Kimchi sujebi

I’ve been getting a lot of great feedback from my last recipe, healthy vegetable rice bowl, because so many people are staying at home and cooking with their families these days. More and more people are interested in easy, nutritious, and delicious meals so I came up with this idea to make kimchi hand-torn noodle soup (Kimchi-sujebi: 김치수제비). It’s easy to make, all you need is flour and fermented kimchi! That’s one reason kimchi is such a great food: you can make so many dishes with it!

I posted a traditional sujebi recipe long ago, but I decided to separate this kimchi-sujebi out to make it easier for your meal planning. I used a food processor because in one minute you can make nice dough, but you can still make your dough by hand the traditional way, too.

I used dried anchovy stock because it’s my favorite, but if you’re not a big fan of it use 7 cups of chicken, beef, or vegetable stock instead of 8 cups of water. You also won’t have to cook for 25 minutes, just cook with the kimchi until it’s boiling and then tear in the noodles. That’s it! All the rest of the directions are the same.

I hope you guys enjoy my easy and quick kimchi-sujebi recipe with your family members! Cool and refreshing spicy cucumber side dish (oi-muchim) will make a good side dish for this noodle soup. Stay healthy, everybody!

Ingredients

Serves 3 to 4

For the dough:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ¾ cup water

For the soup:

• 8 ounces fermented kimchi, chopped
• 2 tablespoons kimchi brine
• 8 cups water
• 1 medium onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 to 4 green onions, sliced
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil, optional
• 12 large dried anchovies, the heads and guts removed (about 13 grams)
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 – 2 tablespoon gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
• Salt to your taste

Directions

Make the dough with a food processor:

1. Be sure to use the dough blade attachment in your food processor. Pour ¾ cup water into the bowl, then add the salt, oil, and flour. Process for about 1 to 2 minutes until the dough forms into a ball.
2. Transfer the dough into a plastic bag and knead for another minute through the bag. Set aside to rest while you prepare the soup broth. (You can refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days.)

…or make the dough by hand:

1. Combine the flour, kosher salt, oil, and ¾ cup water in a large bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until the ingredients come together into a lumpy dough.
2. Knead the dough by hand for 10 to 12 minutes, until it forms a smooth ball. Seal in a plastic bag and set aside to rest while preparing the broth. (You can refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days.)

Make the soup:

1. Put the cleaned anchovies into a soup pouch and seal it tightly, or wrap them in a cheese cloth, all tied up.
2. In a large pot, combine the water, anchovy pouch, kimchi, kimchi brine, onion, and garlic. Cook for 25 minutes over medium high until the kimchi turns a little soft and the broth is nicely infused with the anchovy flavor. If the soup starts to boil over, crack the lid a bit.
3. Take out the anchovy pouch and discard.
4. Add the fish sauce (or salt to your taste).  Taste the broth and add more fish sauce or salt if you think it needs it. Remove from the heat.

Make the noodles and serve:

1. Take the dough out of the plastic bag. Knead it on a cutting board or just in your hands for 1 to 2 minutes until it’s soft and smooth.
2. Uncover the soup and bring it back to a boil. Divide the dough ball into 2 pieces so that you can work with the dough more easily. Fill a small bowl with water to wet your hands and fingertips so the dough doesn’t stick to them.
3. Hold a dough ball in one hand and with your other hand pull the dough and stretch out a little bit until you get a paper-thin, bite-size piece, about 2 inches wide by 1½ inches long and ⅛ inch thick. Tear it off and drop it into the boiling soup. It may take 2 or 3 pulls before you can get the dough thin enough.
4. Wet your hands again and continue to stretch and tear off noodles and drop them into the boiling soup, wetting your fingers whenever the dough begins to stick, until all the dough is used up. Repeat it with the other dough piece. Make sure that your noodles are thin, and work as quickly as you can.
5. Stir the noodle soup with a ladle or wooden spoon. Add the gochujang, green onions, cover, and cook for 5 minutes over medium-high heat (crack the lid if necessary to prevent the soup from boiling over), until all the noodles are floating and cooked through.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the toasted sesame oil (if used). Ladle the soup into individual bowls and serve right away  with  side  dishes.  

A bowl of kimchi sujebi and oi-muchim (spicy cucumber side dish)

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