Cooking with Colm O'Gorman: Chicken and dumpling sujebi
It seems as if the country has gone a bit soup mad of late. It's entirely understandable given the cold weather and the general gloom and doom that dominates the news of late. Comfort food is most definitely required, and if it can be healthy and nutritious that would be a huge plus of course. It is January, the month when many of us try to recover from the excesses of the holidays and kick start a healthier regime as we head into a new year. This year, of course, is like no other January, and we are all dealing with challenges way beyond those we might ordinarily face. We need comfort and healthy nourishment more than ever, that is for certain.
This week’s recipe offers both in abundance. It is not really a soup, more a one-pot casserole, Chicken Sujebi, a Korean dish with chicken, vegetables and beautiful potato dumplings. It is simple enough to make and produces big bowls of tender chicken, crisp vegetables, and succulent dumplings in a beautifully flavoured broth. It should be served with a good chili sauce. I highly recommend either getting hold of some Gochujang, which is one of my favourite food discoveries of the past year, or better yet, make your own. It is a beautiful Korean chilli sauce, and very easy to make. Just pop 100g of brown miso paste, 50g of honey, one grated clove of garlic, one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, 50ml of water and 25g of Korean red pepper powder and whisk it well to combine. It will take you no more than five minutes to make and it keeps well in the fridge. I highly recommend it; it is without doubt one of the nicest chilli sauces I have ever eaten. It is a staple now in our home and is wonderful in stir-fries, slathered over a steak, or with some Korean Fried Chicken.
