Korean Soup For The Soul

I whipped up soup for dinner last night. Look, I know I don't live in South Dakota where it gets crazy cold (have I ever told you that I have a college friend who grew up on a cattle ranch? I know all about South Dakotans feasting on testicles...but that's a story for another day), but Manhattan has hit the "feels like" single digits even though the temperature is technically in the teens and twenties. We're expecting our first snowstorm tonight, about six to twelve inches, and the city is in a tizzy. That means that I'll be getting my soup on!

The soup recipe:

2 teaspoons soy bean paste (available at Korean market, very similar to miso paste, just chunkier)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper paste (available at Korean market)
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup daikon radish, sliced in squares 1/8-inch think
5 oz. soft or firm tofu (about 1/4 of a 19-oz standard package) sliced thickly
3-4 Shanghai cabbage leaves (you can cut them up into bite-size pieces if you wish)
1 handful of bean sprouts
1 Korean long hot pepper sliced in 1/2-inch pieces (few slices of jalepeno will do, too)
1 scallion sliced in 1-inch pieces

Folks, it doesn't get any easier than this: add pastes to water over heat. When water comes to a boil, toss in daikon. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Add tofu. Simmer for 1 minute. Add cabbage, bean sprouts, pepper, and scallion. When radish is translucent and very soft to the bite, about 5-7 more minutes, it's ready.

Serve with steaming bowl of rice.