Kimchi Tofu Soup (Meal-for-one Recipe)

This 15-minute hot & spicy kimchi tofu soup makes a perfect meal for one person 🙋‍♀️.

With this classic kimchi tofu soup recipe plus a hot-stone bowl, you can always enjoy a Korean restaurant experience at home.

Who’s like me? When I am home by myself, I feel too lazy to cook a “real meal”. I’d either eat some leftover dinner from yesterday, or boil a pack of instant ramen.

I was just not so motivated to cook when nobody is eating with me… Until last week, Mr He bought a stone bowl, which is just perfect for making a single-person-serving meal. Now I am super excited to make different one-pot meals for myself everyday at lunch time.

The very first meal-for-one dish I decided to make was this spicy and healthy kimchi tofu soup. Because my homemade kimchi (see my kimchi recipe here) has been ready to eat!!

Choice of Kimchi

Freshly pickled kimchi is crispier and the taste is closer to salad. Same-day-made kimchi can be a great side dish to be served with steamed rice. Fresh kimchi is also more nutritious, loaded with vitamins and minerals.

However, fermented kimchi is a better choice for making kimchi stew.

Long-time fermented kimchi is going to have a sour, rich, and strong taste, which is perfect for making flavorful dishes such as kimchi tofu soup. Fermented kimchi is also loaded with good bacteria, which can help you maintain a healthy digestion.

Studies suggested that nitrite level in homemade kimchi will decrease to a safe level after 12 days of fermenting. When you make kimchi at home, make sure you either eat same-day-made kimchi, or allow the kimchi to ferment for 2 weeks before you enjoy.

Soft or Firm Tofu

I personally prefer silken tofu, which is never pressed. Silken tofu has a much smoother and finer texture than regular or firm tofu. I especially love its jelly-like consistency, so that I can literarily drink the tofu with the soup.

But the choice of tofu is really up to you!

Firm tofu contains more protein and is much easier to be handled than soft tofu. There are many kimchi tofu stew recipes using firm tofu too.

Korean chili pepper flakes & Fresh peppers

Kimchi tofu soup is defiantly a spicy dish. The spiciness comes from 3 ingredients: kimchi, Korean chili pepper flakes, and fresh peppers.

You may have to skip this recipe if you are not a spicy food lover. You can check out my tomato egg drop soup recipe, which is not spicy at all.

Korean chili pepper flakes, or Gochugaru, are Korean red chili peppers that are dried in the sun and crushed into powder. It is also a main ingredient for making kimchi. Korean chili flakes taste less spicy and more fruity than red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper flakes.

If you haven’t try adding some chopped fresh peppers to your kimchi tofu soup, I highly recommend you give it a try!

You can dice 1 to 3 fresh jalapeño, serrano, finger hot pepper, or Thai chili pepper (bird’s eye chili), sprinkle them over your kimchi tofu stew after you turn off the heat. Do not use bell peppers though, they are not spicy enough to pair with kimchi soup.

The rich spiciness from kimchi, the bold spiciness from Korean chili pepper flakes, and the fresh spiciness from freshly diced peppers are going to work together in harmony to tickle your taste buds and cheer you up!

Chicken stock or rice water

Since it’s a 15-minute one-pot simple dish, I didn’t add any meat like most restaurants do. If you happen to have some pork belly or beef at hand, you can stir fry some together with the garlics and onions.

Since there is no fat from meat in a soup dish, I’d use chicken stock instead of water to make this dish taste richer and more savory.

If you don’t have chicken, beef, or vegetable stock at hand, you can use rice water to substitute stock or broth. The easiest way to get rice water is soaking the rice:

• Take a cup of uncooked white rice, rinse thoroughly.
• Add rice to a bowl with 3 cups of cold water.
• Leave to soak for 30 minutes
• Strain the rice water into a clean bowl.

You can use the rice water to make the kimchi tofu soup, and cook the rice to enjoy with the soup.

This dish is a rice killer!! 🍚 Make sure your prepare enough hot steamed rice!

Soybean paste

Soybean paste, which is made from fermented soybean and salt, is a Korean pantry staple that adds distinct earthy and toasty flavor to Korean dishes like Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Soybean Stew).

Usually one teaspoon of soybean paste is enough to add the savory taste and complete my kimchi tofu soup. Since the kimchi also has a salty taste, no extra salt or soy sauce is needed if you use soybean paste.

If soybean paste is not available, you can try to substitute it with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce (for the fermented soybean flavor) and some salt to your taste. But your kimchi tofu soup won’t be as tasty as restaurant ones without soybean paste.

EQUIPMENT

• 1 Stone Bowl (Mine was 5.5 Inch (24 oz), perfect size for single-serving meal.)

INGREDIENTS  

– Ingredients for 1 serving. Double the ingredients if you are cooking for two.

• 150 g kimchi (see my kimchi recipe here)
• 200 g soft tofu
• 50 g seafood mushroom (You can also use enoki mushroom, shiitake mushroom, or any type of mushroom you like.)
• ½ tbsp sesame oil
• 15 g onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp soybean paste
• ⅘ cup chicken stock (Or vegetable stock, or water)
• ½ tsp Korean chili powder
• 1 egg (Optional)
• salt to your taste (Optional, depending on how salty your kimchi is. I didn’t add any salt to my soup.)

-Toppings

• green onions
• 1 to 3 small fresh chili peppers (Optional if you can’t handle spicy food)
• cilantros (Optional)

Step-by-step INSTRUCTIONS:

– Preparation

1. Use a pair of scissors (or a knife) to cut 150g kimchi into bite-size pieces. Set aside.

2. Cut 200g soft tofu into 2 inch cubes. Cut a small wedge of onion. Chop off the seafood mushrooms‘ roots and discard. Peel and slice a clove of garlic. Chop some green onions, fresh peppers, and cilantros, set aside.

– Making the kimchi tofu soup

1. In a small stone bowl (or saucepan), heat sesame oil over medium high heat for 1 minute.

2. Add onion and garlic, stir with chopsticks for about 1 minute until fragrant. Add kimchi, stir for 1 minute until hot.

3. Reduce the heat to medium low, add soybean paste, stir until well mixed. Add tofu and mushrooms, pour in chicken stock or water to immerse the tofu.

4. Sprinkle Korean chili powder over the soup. Gently stir until the color of the soup looks even. Turn heat to medium high to bring the soup to a boil.

5. Turn heat to medium high to bring the soup to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer the stew for 5 minutes. Add an egg to the stew, simmer for about 3 minutes until the egg is soft boiled (runny yolk, set white).

6. Garnish the kimchi tofu stew with chopped green onions, cilantros, and fresh peppers.

7. Serve hot with steamed rice.

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