Kimchi Jiigae Stew

It’s well documented that I love Korean food, I even talked about it in my last blog post (about the best Asian food around Melbourne). One of the dishes I really raved about was Kimchi Jjigae – a Korean stew often made with pork or seafood. It’s a little bit spicy, nice and filling – the perfect winter warmer!

Writing that post reminded me that I had some pictures of a Pork & Tofu Kimchi Jjigae (돼지김치찌개) I made before I left the UK so I thought I’d share the recipe with you. I’m not saying it’s the most authentic but it’s definitely tasty and really suited to this time of year when the weather is cold.

Kimchi is an integral part of Korean life, culture and cuisine and since learning to make it last year, we’ve almost always had a batch in the fridge. This recipe is so warming and even better if you use homemade kimchi although the ready-made stuff these days and it’s just as good.

Kimchi Jjigae and steamed rice.

Ingredients:
Serves 2 with rice on the side!

  • 300g Kimchi + 100ml juice
  • Water – enough to cover the stew by 2cm
  • 2 Pork Belly Slices – cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 200g Tofu – cut into squares
  • x3 sliced spring onions – keep the green tips for garnish
  • Sesame oil

Method:

  • Heat the sesame oil in a cast iron or heavy-based frying pan. Once hot, add the pork belly and allow the fat to render down, turning occasionally.
  • Add your spring onions and kimchi, fry for a couple of minutes until softened.
  • Add the kimchi juice from the packet or container and stir.
  • Pour over enough boiling water to cover the mixture and cook on a low heat for 25 minutes or until the pork is tender.
  • Add the tofu for the last 5 minutes of cooking.
  • Scatter spring onions on top and serve with steamed rice.
home made mat kimchi
making kimchi jjigae in a casserole dish 

Has this jjigae stew given you a taste for Korean food? Try these recipes: 

Gingey Bites recipes using Kimchi
0 thought on “Pork & Tofu Kimchi Jjigae”
  1. We love Korean food and i even make my own kimchi (I've got cabbage one and a butternut squash one on the go right now) so a veggie version of this classic stew sounds a proper winter warmer. Lovely

  2. Looks great!! thank you for loving Korean food! BTW, I just noticed a typo in the Korean name – it's 돼지김치찌게 and not 뒤지김치찌게..but having said that, it's amazing that you even have it in there. Best of luck, JinJoo@kimchimari

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