Recipe: Kimchi Jjigae (김치찌개 Korean Kimchi Stew)

Say goodbye to hot sunny days and hello to cool, rainy days.

Now that the weather is cooler, we enjoy having hot soup or stew for dinner. We have loads of matured kimchi left in the fridge, so we made some kimchi jjigae aka Korean kimchi spicy stew for dinner.

When making kimchi jjigae, you can use a variety of different meats and seafood such as pork, chicken, canned tuna or prawns - our choice this time is prawn and chicken. Make sure to use matured kimchi as it gives the stew a stronger, more intense flavour. You can control the level of spiciness by how much gochujang (hot pepper paste) or gochugaru (chilli powder) you put in. We love to have lots of tofu in our jjigae.

Not only is it easy to make, it is so very comforting and delicious. Kimchi jjigae is wonderfully appetizing with a sourish tinge from the matured kimchi. It is a fantastic one-pot meal which you can enjoy in less than 30 minutes.

All we need is a bowl of rice and a big (or maybe two) bowl(s) of kimchi jjigae and we're happy campers :)

Kimchi jjigae 김치찌개 (Kimchi spicy stew)
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from here
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 - 20 minutes
Serves 2-3 as main meal


Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
150g lean pork or chicken breast, sliced thinly

8 king prawns, peeled and deveined, with tails intact
1 onion, halved and sliced thinly
150g matured kimchi
1 clove garlic, crushed
100ml kimchi juice
500ml water
1 tbsp cooking wine (I used Shaoxing wine)
1 tbsp miso or doenjang
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp gochujang (hot pepper paste)
1 piece beancurd, cubed
2 stalks spring onion, sliced
1 red chilli, sliced
1/2 tsp gochugaru (or chilli powder)


1. Marinate the pork/chicken with the Shaoxing wine.

2. Heat the oil in a small, deep pot and fry the pork/chicken, kimchi and garlic for 3-5 minutes. When the meat has browned, add the kimchi juice, onion, water, gochujang, miso/doenjang, and soy sauce, stirring everything together to combine.

3. Bring to boil and taste for spiciness. If you prefer your soup spicy, then add some gochugaru.

4. Allow the soup to simmer for 10-15 minutes, then add the tofu and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the prawns, and cook for a further 30 seconds, or until cooked.

5. Serve immediately with rice. Garnish with the spring onions and red chillies.

Note: If you do not have gochugaru, you can replace with chilli powder. See here on how to make your own kimchi.

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