Kimchi Jjigae with Pork Shoulder
The wild thing about this stew, or Jjigae— is that it’s meant to serve 3-4 people.
But…
If I’m left alone with this pot of soup I could easily eat the whole thing. Don’t test me.
The best Kimchi Jjigaes are made with ripe, fermented kimchi. And it just so happens that I have a boatload of it. Lucky me! This is also dangerous as I now hold the power to make nearly unlimited amounts of soup.
This Jjigae is rich, thick, and packed with deep flavour, from homemade anchovy stock, an addition of rice water as well as a giant CHUNK of pork shoulder left to simmer away in the soup for 2 hours until fall off the bone tender.
Need I say more?
Recipe:
Serves 3-4 people
Anchovy Stock:
5 cups water
1/2 white onion
3 green onion bottoms
50g white radish, peeled & cut into chunks
10 anchovies (heads removed)
3” square piece kombu
Add water to a medium pot and place over high heat. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Once you have achieved a rolling boil, reduce the heat and simmer the broth for 20-30 minutes to allow all the flavours to mingle.
When ready, remove from the heat and strain the broth to get rid of the large pieces. Set aside.
Kimchi Jjigae:
3 cups anchovy stock (see above)
1/2 cup rice water (leftover from rinsing rice)
1/2 lb pork shoulder, 2-3” thick
1.5 cups well-fermented kimchi
1/4 cup kimchi juice
1 white onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tsp sugar
1 tbsp gochujang
1 tbsp gochugaru
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 pckg soon tofu (silken tofu)
pea shoots (optional garnish)
sesame seeds (garnish)
Prep your onions: peel and thinly slice. Mince the garlic.
To a medium pot, add your 1.5 cups of kimchi (bite sized pieces), the onions, minced garlic and pork shoulder.
Add the sugar, gochujang, gochugaru, fish sauce, kimchi juice, anchovy stock and rice water. Stir to roughly combine.
Turn the heat up under the pot. As soon as it starts to boil, reduce the heat and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot with a lid and allow the soup to cook for 1.5-2 hours on the low. Check the pot at the 1 hour mark to assess how much liquid has evaporated, add more stock if necessary.
After 1.5 hours, check the pork to see how tender it is. If it can’t easily tear apart, then cook for another 20 or so minutes. If ready, break the chunk of pork into smaller pieces and discard of any bones if present.
Drizzle 2 tsp of sesame oil over the top and stir into the stew. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
Upon serving: Place the soon tofu (or silken tofu) on top and slice to bite sized pieces.
Lastly, and optional; Garnish with pea shoots and sesame seeds.
Serve with a bowl of freshly steamed rice and side dishes. Enjoy!
Note: Any leftovers can e stored in an airtight container in the fridge and reheated upon serving. This will last for about a week in the fridge. The flavours will actually develop more if left overnight— if you can resist eating straight away, it’s super delicious!
