Kimchi Hand-Torn Noodle SoupKimchi Sujebi

Sujebi is what you make on a rainy afternoon when you want something comforting but can't be bothered to go out. My aunt made it with whatever was in the kitchen — kimchi, a potato, flour and water. The whole process took thirty minutes and left the apartment smelling like something that had been cooking for hours.

The dough is the part people hesitate about. I did too. Flour, salt, water — it sounds too simple. But the recipe tip tells you exactly what to feel for: firm but pliable, like Play-Doh. The resting time matters because it relaxes the gluten and makes the dough easier to tear into flat pieces without springing back.

I made this for the first time on my own during a cold week in Vancouver. I used overfermented kimchi from the back of the fridge — the extra-sour kind you're not sure you want to eat straight anymore. That kimchi is perfect for sujebi. The fermented tang breaks down into the anchovy stock and gives the broth a depth that fresh kimchi doesn't.

The tearing technique sounds imprecise but gives you real control. You stretch each piece thin — thinner than you think it needs to be — because the dough swells as it cooks. Thicker pieces stay gummy in the middle. Thin pieces become silky and slightly chewy in a satisfying way.

A Filipino friend named Marisol visited while I was cooking and asked if she could help. I handed her the dough and she started tearing pieces and dropping them in. She got the thinness right almost immediately — she compared it to shaping lumpia wrappers, which I had no experience with but took her word for. We ate from the pot, standing in the kitchen, because it was ready and we were hungry.

Kimchi sujebi is not elegant but it is deeply satisfying. Use your oldest, most sour kimchi. Tear the noodles thin.