Tom cooks 2: Tofu no chige (jjigae stew with tofu)

I found Tom in the kitchen, staring at a recipe printout, looking overwhelmed.

He was trying to digest all the unfamiliar information. The recipe says it's "easy." That means there is no extensive fine chopping or thin slicing involved, and the process should be quite straightforward. Yet he was facing a multitude of ingredients he had never touched – eringi mushrooms, miso, gochujang, nira and niboshi – as well as the need to multitask: sauteing basic ingredients, heating up sake and water in the microwave, cutting up vegetables and tofu, softening miso and gochujan paste, etc.

Tom still isn't sure about "tbsp" and "tsp." For those who learn visually, "TBSP" and "tsp" might work better – the long sequence of big upper-case letters is for the big 15cc spoon and the short sequence of lower-case letters is for the small 5cc spoon. That should be easy enough, even for Tom.

The soup turned out just great, exactly what we needed.

The first time it feels a bit awkward. The second time, and maybe one more after that, you will find your rhythm and dance as the food simmers away.

Recipe for Tom: Tofu no chige (jjigae Korean stew with tofu, quick version with kimchi)