Stewing over

Someone once recommended to me to pack sandwiches for lunch. Stick to simple and don't overburden myself. I tried this for a couple weeks but quickly developed food envy when seeing my patients and co-workers dipping into hot homecooked meals while I nibbled away at my flat cold measly sandwich not-so-filled with skinny lunchmeat. At mid-day from a stressful workday, that is the last thing I wanted to see! I just couldn't do it. As munching sandwiches became torturous and depressing, I've returned to packing hot meals. It's been difficult as I'm constantly looking for dishes that are not only quick to prepare, but also easily storable, microwaveable, affordable, and exciting (whatever that may be) to eat. With some many pre-req's, it ain't easy (if anyone has any ideas, please do feel free to pass along).

And lately, with the onset of wickedly cold days, my stomach aches for something hearty, dark, sticky, chewy to gobble into. I have landed upon a couple quick stewy recipes through vast "research" (a.k.a. Google-ing) that have been on repeat. Often days it rather feels like I've been tossing bits of odds and ends into a boiling pot, but I've experimented enough (or the recipe is that simple) that it still comes out pretty tasty. Here's one:

Spicy chicken stew with chunky vegetables (Dakdoritang in Korean)

It's not that spicy, but more on the sweet side, I promise. But I didn't know how else to label something with so much red pepper contents that it just seemed wrong to not put the spicy sticker on it. Unless my memory is failing me (which could be likely), I don't remember ever eating this as a kid, but I recently discovered it and found it to be quite similar to Kalbijjim (Short rib stew). Although it being cheaper and having a shorter cooking time is probably why I make it so often nowadays. It has just the right blend of sweet and spicy, and everything nice. Dive in with a spoon and out comes a wealth of slightly caramelized carrots and potatoes, tender chicken falling apart at just the right places, & warm gooey sauce that'll fill up that stomach in the right places.

2 lbs. chicken (anything works - I usually go for thighs or drumsticks because I find them the tastiest)
1-2 c. water
2-4 potatoes (depending on their size), chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 carrot, peeled & chopped
3 green onions, chopped (optional)

Broth:
2 tbs. Korean hot pepper paste (gochujang)
2 tbs. Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru)
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tb. sugar
2 tsps. sesame oil
1/2 tb. ginger
2 tbs. minced garlic

Prep the chicken and vegetables (peel carrot, onion & potatoes if you wish. I tend to like to keep on my potato skins for texture. Supposedly they are loaded with vitamins too. Skin chicken. Let's be healthy now). Chop all vegetables into chunky big pieces as after stewing away in a pot for several minutes, they will probably disintegrate away into mush if you don't. It's much more flavorful this way too. Heat a pot big enough to hold all of this in its lower half. Throw in the chicken and vegetables and saute for 5 minutes or so until lightly toasted (if your pan tends to cause things to stick, a little bit of oil will do the trick of freeing it up). Cover with enough water to just about cover the chicken & vegetables.

Now toss the broth ingredients into the pot and stir away till well mixed. Then put the lid on the pot, & boil it on medium for 30 minutes. If you desire the scallions, chop them up and add them to the dish afterwards and heat up for another 10 minutes or so. As with most Korean dishes, you have to sort of eye it and adjust to your taste. I often end up keeping it on the heat more if I want the texture to be thicker than it comes out, and will throw in more red pepper paste, soy sauce, or sesame oil to get the broth just about to the taste I want. Then if you ladle it over some hot steaming rice & mix it up a bit, it's just the right comfort for me on those frigid blistery cold shivering Winter days (I do not like the cold).