Save Your Kimchi Brine For An Easy Way To Flavor Soups

You've just finished eating all the fermented cabbage pieces from your jar of kimchi, and now there's an inch of bright red brine left sitting in the bottom. If you've been dumping that proverbial liquid gold down the drain, consider this an intervention. That leftover liquid can add a dimensional, impressive sour taste to your go-to soup recipes — and, if you're into spicy kimchi, the brine can add a little heat to your milder soups, as well. This soup upgrade is a great way to get the most mileage out of your homemade kimchi, but it also totally works with store-bought kimchi, too.

To make it work, simply stir a splash of kimchi brine into the broth of your soup. That's it. How much brine you add is going to depend both on your unique taste preference and the soup recipe you're making. Some soups might benefit from a subtle splash of fermented flavor, while others could use a bolder kimchi kick. Start with a few tablespoons at a time, stir and taste after each addition, and take care not to overdo it. The kimchi brine should be an Oscar-worthy Supporting Actor for your soups, not an overpowering foil. 

Also, as you brainstorm soups to add this punchy, complex ingredient to, be sure to steer clear of anything that includes dairy. This highly-acidic, fermented brine will quickly curdle dairy, and works better in vegetable-forward, brothy recipes.

To help get your brine-y brainstorm rolling, we've rounded up a few recipes from our oeuvre that would work well with some kimchi juice. Perhaps most obviously, you could add a splash of kimchi brine to classic, comforting Tom Yum, or already-sour hot and sour soup with pork stock, wood ear mushrooms, and tofu for gentle, easy to digest soups that are good year-round. Or, add a little kimchi brine to this Shiitake Mushroom Soup or Hearty Bok Choy Soup, both of which feature thin broths and relatively mild profiles, which could benefit from a kick of fermented complexity.

On the denser side of the soupy spectrum, kimchi brine would add a sour roundness to this Aromatic Garlic-Ginger Beef Stew, complementing the existing spiciness and acidity from the Chinese five spice blend and tomato. Similarly, this earthy Curried Black Lentil Soup with Tadka, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and curry leaves could use a sour-spicy back end to balance. Although, skip the yogurt garnish on this one if you add the kimchi brine (no dairy here, officer).

You can whisk that kimchi brine into pureed soups, too, like this luscious, vegan Caramelized Sweet Potato Miso Soup, which leans a tad sweet. A splash of kimchi brine would hit it with some umami dimensionality and steer the profile sweet-sour. Or, try blending some sour kimchi brine into this vegetal, sweet-spiced Thai-Style Butternut Squash Soup with shallot, lemongrass, turmeric, and serrano chili.