How to Make Home Style Kimchi Jjigae with Pork

Kimchi Jjigae is a Korean Kimchi stew that is the most commonly consumed by Korean households. It is so regularly served in Korean households that typical Koreans eat this stew at least once a week if not more.

This is very simple to prepare as long as you have leftover Kimchi in your refrigerator.

The taste of Kimchi Jjigae with fatty pork meat is the best way to give extra flavor, but you can also make it using different types of meat such as beef, tuna, or seafood.

When the fat melts into the soup, it gives richness to the stew and it goes well with any other Korean dishes.

Home Style Kimchi Jjigae (김치찌개)

Korean kimchi jjigae recipe

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Korean

Servings 3

Calories 374 kcal

Ingredients

Meat

180 g skinless pork belly cut into bite size pieces
1 Tbsp Rice Wine
3 Tbsp sprinkles ground black pepper

Kimchi & Others

3/4 Cup aged Kimchi (at least 2 to 3 weeks old), cut into bite size pieces if not already
1/4 small brown onion (30 g / 1 ounce), thinly sliced
1/2 stalk small green onion (5 g / 0.2 ounce), thinly sliced
2 small shiitake mushrooms (50 g / 1.4 ounces), stems removed, thinly sliced
150 g firm tofu (5.3 ounces), sliced into 1cm thickness rectangles, or other shapes you may prefer
1 cup water

Jjigae base (mix these in a bowl)

1 Tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 Tbsp minced garlic
3 sprinkles ground black pepper

Instructions

Marinate the pork belly with the rice wine and the ground black pepper for about 15 mins.
Cook the Kimchi in a skillet until soft. (You could do this in the pot where you will make this jjigae. Do this only if the pot is big enough to manoeuvre around.)
Put the marinated meat into the bottom of the pot. Add all the other ingredients (kimchi, onion, mushrooms, tofu, water and the base sauce) except for green onion into the pot.
Boil the pot on medium high heat initially then reduce the heat to medium once it starts boiling. Cook further until the meat is cooked. (It takes 10 to 15 mins from the beginning of step 4.) Make sure the sauce is well blended into the rest of the ingredients. (This can be done by gently mixing the sauce around the soup with a small teaspoon and splashing the soup over other ingredients every now then). When the meat is cooked, add the green onion and turn the heat off.
Serve with rice (and other side dishes).