My first authentic Korean food experience was in 1997 when I first met M. This was about the time when E started dating him. Since then, I have been exposed to many wonderful Korean dishes. Pajeon, kimchi jjigae, sundubu jjigae, to name a few (I’m a big soup/stew fan!). Several years ago, I decided to make my at-home version of kimchi jjigae. I think I have come up with a version I’m satisfied with. A warning —this is pretty spicy. I mean BTS (Burning Tonkomong Sensation) spicy. 😀
Ingredients:
- 1 large onion, cubed about 1″ thick
- 1/2 teaspoon of cooking oil
- 7 slices of black pork belly, cut about 2″ wide (you can also use regular sliced pork belly. I got this at my local Korean market)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of hot pepper paste (I got this at my local Korean Market)
- 2 cups of kimchi, roughly chopped (you can use fresh or really fermented kimchi –add some kimchi juice to the pot if you have it)
- 3 cups of water
- 1 package of soft tofu, cut in half and sliced about 1/2″ thick
- 1 jalapeno pepper, sliced about 1/4″ thick
- 3 scallions, cut 1″ long
Preparation:
In a 3 or 4 quart pot over medium high heat, add onions and cooking oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then add your pork belly. Cook until you see some browning. Then add the hot pepper paste and kimchi. Stir it around and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add water, tofu and jalapeno peppers. Let the pot come to a bubble and then turn down the heat to low and let the stew simmer for 30-45 minutes. Add scallions and serve this with a side of rice.
* Please note when chopping your kimchi, it will stain your cutting board.
uni homemaker 
HAHAHAH BTS FTW! This stuff is goooooood. The longer you let it sit the better it gets. By day 3, it’s epic.
Epic indeed! 🙂
looks tasty!
Thanks! 🙂
Nice to see an authentic and interesting recipe! It sounds delicious.
Thanks! If you dig spicy soup/stew, this is a good one to try.
This is my favorite post so far!!! I almost lick the screen our of reflex…
Hahaha! I’m glad it’s M approved! 🙂
YUM. You are on a roll with the jalapeño-related recipes! I absolutely love kimchi jjigae and sundubu jjigae. They were right up there with my favorite dishes to eat in Seoul.
It’s a comforting dish to have on a cold day. San Francisco Bay Area is always cool for the most part so it’s nice to be able have them year round. 🙂
Looks tempting, but I don’t prefer spicy food. Thumbs up for you! 🙂
Thanks! I use to feel that way about spicy food too. But it’s hard to say no to Korean food. 🙂
Hey Anne thanks for your like on my Challah post- it led me to check our your blog and I am so glad I did! This recipe looks delicious and I know my husband will love it. I look forward to trading more recipes and ideas in the future! -Felicia
Hi Felicia. Thanks for stopping by! If you do give this recipe a try, let me know how it turns out.
IT looks very nice Anne,very intresting ,thanks for sharing.:)
Thank you Massi! Always a pleasure to hear from you. 🙂
This looks like a delicious version of Kimchi Jijigae!
Thank you!