Attempting a jjigae – a Korean style spicy tofu and mushroom soup

Jjigae - mushroom and tofu soup

This wasn’t really a jjigae. It was an attempt at recreating the spicy Korean soup, but with no recipe, no fish or meat, and without many of the proper ingredients. And having eaten it all of three times in my life. What could possibly go wrong?

The result turned out better than I feared, but not as good as I’d hoped. And in part, it was all down to me trying to keep it vegetarian. Not sure why I felt the need to do it, other than a perverse and vague feeling that it’s good to be veggie sometimes. Continue reading

Tohbang’s new lunch menu

Jjigae at Tohbang

Big lumps of slippery smooth tofu the texture of crème caramel rose and fell in the chilli hot currents of the deep red liquid slowly swirling in front of me, the odd prawn floating to the surface. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting jjigae to to be, but it wasn’t this.

Not that I was disappointed, far from it, this was exciting. I’ve eaten a lot of food from a lot of countries over the last three decades but Korean is a new thing to me. And boy, have I been missing out. Continue reading

Tohbang

My first bibimbap
Clerkenwell Road, opposite Leather lane

Korean cuisine is something I know next to nothing about. Vague images of BBQ and steamboat, kimchi (fermented spicy cabbage) and – er – well that’s about it. So when Meemalee suggested the suggestively named Tohbang for a quick lunch I jumped at the chance to try something new. Continue reading