Kimchi Mania

Oh dear kimchi, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... kimchi bokum bap, kimchi jigae, kimchi pajon, kimchi manduk, kimchi ramen, kimchi hotdogs (a family creation), kimchi pizza (yet another home recipe), etc etc etc. Forget all those supplements out there, kimchi is a known superfood with healthy bacteria to combat those nasty bugs out there (even reputed to have been why Koreans escaped SARS with practially no damage!)

Well, I've got a large jar of kimchi to use up (such a hard life) so I tried to make a dent in it yesterday. For lunch I made kimchi pajon which you can see below:


Kimchi pajon and dipping sauce

Kimchi pajon, up close and personal! Isn't it beautifully orange?


Then for dinner, as I was inspired by The Scent of Green Bananas Spam posting, I cooked up some kimchi jigae, hot! A Korean ajima or "auntie" showed me how to make it with Spam, so I know it's pretty authentic. I thought it needed some green and I didn't have any spinach so I added some frozen okra for an experiment. Not bad, but I prefer spinach. I also added some wide glass noodles as I didn't make any rice. For those of you who are not familiar with this most lovely, hearty dish, it is usually a a hot pot of kimchi, meat, tofu and vegetables. Okay, if you're really not into Spam, you can also make this with other meats, bacon would be quite good, but how ever you do it, try it, you'll like it!


Kimchi jigae, scrummy!