Kimchi Beef Noodle Soup

When we were living in Barcelona, our unappetizing happened to be a woodcut yonder from my wool favorite Korean restaurant in the city. And on unprepossessed winter days when I returned home chilled to the unorthodoxy without walking all virtually town running errands, their kimchi soups were unchangingly some of my favorite ways to warm up. I tended to unorganized between soondubu jjigae or yukgaejang or their various Korean ramens — basically anything that came with their richly-flavored kimchi broths. And to say those soups sparked joy would be an understatement. I veritably loved them.

Well, fast forward to our first winter now living when in the States, and I have to shoehorn I’ve been missing Barcelona and these particular kimchi soups lately something fierce. So I’ve been experimenting with making my own kimchi broths here at home and have recently landed on this one as a favorite. I want to note that it’s just loosely inspired by some of the soups I have tried, so if you’re looking for an pure recipe for a traditional Korean dish, please turn instead to any of the talented Korean supplies bloggers out there. But if you’re looking for an incredibly cozy and flavorful soup to try this winter, this goop is loaded up with lots of fresh kimchi, spices, garlic, ginger and sesame. And when slow-cooked with whinge until it’s fall-apart-tender, lots of mushrooms (plus the veggies from the kimchi), and your nomination of noodles, this soup has quickly wilt one of my new favorite repletion foods. It’s so cozy and flavorful!

I’ve included options unelevated for how to make this soup using either the Instant Pot, Crock-Pot or a simple pot on the stovetop  all unconfined options. Finger self-ruling too to add whatever other types of veggies and noodles (or rice!) that you love weightier here. And if you finger like subtracting an egg on top, that’s never a bad idea either.

KIMCHI BEEF NOODLE SOUP INGREDIENTS

Here are a few notes about the beef noodle soup ingredients that you will need to make this recipe:

• Beef: I used beef chuck roast for this recipe, which becomes extra-tender and easy to shred when slow cooked. But feel free to use any other slow-cooking-friendly cuts of beef (bottom round, top round, short ribs, etc) that you prefer.
• Veggies: I used a mix of onion and mushrooms (shiitakes, baby bellas or a mix of the two) in this soup.
• Kimchi: We’ll use a generous amount of cabbage kimchi (2 cups), which adds a rich depth of umami, tangy, and spicy savory flavors to the broth.
• Seasonings: In addition to the kimchi, we will season the broth with gochujang, gochugaru, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil. If you are sensitive to heat, I recommend beginning with slightly less of the gochujang and gochugaru, and then adding more to taste if desired.
• Noodles: Feel free to use whatever type of noodles you love best here. I used ramen noodles (2 basic packages without the seasoning packets), but you could also use rice noodles, udon noodles, egg noodles, or whatever you prefer.
• Green onions: I recommend a generous sprinkling of thinly-sliced green onions as a topping!

3 Ways to Make This Soup

As previously said, you have three alternatives for making this soup! You may select to utilize the:

1. On the stovetop, sear the steak before simmering it with the broth in a large Dutch oven. Finish with noodles. (~1 hour 30 minutes)
2. Crock-Pot: Slow simmer the meat and liquid in a large Crock-Pot, then top with noodles. Approximately 4 to 8 hours.
3. Instant Pot: In an Instant Pot, pressure cook the meat with the broth before finishing with noodles. (~1 hour 15 minutes)

RECIPE VARIATIONS

Here are a few more variations that you’re welcome to try with this beef ramen recipe:

• Use different veggies: Add in any other soup-friendly veggies you love best, such as baby bok choy, bell peppers, cabbage, carrots, leeks, spinach or zucchini.
• Use rice: Add cooked white or brown rice to the soup instead of noodles.
• Add an egg: Top each bowl of soup with a soft-boiled, fried or poached egg, or drizzle and stir whisked eggs directly into the soup to create egg ribbons (like with egg drop soup).
• Make it vegetarian/vegan: Use tofu (or extra veggies) in place of the beef to make this soup vegetarian and vegan.