Dubu Kimchi

Boiled tofu laid in slices beside stir-fried kimchi and pork, with the two never mixed together.

Pork, Tofu. Not vegetarian — contains fish sauce, pork.

Ingredients

• 600 g firm tofu, in one or two blocks
• 400 g kimchi, as on its own page, well fermented
• 250 g pork belly, in thin strips
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon gochugaru
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. THE TOFU IS BOILED AND NOTHING IS MIXED TOGETHER. Whole blocks simmered in salted water, lifted out, sliced thick and laid down one side of the plate, with the kimchi and pork heaped on the other. They are eaten a piece at a time, one with the other. Fried tofu and a stir-fry turned through it is a perfectly good dish and it is not this one: the whole contrast here is plain hot wet tofu against sharp oily kimchi, and mixing them destroys it.
2. BOILED, NOT FRIED, and that surprises people. Frying gives a skin and a chewy edge, which competes. Boiling leaves it soft, clean and slightly sweet, with nothing of its own to say.
3. IT IS BOILED WHOLE AND SLICED AFTER. Slices boiled separately break up and absorb water through every cut face.
4. THE KIMCHI IS FRIED HARD IN THE PORK FAT, as on the kimchi jjigae page and for the same reason: raw kimchi tastes thin beside tofu this plain, and five minutes in fat concentrates it. There is no liquid added at all here, though -- this is a stir-fry, not a stew.
5. AND THE TOFU MUST BE HOT WHEN IT IS PLATED. Boiled early and left, it goes cold and rubbery and the dish has nothing going for it. Boil it last, while the kimchi finishes.
6. Kimchi squeezed lightly, cut into bite-sized pieces.
7. Pork fried in a dry pan over a medium-high heat 5 minutes until the fat runs and the edges crisp.
8. The onion added, 3 minutes.
9. The kimchi and garlic added and FRIED 6 to 8 MINUTES until it darkens and starts to catch.
10. The gochugaru and sugar stirred in, 1 minute. No liquid.
11. The sesame oil stirred through off the heat.
12. Meanwhile a wide pan of salted water brought to a gentle simmer and the WHOLE tofu blocks lowered in.
13. Simmered 5 MINUTES, barely moving, until heated right through.
14. Lifted out with a slotted spoon, drained for a moment, and sliced 1.5 cm thick.
15. The slices laid down one side of a warm plate and the kimchi heaped on the other, not over. Spring onion and sesame seeds over the kimchi only. Served at once.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under South Korea · All recipes