Authentic Cooking Experiment: Battle of Kimchi-Jigae

The second segment of our Asian cooking experiment brings us to Korea.  In keeping slightly with the theme of last week I decided to test Momofuku's version of Kimchi Jigae against a more traditional recipe. For those unfamiliar with this dish it's simply a soup simmered with kimchi, pork and tofu as the base. Additional ingredients such as eggs, mushrooms and rice cake can be added if preferred.  This dish is great to rid of those old kimchi that has started to sour, which is actually how the stew came to being. The two recipes up for testing today, starts with a similar foundation with only a few ingredients differentiating the two.  The traditional method which can be found here http://norecipes.com/blog/2009/11/18/kimchi-jigae-recipe-kimchi-soup/ is pretty typical to what may other recipes calls for. With the exception of replacing the 2 cups of water with pork/chicken broth I stuck to the recipes pretty closely.

The second recipe which I found on http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/03/momofuku-david-chang-kimchi-stew-with-rice-cakes-recipe.html required many less ingredients and really took things down to the bare bones.  In fact with the exception of the kimchi, this recipe could hardly be called Kimchi Jigae. After stewing for 10mins the soup was still bland and lacked the spicy red color typical of the dish. At this point it was clear that this version was subpar, so instead of serving the stew in this manner I decided to make a few tweets of my own. First I added 2 tsp of gochujang, followed by 1 tsp of dengjang, 1 tsp of light soy sauce and finally 1 tsp of dried chili flakes. The results produced a soup both richer in flavor and color, closer resembling the really thing. 

Upon comparison the recipes, the first produced a more pungent soup due to the added garlic at the beginning. The flavor, which I happened to like may not be for everyone as my husband described it as overwhelming and overpowering of the other flavors. On the other hand the modified Momofuku recipe was slightly lighter but creamier due to added egg. Conclusion? Well that sort of depends on your taste preference, if you like the powerful flavors then I recommend the first version. However, if this is your first time eating Kimchi Jigae or just like your stews slightly lighter than the modified Momofuku recipe is for you. However either way one thing is for sure, the original version of the second recipe should be avoided at all cost! As a final touch to the meal, I paired it with a moscato, which due to it's sparkling and sweet nature is perfect along side the stew. This champagne like drink is refreshing and tames the heat from the dish while cleaning the palate between another bite.