Kimchi-Jjigae - The Korean Stew

When the days get shorter and the first autumn wind sweeps around the houses, there is hardly anything better than Kimchi-Jjigae. This bubbling stew of ripe kimchi, meat and tofu is to Korea what chicken soup is to us: the meal for cold days, for a head cold, and for the evening when the fridge is basically empty. Spicy, sour, deeply savory, and on the table in a good 30 minutes.

The best part: the older your kimchi, the better the stew. So this recipe is the perfect way to use up that jar that has been sitting open in the fridge for far too long.

Overview

1. Korean Food Culture and Tradition
2. What exactly is a Jjigae?
3. Why older kimchi is the better kimchi
4. Beef, pork belly or none at all?
5. The Recipe
6. Insider tips

Korean Food Culture and Tradition

A meal in South Korea never consists of just one dish. There are always several small bowls on the table, the so-called banchan. On top of that comes a bowl of rice for everyone and something warm in the middle to share. That is exactly where the jjigae belongs: in a heavy stone pot that goes straight from the stove to the table and keeps bubbling away there for minutes.

Everyone eats together from the same pot. That is no coincidence! Food in Korea is a social affair, and the pot in the middle is its focal point. Kimchi is never missing. It is less a side dish than a staple, and almost every household has its own preference for how sour it should be.

What exactly is a Jjigae?

Jjigae (찌개) is the Korean word for a boldly seasoned stew, a little thicker than a soup and always meant for sharing. It comes in many variations: with soybean paste (doenjang-jjigae), with very soft silken tofu (sundubu-jjigae) or, of course, with kimchi.

Kimchi-jjigae is the best known of them and at the same time the most straightforward. It came about out of pure necessity: once the kimchi got too sour to eat raw, it went into the pot. What began as a way to use up leftovers became one of the country’s most popular everyday dishes. Today it is on the menu in practically every Korean restaurant.

Why older kimchi is the better kimchi

This sounds wrong at first, but it is the most important point in the whole recipe: for kimchi-jjigae you do not want fresh kimchi. Fresh, it is crisp and mild, and that adds very little flavor in the pot. The longer kimchi ferments, the sourer and more complex it gets. That sour depth is what gives the stew its character. So if you have a jar that has been open for a few weeks and smells distinctly sour when you open it: perfect, that is exactly what you want. Feel free to add a few spoonfuls of the brine to the pot as well, there is a lot of flavor in it.

Beef, pork belly or none at all?

Classic kimchi-jjigae is cooked with pork belly. The fat melts into the broth and makes it round and filling. In this recipe I use thinly sliced beef, the kind you can buy ready-sliced for bulgogi or shabu-shabu. It cooks in seconds and stays beautifully tender.

Both work, just take whatever you can get. The version with canned tuna (chamchi-jjigae) is widespread too. It sounds unusual to European ears, but in Korea it is completely normal and really good. And it works without any meat at all: simply put more tofu and mushrooms in the pot.

The Recipe

Ingredients (for 2 servings):

• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 onion, cut into strips
• 400 g ripe kimchi, roughly chopped
• 250 g thinly sliced meat (pork or beef)
• 2 tbsp gochujang (Korean chili paste)
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 750 ml water
• Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean chili powder)
• 1 bunch of enoki mushrooms
• 200 g silken tofu
• 2 spring onions, cut into rings
• Sesame seeds
• Rice to serve

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a pot and briefly sauté the garlic and onion.
2. Add the kimchi and fry it over high heat for a few minutes.
3. Now the thinly sliced meat goes into the pot and is fried along until cooked through. The thinner the slices, the faster this goes.
4. Add the gochujang, sesame oil and water and stir everything well until the paste has completely dissolved.
5. Season with soy sauce and gochugaru and bring to a boil once.
6. Now taste and adjust. Depending on how salty and sour your kimchi is, you will need more or less soy sauce and chili.
7. Carefully place the enoki mushrooms and the tofu on top. Do not stir the tofu in, or it will fall apart in the broth. Let everything simmer gently for a few more minutes.
8. Finally, sprinkle with the spring onions and sesame seeds.

Serve hot, ideally straight from the pot. With a bowl of rice on the side.