Kimchi Chigae

Thanks to the numerous Korean dramas that we have been watching, I have been wanting to learn how to cook Korean dishes like dukboki (spicy rice cake) (this dish is featured in almost every single K-drama!), bibimbab and jajangmyun (black bean paste noodles). My elder son is especially keen to tuck into a bowl of jajangmyun. Just watching the characters in those K-dramas slurping away a bowl of thick, black, noodles would make him hungry!

As I can't even cook a proper Chinese dish, the only Korean dish I have tried to replicate at home was Kimchi Bokkumbap (kimchi fried rice). Since then, I only managed to venture a little 'further' by cooking a pack of Korean instant noodles with kimchi. I also attempted to make Korean pancakes with a pack of premix...but it ended up looking like seafood prata ;')


It was by chance that I came across this particular issue of a local magazine. There was this section on Korean food. I looked through the several recipes that were featured, and I was happy to discover that this Kimchi Chigae (or Jjigae) dish seems quite straight forward and easy for me to handle. I almost wanted to make this kimchi stew right away once I bought a pack of kimchi. (For local readers, I get freshly made kimchi from this Korean food stall/restaurant at Wisma Atria's Food Republic). Fortunately, I did a little search on this Korean dish and I realised that it will be better to cook it with older kimchi. So I waited for over a week (I couldn't wait any longer!), before I attempted on this dish.


I was very satisfied after I finished cooking this pot of kimchi stew. It looked so appetising and tasted good! I adapted the recipe slightly as the original one doesn't include gochujang or Korean hot pepper paste. Since I have a tube of pepper paste given to me by my friend, I added a tablespoon to the stew. Most kimchi chigae recipes will also require the addition of gochugaru or Korean hot pepper flakes. However, since I didn't have that on hand, I omitted it.


Although it was my maiden attempt, this stew turned out to be very delicious and full of flavours. It tasted much better than the one I had tried at a foodcourt stall which was way too sour for my liking. Even though my kids found the soup a little too spicy, they finished up all the ingredients in the stew. So, before I attempt on other Korean dishes, this is going to be a regular meal on our dinning table!



Ingredients:
(serves 3 to 4)

200g thinly sliced pork belly
400g kimchi, drained, cut into smaller pieces, reserve liquid
1 tablespoon oil
3 to 4 cups stock (beef or chicken, use canned)
1 tablespoon Korean chili paste (gochujang)
1 tablespoon Korean pepper powder/flakes (gochugaru)
300g tofu, cubed
a handful (or more) of enoki mushrooms, ends sliced off
two spring onions, cut into thin strips
some spring onions to use as garnish

Method:

1. Remove the skin on the pork belly ( I got the friendly butcher to do it for me!) and cut into thin slices.
2. Cut kimch into smaller pieces (if necessary), drain and reserve liquid.
3. Heat oil in a wok/a large skillet/frying pan, over medium heat.
4. When hot, stir fry pork for 1 min.
5. Add drained kimchi. Mix well for 2~3mins or till fragrant. (If your frying pan is not deep enough, you can transfer the mixture to a pot before proceeding with the following steps.)
6. Stir in kimchi liquid, stock (I used canned chicken stock and add water to make up to 3 ~ 4 cups as stated in the original recipe, some recipes only call for water), chili paste, chili powder. Add salt to taste (optional).
7. Bring to a vigorous boil. Add tofu, enoki mushrooms and spring onions.
8. Bring back to a boil and serve hot with rice. (Easy isn't it?!)