![\"kimchi_konnyaku_\"](\"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/kimchi_konnyaku_.jpg\")
Just like\u00a0every year when I go on my Japan holidays, I promised myself to keep on blogging from my hotel room and… once more somehow it didn’t work. I hope you will\u00a0excuse me this long absence here\u00a0and from\u00a0my\u00a0friends’ blogs. The trip was, as always, very enriching (especially since this time I made a short stop in Seoul too!), so I’m looking forward\u00a0to sharing with you some of most recent food inspirations and discoveries in the future.<\/p>\n
This loose interpretation of a\u00a0kimchi soup is a delicious,\u00a0filling but very light – or even diet! – dish\u00a0I made several times before my holidays. It is not a\u00a0traditional Korean recipe (especially since it contains Japanese products…), but in my opinion\u00a0it shows very well the complexity matured old kimchi adds\u00a0to hot\u00a0dishes. In fact, the flavours are so rich,\u00a0there is no need to have stock or even to think of\u00a0any additional\u00a0seasoning. Slightly spicy, slightly salty, tangy… the result is always perfect and the preparation effortless. Whether you add the konyaku (aka “zero calorie”) noodles or any other kind of noodles, the stew is delicious, warming and light. In short, perfect for cold days,\u00a0especially when one isn’t keen on speding hours in the kitchen. Now that I’m back I sincerely regret having no more kimchi in the fridge…<\/p>\n
If you have never heard about konnyaku (or shirataki) noodles, they\u00a0are made from konjac (Amorphophallus konjac,\u00a0<\/span>also called devil’s tongue) by drying its corm, which is then reduced\u00a0to flour and mixed with water to obtain a gelatinous substance, formed into noodles,\u00a0blocks, “gnocchi”,\u00a0ball-shaped products… all\u00a0sold in plastic bags filled with water\u00a0(although konnyaku powder also exists and can be added to drinks).\u00a0Konnyaku products\u00a0are all very\u00a0rich in fiber and help digestion (they are called “broom for the stomach”… so don’t exaggerate and don’t have them for every single meal!). Due to their high water content konnyaku is\u00a0known as “zero calorie”. All the derived products\u00a0have become famous outside of Japan (especially among people\u00a0who want to lose weight) and nowadays can be found in many “standard” shops\u00a0too,\u00a0but watch out: some have tofu, vegetable extracts or other ingredients added which might change their nutritional values. In this stew I have used udon-shaped konnyaku noodles, i.e. thicker and chewier (my favourite of all the konnyaku products)and you can perfectly replace them with normal udon or any noodles of your choice.<\/em><\/p>\n TIPS: If you have never used konnyaku products,\u00a0take them out of their bag and rinse well. (Don’t be put off by the fishy smell. It will disappear.) Put the noodles (or any other konnyaku product) into a pan of boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Rinse well under cold water and put aside. Now they are ready to be added to your stew or stir-fry.<\/p>\n The poached egg is not an obligatory item here of course, but as a big egg lover I was thrilled to discover dolsot (the Korean pot you see above) in which I can cook my soup, poach my egg and then bring to\u00a0the table. In short, if\u00a0you want the egg white to set in your soup, you will need either\u00a0dolsot or a\u00a0Japanese nabe dish or\u00a0a small cast iron\u00a0casserole\/dutch oven (make sure it can be safely used on the stovetop, not only in the oven!).<\/span><\/p>\n If you don’t have any of these, I advise making the soup in a normal pan and poaching the egg in another one (or frying it), then adding it to the serving bowl. If you don’t mind the egg white\u00a0being still wobbly and transparent, you can break the egg to your bowl just before serving.<\/p>\n You don’t have to stir-fry the chicken pieces, but I think it improves flavours of both the soup and the chicken meat.<\/p>\n Preparation: 20 minutes<\/em><\/p>\n Ingredients (serves one):<\/em><\/p>\n 1 teaspoon oil<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n 1\/2 small chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces<\/em><\/p>\n 1 small onion or shallot, sliced<\/em><\/p>\n 3-4 heaped tablespoons of old (very sour) kimchi, cut into pieces<\/em><\/p>\n some kimchi juice (depends on how hot you want your stew)<\/em><\/p>\n 500 ml – 750 ml (about 2-3 cups) hot water<\/em><\/p>\n 1\/2 portion of konnyaku noodles, rinsed and parboiled (see the TIPS above) or a\u00a0whole package if you manage to eat it<\/em><\/p>\n 1\/3 courgette, 1\/2 small sweet pepper or any vegetables of your choice, cut into bite-sized pieces<\/em><\/p>\n 1 egg<\/em><\/p>\n 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil<\/em><\/p>\n green onions, chives\u00a0or\u00a0edible chrysanthemum leaves (I used these here)<\/em><\/p>\n Heat the oil in your bowl or casserole.<\/p>\n Stir-fry the chicken pieces and the onion slices at medium heat until the chicken is half cooked.<\/p>\n Lower the heat and add the kimchi.<\/p>\n Stir fry for a minute.<\/p>\n Add the water and the noodles and let the soup simmer for ten minutes.<\/p>\n (TIP: If you want your\u00a0vegetables soft, you can add them now, but if you want them\u00a0to remain crunchy, add them at the same time you break the egg into the dish).<\/p>\n Afterwards, add the vegetables, make a “nest” in the middle of the dish and delicately break an\u00a0egg into it.<\/p>\n Cover with a lid and cook until the egg white is half-set (it will continue cooking, so if you want your yolk to remain runny, take the dish off the stovetop at this stage).<\/p>\n Sprinkle with chives, green onion or edible chrysanthemum leaves and add a teasponful of sesame oil just before serving.<\/p>\n I have also sprinkled some furikake (Japanese rice topping)\u00a0on top. You can use freshly ground black pepper instead or powdered chilli or shichimi togarashi (Japanese spicy seasoning).<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just like\u00a0every year when I go on my Japan holidays, I promised myself to keep on blogging from my hotel room and… once more somehow…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[185,77,44,131,79],"tags":[45],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18140"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18140"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18219,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18140\/revisions\/18219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}