Seafood Soondooboo

This is for my home-girl in Chi-town!!!

This is a delicious Korean stew made with some of the stinkiest ingredients I have. Its pulling out the heavy artillery (hmmm...) of stinkification. In fact, it might be a really good way to get your card punched if you're looking for Asian street cred. You know: the cred that comes with knowing how to use chopsticks, eating the weird meats, eating the stinky foods, and liking the aforementioned crazy foods. I have tried them all and pride myself in tasting things that I have never tasted before just to have the experience (and for gloating purposes). This is not for the faint of heart:

soup start:
some Korean chili flakes
soy sauce
minced garlic
sugar
oyster sauce
sea salt
mirin
vegetable oil
pinch of black pepper

Make a paste out of these ingredients and it can be saved for future soup uses.

Soondooboo:
soft tofu
soup start
onions
chicken broth
kimchi
soy sauce
fish sauce
shrimp paste
shrimp
sliced mushrooms (used all mushrooms last night, so none today)
chopped fresh jalapeño pepper (didn't have any, but if you want SPICY, do this)
scallops (if I don't have scallops, sometimes I use ground pork, which is also yum)
sliced green onions for garnish
1 egg for garnish
shredded seaweed for garnish is good too (didn't have any tonight either, lame)

 

Chop those onions.

 

This is what the soup start should look like when ready. I've had this ready in the fridge for months. Still good!

 

Kimchi. Get some. Its nice and sour.

 

Silken tofu that came in a tube.

 

Saute the white onions in a little vegetable oil. Add the start to warm it up.

 

Add the chicken broth.

 

Add kimchi and silken tofu. Break the tofu up using your spoon.

 

This is where it gets interesting. Shrimp paste. Smell it when you crack it open and you will understand what I'm talking about. You will also singe your nose hairs. Add this, some soy sauce, and some fish sauce to the soup.

 

Let simmer for about 20 minutes, then add your seafood and cook until done. If you had used pork instead of seafood, cook it even before you cook the onions. Add the onions to it and continue from there.

 

Garnish with a cracked raw egg and some sliced green onions. Serve lava-hot. Seriously.

 

Stir the egg into it and it turns the soup a little thicker and creamier. Also, the egg is nice and slimy in the soup, which I like.