Juicy Marbles

Kimchi Hot and Sour Soup with Marbles

mushrooms, silken tofu, and glass noodles

Here is an unholy, yet divine, hybrid between a beloved Chinese take-away favorite, Hot and Sour Soup, and Korean staple comfort food, Kimchi Jjigea. This soup has the best of both worlds. A peppery and slurpy broth becomes a vessel for different textural elements, like mushrooms, free-floating pieces of kimchi, clouds of silken tofu, chunks of pan-fried Marbles, and strands of glass noodles. Thanks to silken tofu and Marbles, this soup will take care of your daily protein intake (if this is something we as a society still care about) while cheering up your gut with healthy probiotics provided by kimchi. This easy-to-make filling and nutrition-packed soup is a warm hug in a bowl or a pot if you are like me and have zero self-control when a spicy, tangy soup is in question.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp neutral oil• 2 spring onions (around 40g)
• 7-10 shitake mushrooms
• 5 pieces black fungus/Wood ear mushrooms (around 5g)
• 300g kimchi• ½ tsp Gochugaru
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 650g water• 1 stock cube
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce• 1 tsp dark soy sauce•
2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 pack of silken tofu (around 300g)
• 2 Juicy Marbles thick-cut filets
• toppings of your choice – spring onion, cilantro, sliced radishes, and toasted sesame seeds work great
• 2 portions of noodles of your choice

25MIN / SERVES 2-5

preparation

1. Soak 7-10 shiitake mushrooms in 550g boiling water until they soften (around 20 minutes). Soak 5 pieces of black fungus/wood ear mushrooms in cold water until they dehydrate (around 20 minutes). You can find shiitake and black fungus in the supermarket's international food aisle or any Asian market. If these mushrooms are unavailable or you do not want to bother finding them, any other variety will work completely fine. But I confess that I am a big ingredient snob and strongly believe each ingredient has a specific role in a recipe (shiitake mushrooms add flavor to the broth while black fungus adds an interesting textural element).

2. When shiitake mushrooms are soft, strain them, making sure to reserve the soaking liquid because we are using it as our broth (we don't want to throw away this liquid flavor bomb). Strain black fungus and rinse it under water. Slice both mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Thinly slice 2 spring onions.

3. Heat 3 tbsp neutral oil in a pot and add sliced mushrooms and spring onion. Fry for 1 minute before adding 300g of kimchi. Fry for 3 minutes and season with 1 tsp ground white pepper and ½ tsp gochugaru. Dilute 1 stock cube in reserved soaking liquid and add it to your pot. Season with 2 tbsp of light soy sauce and ½ tsp dark soy sauce. Cook for 3 minutes. Make a slurry with 100g of water and 2 tbsp of cornstarch. Add it to your soup, mix well, and cook for another minute. When the soup thickens, add broken-down silken tofu, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, and 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil. We add vinegar and sesame oil right at the end to ensure the flavor doesn't mellow due to heat.

4. Cook the noodles of your choice according to the packaging. We recommend glass noodles because they add a nice chew without being overwhelming.

5. While the noodles are cooking, prepare your Marbles. Break apart 2 filets and fry them in a pan for 1-2 minutes. Season with salt and ground white pepper.

6. Assemble your dish by adding noodles to a bowl and ladling soup on over. Top it with sliced radishes, spring onion, cilantro, and pan-fried Marbles chunks. Enjoy!