Hangover Kimchi Soup
Updated May 1, 2025
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Ingredients
- 1packed cup finely chopped kimchi (8 ounces; see Tip), plus any accumulated juices
- 1quart chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 4large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1(2-inch) piece ginger, sliced
- 1tablespoon gochugaru (see Tip), plus more to taste
- 1tablespoon fish sauce, plus more to taste
- 1tablespoon doenjang or miso (see Tip)
- Salt
- 1(15.5-ounce) can large white beans, such as butter, cannellini or great Northern, rinsed and drained
- 1small yellow onion, halved, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1loosely packed cup fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
Preparation
- Step 1
To a medium pot, add the kimchi, stock, garlic, ginger, gochugaru, fish sauce and doenjang. Set over high heat until boiling. Partially cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and gently boil, stirring occasionally, until the broth is aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Step 2
Stir in the beans and onion and continue simmering until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed, with salt, gochugaru and fish sauce. Before serving, discard the ginger if you don’t want to eat it and stir in the cilantro.
- Kimchi is sold in many ways and at varying stages of ripeness. For this dish, you want very ripe, well-fermented kimchi for the brightest flavor. Less fermented kimchi will taste like fresh cabbage, whereas well-fermented kimchi will taste sharp and pickled, with small bubbles signaling fermentation. To ferment less ripened kimchi from the store, leave it on the counter in its covered jar at room temperature until it starts to effervesce and smell funky, overnight or up to 48 hours. Return to the refrigerator before using.
- Gochugaru, a flavorful Korean red-pepper powder, ranges from a fine dust to tiny coarse flakes. Try to buy the coarse variety, for deeper, sweeter flavor. You can find gochugaru at Korean and other Asian supermarkets and at many grocery stores, as well as online.
- Buy doenjang, often labeled “soybean paste,” in any Korean or Asian supermarket and online. Funkily pungent and packed with savoriness, doenjang is a magical flavor booster that has likely seasoned much of the banchan, or small dishes, that constellate the table at your favorite Korean restaurant. Doenjang is often compared to Japanese miso but tastes stronger.
Private Notes
Comments
good excuse for getting a hangover :-)
So easy and so good. I had a can of Trader Joe's Gigantic white beans in tomato sauce which went really well. Added a chicken breast. Seems like there are endless potential adaptations.
My wife and I were not even hungover, but were huge Eric Kim recipe fans and had to try it. It might be the most soothing broth I’ve ever had! I made my own stock with a fowl which definitely helped, and I doubled the beans. Can’t recommend this recipe enough!
Hmmm, I guess I'm in the minority here. Felt like the soup lacked the dimension I find in the traditional kimchi jiggae, then again, if I am hungover, I might not care about complexity or dimension. I added some sesame oil, should have added gochjang just for that little bit of sweetness? I thought it was just ok.
This might be my very favourite NYT recipe, and thanks to NYT my husband’s favourite food of all times. Made this dozens of times, at least once per week, and it’s gonna be a keeper for years to come. I make it vegetarian, so vegan fish sauce and homemade kimchi. Always make a huge pot, because this tastes even better for lunch the day after (and the day after that). We like to add some extra seasoned rice vinegar and sesame oil at the table. So insanely good. Thank you very much, Eric Kim! You’re considered a hero at our table. <3
What’s a good commercial kimchi?