My Kimchi Jiggae

Kimchi Jiggae (김치찌개) is a stew made of pork (usually) and kimchi, and is a traditional dish from Korea. The following is my own recipe developed with my personal tastes. Measurements are estimates - I tend to never measure when I cook.

I usually make this with my own homemade kimchi (김치). I’ll do a separate post about making kimchi when I get around to making a new batch.

• In a large saucepan add 1 medium sliced onion 🧅and brown it along with a healthy serving of pork shoulder.

• Add 2 cups of bite-sized pieces of homemade kimchi, and ¼ cup of kimchi brine.

• ¼ cup of Gochugaru (고춧가루) - Korean red chili pepper flakes [1]🌶️

• 3 chopped green onions

• ¼ cup of seaweed (I use broken pieces of sheets of Nori.)

• Traditional recipes often call for anchovy stock [2], but I usually use about 2 cups of (unsalted) vegetable or chicken stock.

• 1 cup of diced daikon (Korean radish)[3]

• salt & pepper to taste

• Tofu (optional)

• chopped green onion and/or chives as a garnish

Cook well, until some of the stock has reduced (add tofu on top for last 15 minutes). Serve with rice.

Kimchi Jiggae

I didn’t have any tofu on hand when I made this batch, but usually add it.

If you have suggestions about this recipe, feel free to leave constructive comments below. If you try this recipe, please let me know what you think!

---

[1] You could use cayenne - but cayenne is much hotter and doesn’t have the same aroma and flavour of Gochugaru (and the resulting dish will be less red in colour). I use both when making my own kimchi.

[2] Maangchi (2023) Kimchi stew. Posted online June 25, 2023.

[3] I have also used diced potatoes before and I thought it was great, but some Koreans might think that is weird!