The Versatile Diet Friendly Soup: Kimchi Soup

A month back, my weight scale tipped to 75 kg and that’s when it hit me. My choice in buying ready-made clothes suddenly became limited... and expensive. I knew I had to change my diet, but as a working single mom, I didn’t want to try a fad diet because I couldn’t afford to get sick.

So I went to a Dietician & nutritionist to get myself sorted out properly. Needless to say, the rules were: no oils, no dairy, no coconut milk, no sugar, and no fried food. Portions were limited, but all spices and sauces were allowed. Since baking and grilling usually needs some form of oil or butter, my options were limited to steaming or boiling. Now like anyone, the image of pale and bland food immediately came to mind.

But you need to remember... there’s a wealth of rich flavorful soups, to choose from. Not only can they be healthy, they can be filling as well. For me, that soup was the wonderful and spicy Kimchi soup. Not only could I produce a soup that did not require any frying in its making, it also had a spicy punch that was really delicious and made me really full.

I would cook a big pot of soup on the weekend and during the next five working days, I would only bring approximately a bowl of soup plus 4-6 tablespoons of white rice.

In summary, from October to December I lost 10 kg and I am now off the diet. Thank you Kimchi Soup.

RECIPE:
1. Make a good chicken stock:
• 125 gr of chicken bones or chicken feet
• 1 spring onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 5 shallots, whole
• 3 garlics, whole

With 1.5 liters of water, put everything into a pot with a lid and on a small flame, cook for at least half an hour.

2. Ingredients:
• 60 – 80 gr of kimchi (depending on how much you like), sliced
• 1 tablespoon of red pepper powder
• 1.5 tablespoons of light soya bean paste
• 2 tablespoons of red chili bean paste

3. Soup substance (Note: this is my favorite mix. You can put almost anything you want in it)
• 200 gr leafy greens, i.e. baby spinach, mustard greens, etc
• 2 silk tofu, sliced 1 cm each
• 125 gr prawns, clean & without head
• 250 gr shitake mushrooms, sliced
• 80 gr fish balls, divide into two

COOKING METHOD
1. Discard chicken bones, keep everything else and bring to boil
2. Mix red pepper powder to kimchi. Mix thoroughly, then add into the soup broth
3. Add both bean pastes, stir thoroughly
4. Add mushrooms and fish balls. Let it cook until fish balls are 1.5 larger in size
5. Add prawn, tofu, and leafy greens. Cook until leaves are about to wilt. Turn the heat off.
6. In your own bowl, add 4-6 spoons of white rice into the soup before eating.