One of my favorite dishes of all time that my mom used to make at home is Kimchi Jiggage. Since my mother is Korean (and my dad Chinese), we ate a lot of Korean food growing up. However, my mom was a pescatarian, so we had a lot of fish-based dishes.
As I grew older, I discovered a whole new world of Korean cooking with pork, beef, and chicken bases. One of my favorite proteins to cook is pork belly now, which is what we’re going to use for the base of this dish.
Although I grew up eating this with an anchovy stock base, I wanted to share my rendition of this delicious recipe my mom shared with me that is, in my opinion, the ultimate Korean comfort food.
@nomlist HOW TO make Kimchi Jiggae 🥘 ##foodie ##easyrecipes ##koreanrecipes ##food ##korean ##koreanfood ##recipe
♬ Guitar Jazz instrumental – Easy Listening Jazz Instrumentals
Ingredients
- ½ onion
- ½ lb pork belly
- ¼ cup kimchi juice
- 1 cup kimchi
- 2 scallions sliced
- 1 TBSP Gochugaru
- 1/4 tsp minced garlic
- 1 egg
- ½ package tofu (soft to silken)
Directions
Dice up ½ of an onion into about ½ square pieces. You can also slice them long, but it’s always good to get a little more surface area on your onions to soak up more flavor.
Slice your pork belly into about ½ inch cubes. You can buy pork belly for stew sometimes at the grocery store or you can slice your own pork bellies yourself. The smaller you slice, the easier it is to cook down.
Cook your pork bellies in a small pot for about 5 minutes until they are browned and the fat begins to render down.
Add in your onions when the pork bellies yield some fat. Cook down your onions until they begin to look translucent.
Throw in the garlic and stirfry everything together. You can even add more garlic to taste for a little extra kick.
Add ¼ cup of kimchi and stir fry it with the pork belly and onions. You want to make sure the kimchi is well fermented (about 2 weeks or more after purchasing it from the grocery store). The more fermented, the better and more authentic the flavor.
Throw in 1 tbsp of gochugaru (korean chili powder) or more if you like it hot and spicy!
Pour 1 cup of water in the pot, cover, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
Put your cut tofu in the pot, cover, and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Last but not least, top off your jjigae with an egg and serve with a side of rice!
Kimchi Jjigae with Pork Belly
Ingredients
- ½ onion
- ½ lb pork belly
- ¼ cup kimchi juice
- 1 cup kimchi
- 1 tbsp Gochugaru
- 1/4 tsp minced garlic
- 2 scallions sliced
- 1/2 package tofu (soft to silken) and cut into 1 inch squares
Instructions
-
Dice up ½ of an onion into about ½ square pieces. You can also slice them long, but it’s always good to get a little more surface area on your onions to soak up more flavor.
-
Slice your pork belly into about ½ inch cubes. You can buy pork belly for stew sometimes at the grocery store or you can slice your own pork bellies yourself. The smaller you slice, the easier it is to cook down.
-
Cook your pork bellies in a soup dish for about 5 minutes until they are browned and the fat begins to render down.
-
Add in your onions when the pork bellies yield some fat. Cook down your onions until they begin to look translucent.
-
Throw in the garlic and stirfry everything together. You can even add more garlic to taste for a little extra kick.
-
Pour in ¼ cup kimchi juice and stir.
-
Add ¼ cup of kimchi and stir fry it with the pork belly and onions. You want to make sure the kimchi is well fermented (about 2 weeks or more after purchasing it from the grocery store). The more fermented, the better and more authentic the flavor.
-
Throw in 1 tbsp of gochugaru (korean chili powder) or more if you like it hot and spicy!
-
Pour 1 cup of water in the pot, cover, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
-
Put your cut tofu in the pot, cover, and simmer for another 5 minutes.
-
Last but not least, top off your jjigae with an egg and serve with a side of rice!
