Kim Chi Stew and Curry Apple Couscous

It's been a great culmination to my peds rotation, and my third year of medical school. Woohoo! It's true what they say, that celebrating the end of a rotation is sweetest if you worked hard and pushed yourself to be the best that you could be. So these good thoughts inspired two dishes this weekend.

1) Kim Chi Stew

Ingredients: 

1 lb kim chi 

1 lb tofu

1/2 lb assorted fish    

balls

1/4 lb spinach 

1/4 lb shitake mushrooms

1/4 lb baby bok choy

Water

Instructions:

In a large pot, place kim chi and water and bring to boil. Then add cubed tofu (of any consistency you like, we used medium firm) and shitake mushrooms and let cook until they soften. Then add sliced spinach, baby bok choy, and fish balls to the pot and cook until the veggies are cooked thoroughly and the fish balls rise to the top of the liquid. Enjoy!

Notes: This was enjoyable to make, fills the kitchen with the warm, spicy aroma of kim chi. Makes you think of home, even if you're not Korean. You can adjust the degree of spiciness of the soup by removing some soup as it cooks and replacing it with fresh water. If you use soft silken tofu, you more closely recreate soondubu, the traditional Korean soft tofu meal that you put BCD Tofu House on the map. Definitely eat this with rice, brown or white, to give your belly a comforting cushion to the spicy soup.

2) Curry and Apple Couscous

Ingredients: 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 medium apple, cored and chopped

3 green onions, washed, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 cup whole wheat couscous

1 3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

small handful of mint, chopped

Instructions: 

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat add 3 tablespoons of the butter, the curry powder and a couple generous pinches of salt, and cook for a minute or until the spices are fragrant.  Stir in the chopped apples and cook for about 3 minutes, enough time for the apples to soften up a bit and absorb some of the curry.  Scoop the apple from the pan and set aside in a separate bowl.

 

In the same pan, again over medium-high heat, add the remaining table spoon of butter.  Stir in the green onions, let them soften up a bit and then add the water and salt.  Bring to a boil, stir in the couscous, cover and remove from the heat.  Steam for 5 to 10 minutes and then use a fork to fluff up the couscous.  Stir in the apples, pine nuts, and shopped mint.  Season with more salt and curry powder to taste.

Notes: This is a recipe that my mom shared with me from her ladies cooking group which focuses on making healthy whole grain meals. My mom made this for me once and I loved it so much that I needed to make it. Absolutely no regrets. The couscous was light and aromatic and the apples gave a nice crunchy sweet contrast to the fluffiness of the couscous. It was my first time cooking with couscous, such an interesting grain. According to Wiki, it's a grain derived from semolina wheat that originated in Northern African countries such as Algeria and Morocco. Although some people confuse couscous with quinoa (another sand size whole grain), it is very different. Couscous is actually a very small pasta and it is processed. Quinoa is the preserved, natural state of the grain from which it is derived. Hope you try this recipe soon!