Szechawan Chilli paste (from local grocery store - Dynasty Brand)
1 and 1/2 cup of Kimchi (local store bought)
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
Salt and Black Pepper

1. Boil 4 cups of water adding 3 chicken boiullon cubes.
2. Hand press the tofu by wrapping in a paper towel to soak all the water up. You may re-wrap in a dry paper towel twice.  Cut the tofu in cubes. Season with salt and black pepper. Heat oil in a skillet and sear the tofu cubes until slightly golden brown
3. Heat oil and sesame oil in a stock pot.  Add the garlic paste and chilli paste and keep stirring. Add the chopped scallions and mix well. Stir for another 2 minutes on medium heat.  Add the broth. Add the kimchee to the pot. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, salt, black pepper and let it come to a rolling boil. Add the tofu and black beans. Let boil for another 2 to 3 minutes

Serve hot.

Note: Some folks may find the soup a little too spicy or a little too salty. Skip the soy sauce, salt, and reduce the qty of chicken bouillon cubes, if necessary. Skip the chicken bouillon cubes if you are a vegetarian.

Variation: Add ramen noodles to the soup.