hello everyone! it’s been a very long time, hasn’t it? we’ve been busy with school and these days, we do not have the time to experiment with food like we have in the past. these days, we eat and cook what we know and get on with our daily hectic lives! we’ve been eating a lot of our regular staples and one of these dishes includes the ever so delicious and hearty kimchi stew/kimchi jjigae. one of our very first posts on tasty meals was this very dish, but my mom’s version. her version is very sweet due to sugar and much simplified. here, we show you how to make the more common form of kimchi jjigae that you can find served in restaurants. it is not sweet, more porky and sour & spicy. we love this version! we hope you like it too.

what you need:

• 1/2 cup of good fermented kimchi–if the kimchi is not sour, it will not taste good! old fermented kimchi is key for good kimchi stew!
• up to 1/2 cup of pork pieces for stewing
• 1 green chili pepper (korean one or jalapeno)
• 1/4 cup or less of onion
• 1 whole garlic
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of dashi powder
• 1/4 cup kimchi juice
• optional: tofu for stewing (as much as you like)

*a very popular version of kimchi jjigae in korea is tuna kimchi stew. this is very simple to make. about a few minutes prior to serving the stew, add in a strained tuna from can into stew. do not add it any earlier than that as that will cause the tuna to essentially dissolve into tiny pieces!

what to do:

first, chop and slice the onion, pepper and garlic like so.

in a heated pot with little oil, brown the pork pieces

add in the chopped garlic, pepper, and onion to the pot and continue to saute until the onions yellow

add in the kimchi and stir to fully incorporate it to the mix in the pot.

now, if you like your kimchi in your stew to be more firm, you do not have to stir fry any longer. however, if you like your kimchi to be very soft (we do!), you must saute the kimchi continuously until you see the kimchi become semi translucent.

next, add in water to JUST cover the mixture. then add in the kimchi juice and stir well.

bring to boil and add in the dashi and pepper. now simmer for about 15 minutes.

add in the tofu and simmer for another 1-2 minutes.

ENJOY!