Kimchi Jjigae take 2

I have made Kimchi Jjigae 3 or 4 times since I posted the original recipe in November. I am almost out of my big kimchi batch from last summer, so it appears that I will never get to year old kimchi (which would be best in this recipe) - at least not until next year when I will have to make a really big batch. Since my original post, I have switched over from using nori seaweed as a garnish and instead just put in a bunch of wakame. The wakame is delicious! I want to try making a salad out of it sometime - maybe when there are more fresh veggies around. It is a pretty mild seaweed with a silky texture. I bought mine from United Noodle in a 5 oz bag that I think will last a year because one handful = a lot of seaweed once you hydrate it in water.

It tastes amazing in the kimchi jjigae - it sort of mellows the sour from the kimchi. I love to slurp this soup up on the weekend - I don't know if it is all the bacon, or what, but it's sort of delectable and weekend-ish. I have modified this recipe a bit from the original to include the wakame, and I also added in some broth to make a slightly thinner soup. I recently discovered that the Wedge carries Red Boat fish sauce, which is GF and is made only from fermented anchovies with no other added stuff. It is REALLY good, and I put that in the soup too.

Kimchi Jjiage with wakame (serves 6)
Large handful dried wakame
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 pound bacon, cut into 1/4" pieces
Freshly ground black pepper
Medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3-4 cups coarsely chopped kimchi with its liquid (use the most pungent, sour kimchi you have)
1 T Red Boat fish sauce
5 scallions, thinly sliced (opt)
2 c. chicken broth (opt)

Put large handful of wakame in a bowl and cover with water to soak.

Heat the sesame oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the pork belly/bacon, season with pepper, and cook, stirring now and then, until rendered, browned, and crispy, about 10 minutes.

Add the onion and kimchi and stir to combine. Add enough water to nearly cover the pork mixture (5 or 6 cups), cover, and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer until the onion and kimchi are softened and the soup is quite thick, about 20 minutes.

Stir in the fish sauce, broth and scallions. Drain the wakame, chop it up and add to the soup. Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes to combine the flavors. Serve steaming hot.

Roasted Seaweed snack

I just re-watched Terri Wahl's "Mind your Mitochondria" Ted Talk - she is the doctor who basically "cured" her MS with a diet of tons of veggies, especially greens. Tons as in 10 cups a day or three dinner plates piled high. Woah. She also talks about the health benefits of seaweed. I have not eaten it much except in nori form: in sushi and in those little snack packages of Roasted Seaweed that are overly-pricey.  I want to explore some other options, but in the meantime, I stumbled across a way to make those little roasted snack sheets! I think they are so tasty and chip-like.

I have not tried storing these yet - my guess is you would have to keep them in a zip lock or tupperware type item to keep the crispness.

Make as many as you want, but for each sheet you need:
1 sheet of nori seaweed paper
1/2 tsp olive oil (or sesame or coconut oil)
sprinkle of salt

1. Brush olive oil on one side of the nori.
2. Sprinkle salt on the olive oil.
3. Turn your gas stove on medium heat and wave the nori over the flame. You will do several passes over the flame - each time you do the nori sheet will crinkle up a bit. It is done when the whole sheet is toasted and crispy - it only takes 20 seconds or so. You can toast either side this way - I did the oil side down, but it seems like either way works.
4. Eat as is in big bite-fulls, or cut them into squares with a scissors if you want a more refined experience.

After doing a quick search, it looks like you can also bake sheets of oiled nori and get a similar result. They just take 2 minutes, so this might yield higher quantities!