The ultra comforting Korean stew – kimchi jjigae recipe!
Kimchi jjigae (김치찌개) also known as kimchi stew or kimchi soup is probably the most common way of consuming some aged kimchi. It is a such a staple food in Korean households that typically Koreans would eat it at least once or twice a week if not more.
I love making kimchi jjigae with some fatty pork meat. Of course, you can make it differently using different types of meat (beef or canned tuna etc) but in my humble opinion, the fatty pork goes best with this soup. When the fat melts into the soup, it’s not just your ordinary kimchi soup. It’s so comforting and irresistible!
Seriously, I can finish my bowl of rice just with my kimchi jjigae without any side dishes. You MUST try this!
Other Recipes Using Kimchi
Do you love kimchi? Or you simply have too much in your fridge and don’t know what to do with it? If so, here are some recipes you can try with your kimchi!
If none of these interest you, check my how to eat kimchi post. There you will find additional 11 different ways you could use your kimchi.
Watch How to Make Kimchi Jjigae (video tutorial)
Ingredients for Kimchi Jjigae (Serves 2 to 3)
Meat
- 180g (0.4 pounds) skinless pork belly, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 Tbsp rice wine (mirin)
- 3 sprinkles ground black pepper
Kimchi & Others
- 3/4 cup aged (at least 2 to 3 weeks old) kimchi, cut into bite size pieces if not already
- 1/4 small (30g, 1 ounce) brown onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 stalk small (5g, 0.2 ounce) green onion, thinly sliced
- 2 small (50g, 1.4 ounces) shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced
- 150g (5.3 ounces) firm tofu, sliced into 1cm (0.4 inch) thickness rectangle (or other shapes you may prefer)
- 1 cup water
Jjigae Base (Mix these in a bowl)
- 1 Tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp Korean chili paste (gochujang)
- 1/4 tsp minced garlic
- 3 sprinkles ground black pepper
*1 Tbsp = 15ml, 1 Cup = 250ml
**If you’re not sure of the above Korean cooking ingredients, look them up from my essential Korean Cooking Ingredients post.
How to Make Kimchi Jjigae (Kimchi Stew)
1. Marinate the pork belly with the rice wine and the ground black pepper for about 15 mins.
2. Cook the kimchi in a skillet until soft. (You could do this in the pot where you will make this jjigae. Do this only if the pot is big enough to manoeuvre around.)
3. Put the marinated meat into the bottom of the pot. Add all the other ingredients (kimchi, onion, mushrooms, tofu, water and the base sauce) except for green onion into the pot.
4. Boil the pot on medium high heat initially then reduce the heat to medium once it starts boiling. Cook further until the meat is cooked. (It takes 10 to 15 mins from the beginning of step 4.) Make sure the sauce is well blended into the rest of the ingredients. (This can be done by gently mixing the sauce around the soup with a small teaspoon and splashing the soup over other ingredients every now then). When the meat is cooked, add the green onion and turn the heat off.
5. Serve with rice (and other side dishes).
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The classic, Kimchi Jjigae
Ingredients
Meat
- 180 g skinless pork belly (0.4 pounds), cut into bite size pieces
- 1 Tbsp rice wine (mirin)
- 3 sprinkles ground black pepper
Kimchi & Others
- 3/4 cup aged Kimchi (at least 2 to 3 weeks old), cut into bite size pieces if not already
- 1/4 small brown onion (30 g / 1 ounce), thinly sliced
- 1/2 stalk small green onion (5 g / 0.2 ounce), thinly sliced
- 2 small shiitake mushrooms (50 g / 1.4 ounces), stems removed, thinly sliced
- 150 g firm tofu (5.3 ounces), sliced into 1cm thickness rectangles, or other shapes you may prefer
- 1 cup water
Jjigae base (mix these in a bowl)
- 1 Tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp Korean chili paste (gochujang)
- 1/4 tsp minced garlic
- 3 sprinkles ground black pepper
Instructions
- Marinate the pork belly with the rice wine and the ground black pepper for about 15 mins.
- Cook the Kimchi in a skillet until soft. (You could do this in the pot where you will make this jjigae. Do this only if the pot is big enough to manoeuvre around.)
- Put the marinated meat into the bottom of the pot. Add all the other ingredients (kimchi, onion, mushrooms, tofu, water and the base sauce) except for green onion into the pot.
- Boil the pot on medium high heat initially then reduce the heat to medium once it starts boiling. Cook further until the meat is cooked. (It takes 10 to 15 mins from the beginning of step 4.) Make sure the sauce is well blended into the rest of the ingredients. (This can be done by gently mixing the sauce around the soup with a small teaspoon and splashing the soup over other ingredients every now then). When the meat is cooked, add the green onion and turn the heat off.
- Serve with rice (and other side dishes).
Notes
Nutrition Info (per serving)
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
super delicious
Hello, I have tinned kimchi (can’t obtain any fresh where I live), would it work too? Or not really?
Sincerely yours
Cali
Hi Sue,
Thank you for sharing this recipe, I loved it! However I live by myself. How long do you think this would keep in the fridge? Will the texture of the tofu be OK after freezing?
Thanks!
For any unused amount, you can store it in the fridge for a couple of days. You can freeze it as well, but I’m not sure how it will affect the texture of tofu.
Hi Sue and Cait,
I have a Thai noodle soup that has firm tofu in it and it freezes beautifully. I would think this could too.
Excellent ! I have made this recipe countless times and it always a hit. I make it without the meat so I add more shiitakes, and it always turns out very tasty.
This was SO good!! I didn’t have any meat so I made it happily, accidentally vegetarian and added an egg at the end. Definitely going to make this again. I also used soft tofu because that’s what I had and it was great!
I made this tonight & it was amazing I will be making this regularly, thank you so very much for sharing your recipes🌺 I look forward to trying all the others😊
Really delicious and easy to make. Instructions are straight forward. Thank you for sharing this
maybe not classic, but I used 2 tins of sardines (drained) instead of pork belly (not such a meat lover). And it tasted really good!
Sue,
I often rank hot food recipes by how badly I burn my mouth, foolishly trying to eat them before they’re cool. I’ve got an extremely temperature-sensitive tongue (I believe in Korea, as in Japan, you call it a Cat’s Tongue?) so it’s a very accessible scale.
Across all of 2020, there wasn’t a single recipe that enticed me so much that I burned my entire mouth, unable to wait even a minute for another bite of that perfect flavor, but here in 2021 I have my first winner. I used the mak kimchi from your Banchan Cookbook and was obviously very pleased with the result. The garlic chives, which I find somewhat tough in the mak kimchi, are perfectly tender here, and extremely flavorful. Thank you again for another wonderful dish!
Loved it! Had Kimchi stew in S.Korea and I eat it local in Austin TX. I used my own homemade Kimchi and fresh green onions from the garden. I was in a bind and didn’t have tofu or mushrooms so had to leave them out. Also, I have to confess I put an American spin on it and used thick cut, smoked bacon I had in my fridge so unfortunately, this was a not so classic version. I’ll do it proper in a few days, but I can imagine it will be even better with all the proper ingredients.
Thanks Sue!
So freaking delicious! I put a soft egg on top and it was amazing! Thank you for the recipe!
I have doenjang. I bought it online in order to get gluten free. Can I use that instead of gochujang?
Doenjang is completely different to gochujang and I’m not sure how the taste will be affected by that in this recipe without further testing.
This recipe uses doenjang if you would like to give a go instead. – https://mykoreankitchen.com/doenjang-jjigae/
Thanks for recipe! I have been making home made kimchi for a longer time but now I wanted to try kimchi stew with it for the first time. I tried your recipe with a bit tweaking (I fried the pork belly in pan with oil too before boiling it with other ingredients) and it was great! I actually never before thought that pork belly could be so good in a soup, also marinating in a wine is new to me.
I modify this excellent recipe with pork belly instead of tofu and i double the kimchi. Its is a great recipe because it is great as it is, but it easily modifys to great results too.
This stew has joined my arsenal of comfort foods. I started making kimchee several years ago, and have recently been seeking out recipes where I can use it.
This stew is amaze balls. I love the combination of pork belly and tofu. I now have a ton of pork belly I keep on hand in my freezer (I have started to use it in banh xeo as well–vietnamese crepes).
I’m looking forward to making your manduguk with kimchee mandu!
Thank you for sharing!
Hi Sue,
I made this recipe last night for dinner and my family loves it! Been a fan of your recipes like forever and really appreciate you sharing them with us!
Love from SG xx
Have followed you since 2010 trying most of your recipes. As a retired Air Force member I served three tours in Korea and still have fond memories.
I plan to use your recipe for Pork Bulgogi as I have not been able to find, as you stated, the spicy version in the two restaurants her in North Florida. Their reasoning: “So our other customers may enjoy it without the spices.” At least they offered their mixture of the sauce on the side. I plan using a 1/4 lb pork butt as the meat as it is more tender than pork steak. What are your thoughts on this?
Lee in Tallahasse
Yes, pork butt should be fine. Pork bulgogi is commonly made with pork shoulder and pork butt. Enjoy! 🙂
I never expected that making this would look so easy. Thanks.
I lived in Korea for four years, and I know my kimchi jjigae.
This recipe comes out great. I do bump up some of the ingredients a bit – especially the gochujang.
Sue, why not caramelize the pork before adding it to the pot?
I love this recipe. Easy to follow and so good tasting. My go-to kimchi jjiggae recipe. Have made it countless times.
This was my first attempt at kimchi jiggae, and it won’t be my last! This tastes so good – perfect for rainy, cool weather. Thank you for providing this excellent recipe.
My husband and I love this recipe!!! It’s perfectly spicy, with great textures and is warm and comforting. Absolutely delicious. This is my second Korean recipe I’ve tried, Bulgogi being the first. Both from your site! Korean food is my favorite. Do you ever serve it on top of rice or do you have the rice on the side? Thank you for what you do!
Most people including myself would serve rice on the side of this soup. But as I eat them I sometimes put the kimchi, tofu and meat on top of the rice and take a big spoonful bite. 🙂
Hello! I really love this recipe and made some few modifications. Also, I am craving for clams. Can I put clams and pork while makimg this recipe? What will be the adjustments?
I’m not sure if clam will go well with pork. I like to keep seafood with seafood. 🙂 But certainly no harm in trying that combination. I wouldn’t change anything.
Alternatively, you could try this recipe with clams. https://mykoreankitchen.com/sundubu-jjigae/ Enjoy!
Or just clams and other seafoods? Is the recipe you suggested the same flavour as this? Thank you.
Hello! Can I use my over 3 months old.kimchi for this recipe? Also how to know if kimchi went bad?
Can I still use the kimchi? (Over 3 months old)
See if you can spot any sign of mould. It’s sometimes green or white. If that’s the case, you chuck it in your bin. Otherwise you could use it.
Kimchi typically last longer than 3 months when it’s kept well in a good sealed container in the fridge.
Hello Sue,
I made my own kimchi, and I’m very curious that how long dose Korean keep their kimchi before consuming?
As I read: merinated veggies may realise Nitrite, cancer-causing substance. In the first few days of marinating, the contain of Nitrite is high. But Nitrite will slowly reduce once when we marinating longer time.
May I know how long dose Korean marinate they kimchi normally?
Appreciate your answer. Thank u~
I think that would depend on a person’s preference and also types of kimchi being made. Some kimchi is made to be eaten fresh, so you serve it as soon as you make it (https://mykoreankitchen.com/fresh-napa-cabbage-kimchi-salad-baechu-geotjeori/). Typically, people wait until their kimchi develops (while fermenting) their preferred taste, which can be anywhere between 7 to 14 days after making it – for traditional napa cabbage kimchi. But at the end of the day, it’s up to people’s preference. There’s no set rules.
Hi! I don’t have this type of pot, would a stainless pot work as well?
Yes, That would be fine. 🙂
I love Korean food
Thank u so much for this delicious recipe, I’m portugués w/ Samoan but my Husband is Korean. We been Married 7years and I learned few recipes just by 👀 him. I been searching on the web for something simple and yet delicious and I found it. Im making this fish as I write this, I’m exited 😋 can’t wait to see his face when he wakes up. Thanks again for this recipe my home smells great.
Made this during quarantine. Super hit! I’m making it again tonight.
Had this just now, it was so delicious, thanks for the recipe. This is my go-to website for korean recipes, everything is perfect. I crave everything in here😊
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
i made this for my husband tonight and he loved it! thank you so much
I have some old kimchi that is slightly sour. Used it to make your kimchi jjigae recipe and it was absolutely delicious! Thank you.
Open the computer, I have to visit your blog right away. My family enjoyed the kimchi jjigae recipe you share. Have a good day.
Warming and delicious, I’ll be making this comforting dish again. To use what I had on hand, I made a few substitutions: boneless country ribs instead of pork belly, extra cremini (instead of shitake mushrooms), and I amped it up with green onion stalks instead of tofu. My husband loved it, too.
Hello
Trying to make my vegetarian daughter this recipe. How can I make it so it taste just as good?
Thx in advance.
Thank you so much for this recipe Sue!! Love it. This is one of my favourite korean, can’t believe I can make it myself!! I find it a tad sweet for my liking. What can I do to reduce the sweetness? Thanks
You could possibly reduce the rice wine and replace with sake. And/or reduce gochujang.
Got it! Thank you so much for the prompt reply
Hi this recipe seems really good! i will try it out real soon! However, what can i use in replacement of gochujang sauce? im at home quarantined and i dont also have the ingredients to make a gochujang sauce!
thanks!
You can possibly add slightly more Korean chili flakes instead?
Very easy to follow. I feel it could use a little more water. Also, I couldn’t find Korean soup soy sauce so I uses Thai light soy sauce + sweet soy sauce. And I didn’t want to buy a large bag of red pepper so I used ground chili flake. Thank you so much.
This was delicious! We used leftover bossam instead of the pork belly and while we like heat, we don’t like too much so I left out the chili flakes. With the gochujang and the spicy kimchi, it was just spicy enough for us.
Next time I’ll try it with the pork belly. This is going into our regular rotation. Tasty and easy is always fabulous. Thank you!
Hi! I would really want to try this. But the problem is that we don’t have rice wine in the area. What can I substitute with it? Thank you!
You could try sake, dried sherry, or leftover white wine (sweet note).
Absolutely delicious! And super easy to make!!
Incredible. I doubled the recipe and used homemade chicken broth instead of water. I’ve had it for breakfast two days in a row and I absolutely love it! Thank you for making Korean cooking easy and approachable 🙂
Great to hear it worked well with chicken broth! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Can I use beef slices instead of pork belly? Do I marinate the beef in rice wine as well?
Yes, you can. Try to use fatty cuts of beef. If it’s too lean, it can get tough. Also, I would still use rice wine with it too.
I’d like to try this, but I have 2 questions:
Can I use firm tofu? That’s all I could find at the grocery store.
I don’t have any dolsot bowls (*yet*). Can I make this in a regular pot?
Thank you so much for the recipe! I hope your family is staying safe and healthy.
Yes, both are OK!
If i wanted to make a bigger serving— like 6 servings.. can i just double the counts of what this 2-3 serving recipe entails?
Yes, double or even triple the recipe depending on the volume of other side dishes you might serve. 🙂
Yummy!!! I don’t have gochugaru and used 1/2 tsp of chili flakes instead. It worked fine. I really like the pork marinated in rice wine, it tastes sooo good! Thanks for sharing your recipe.. it’s a keeper!!! 🙂
I’m one of those cooks who can’t resist altering a recipe and should be banned from posting comments but here i am. I didnt have gochugaru so i used 1 tongarashi (VERY HOT) instead. On korean drama shows i always see zucchini in the soup so i added that. I had some left over broccoli so that joined the party. I save and freeze shrimp shells after cleaning so i boiled and strained those in the cup of water. The result was amazing with the tdnder crisp vegetables. Though there was some heat i will buy some gochugaru and try to follow the basic seasonings a bit closer. Thank you for sharing!
Hi may i know if i dont put gochugaru into the receipe is it ok? If not, what can i replace it with?
One of the best recipes I have ever made. Everything was so tender and flavourful. I didn’t have gochujang, so I omitted it and it was still amazing!! 🙂
Great to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Hey Sue, Delicious recipe!! Kimchi soup is one of my favorite soup. Every month at least 3 times I prepare this soup. This weekend, I tried out your soup’s recipe, It’s taste was much better than my soup recipe. I just loved the soup and the recipe. Keep sharing recipes like this.
HA HA HA. I can totally relate with photos. mine were worse than bad. This recipe is fantastic. Only 1 g of sugar too. Two of my favorite things. Pork Belly and Kimchi. Totally love the idea of marinating the pork in belly with the rice wine. That sounds so good. I didn’t even realize you even had these printable PDF’s for the recipes and nutrition information. The only problem is how to get good Kimchi. My Korean neighbor gives me some Kimchi but I am to embarrassed to ask for more all the time. Maybe I will just pay her.
Thank you thank you…
excellent reipe for kimchi Jjigae… so easy. great results
Happy to hear! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Can I use radish kimchi instead of cabbage kimchi?
I suppose you can? It’s not common though. Also, it may take longer if you want your radish kimchi to soften a bit.
This recipe is delicious! I use your recipe instead of my own half of the time!
The instructions don’t say what to do with water….
Thanks for pointing it out. It was implied in step 3 where it says “all the other ingredients”. Now I updated the instruction to clarify. 🙂
Love this recipe so much and so happy I found your amazing blog! Do you have a recipe for kimchi so I can make my own for this soup?
Delicious! The Lucky Foods kimchi is the only commercial brand I like. I am lucky to have a Korean friend who gives me kimchi when she makes it. Thank you for this and other great recipes!
Hi Sue, I have no words to describe how delicious this dish is, and how I find your recipe simple but with great flavors. I will always make this kimchi soup from now on, in our next Korean nights with friends and family. I love this version of Kimchi soup! Thank you forever Sue!❤️❤️❤️
are the korean ingredients optional?
Korean ingredients as in kimchi, korean chili flakes (gochugaru) and korean chili paste (gochujang)? I’m afraid to say that they are not optional. They are critical ingredients in this recipe. 🙂
Family all loved it! A fantastic recipe.
Only one cup of water in a soup to serve three people? I just wanted to make sure that that is correct.
Yes, 1 cup water. It’s not really a “soupy” dish. The recipe is enough for 2 to 3 serves. (Don’t forget that there’s generous amount of meat, tofu, mushrooms and kimchi in the stew. Also, kimchi soup is a different recipe if you’re looking for that one.)
If you want more liquid, you can add more water. You may need to adjust the jjigae base ingredients to your taste.
@ angel : it’s a Korean dish, hun. 😒😒 Not sure if you’re trolling or something but please stop. You don’t have to make the kimchi, gochujang and the gochugaru if that’s what you’re worried about. You’d most likely find them in the Asian grocery/market near you.
Any recommendations on how to make this vegetarian?
A lot of flavor comes from using pork belly. But if you’re inclined to make it as a vegetarian dish, make soup stock using this recipe first. https://mykoreankitchen.com/how-to-make-korean-style-dashi/ This will replace the need to use water and pork belly. But you will have to omit the anchovies.
I would also add more tofu and mushrooms since pork will be missing. If you know of any “vegetarian meat”, you might use that as well too.
What can I use to replace the gochujang to make the recipe gluten free? Is there a gf version of gochujang?
Hi Lee, Gochujang isn’t something you can easily replace. You can check out this GF gochujang. https://amzn.to/2pZMB1P Hope you can find it where you live.
I tried this recipe for the first time two weeks ago and it was hot, spicy and delicious. I have decided to make it again this weekend to combat the snow that’s coming our way and enjoy it more than once during our holiday three-day weekend. Yum.
Didn’t add the mushrooms but everything about this recipe makes for a great, solid kimchi jjigae. My boyfriend just asked me to add a few dried anchovies because his mom made it that way 🙂
This was amazing! The first time I tried to cook kimchi jjigae, it just didn’t come out quite right, and I couldn’t figure out what I did wrong. I don’t remember what recipe I used, but yours absolutely blew it away. My kids loved it with rice and your bean sprout salad (also delicious!), and I had to stop myself from going back for seconds! That soft, tender pork belly was absolutely heavenly. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
I’m so pleased to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe (& bean sprout salad recipe too)! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
I’m not able to add gochugaro, what could I use to replace it?
So yummy!
Made this, but my daughter says it needs more broth, what do I do to add more broth?
You could add more water and increase jjigae base sauce proportionately.
Thank you for sharing your recipe, this is the most delicious one so far.
Awww, thanks for your kind words! Glad to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
My 10-year-old loves kimchi! In fact, she loves it so much that we made about 6 quarts of it at home (she likes it better when it’s fermented a long time). We used what we had made in this recipe. It was phenomenal! So yummy. However my daughter’s response was that it needs more kimchi. Lol
I’m so happy to hear your daughter’s feedback! 🙂
I cooked this recipe tonight with chicken breast slices and it was super delicious. I will definitely be cooking it a lot more!! Thank you Sue for sharing it with us.
First attempt at this recipe. Wouldn’t normally leave a review but this one was too good not to. My husband loves kimchi jjigae but gets bad indigestion from eating the restaurant ones. I made it with no chilli flakes and half the amount of chilli paste, and the outcome was STILL DELICIOUS. Pork belly was genius, so yummy.. just wish I had put in more. Hubby says 5/5. Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Thank you for this incredible recipe! It’s definitely my go-to Recipe – so easy, forgiving, and always so, SO delicious.
Yay! Great to hear that. Thank you! 🙂
Substituted cooked uncured bacon because we didn’t have pork belly. Served it with a side of rice, so delicious. I doubled the recipe and happily ate it for 3 days.
Hi sue! You’re recipe tastes delicious, but a Korean friend who likes to cook told me the broth should be made from dried anchovies, radish, and kelp. Is this a regional version? Or is leaving those things out just easier for home cooks in the West that can’t readily find things like kelp. I thought your recipe was great, just curious!
Hi Nathan, I’m thinking that your friend might be talking about kimchi soup, not kimchi jjigae. They are a little bit different. Kimchi soup has more soup/ liquid than kimchi jjigae, which is more like stew. 🙂
I’d use radish and dried anchovy for broth for kimchi soup, but not for this recipe.
I made Kimchi Stew for the first time and yum yum yum!! Love how simple it was to make!! Cant wait to try your other dishes!! Thanks Sue!!
Thanks, Michelle! Happy to hear about your result! 🙂
I’m making this for the second time. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I made it last!
I’m adding extra gochugaru and gochujang this time, as we like stuff fairly spicy. When I first told my trophy wife I was making it, she didn’t seem too excited, until I mentioned it was made with pork belly. SOLD! She’s REALLY likes pork belly.
I used the remaining kimchi for a kimchi soup last time, I’m likely to do that again. Yum. I’m 65 and never tasted kimchi before, now I’m making up for lost time.
Okay, made it tonight. Wow. Nailed it! Adding more spice was a good call. I told my wife I might tone it down a bit next time, because it was packing a punch! She said, “NO WAY!” So, I guess not. “More rice”, was her other suggestion. I made a recipe I found online for “pork belly bites” as an appetizer. Well, I’ll be making that again this weekend! I told you she was a fan of pork belly. Should have made a double recipe tonight.
So happy to hear you & your wife enjoyed my kimchi jjigae recipe! Great that it worked well with extra gochugaru too. 🙂
Shopped for all ingredients and plan to follow exactly. Many soups I make actually get better overnight…would this be good to make a day ahead and reheat to allow flavors to develop, or should it be eaten same day? Thanks!
It doesn’t have to be eaten on the same day. You can certainly make it ahead of time. 🙂
This tastes just like the jjigae I used to have when I was working in Anyang. Perfect to warm up on cold days. One of my favourite recipes.
I didn’t have any gochugaru, so I used red chilli powder instead. Because it’s spicier, I only used a teaspoon, and put in a tablespoon of gochujang instead. Likewise I substituted the shiitake mushrooms for ordinary button mushrooms. While perhaps not entirely authentic, it turned out really well.
Thank you for all your recipes, they are perfect for when my nostalgia kicks off cravings for Korean food.
That’s great to hear, Jacob! Also, thanks for sharing your substituted method. I’m sure other readers would appreciate it. 🙂
I’ve been craving this soooo badly recently but no one in my house likes kimchi (heathens!!). I am a vegetarian and my nearest Korean restaurant only make this with the pork – is there any way I can make this for myself without the meat? (kimchi made with seafood is fine by me, it’s just animal meat I don’t eat). I imagine the lack of pork will really take the depth out of it.
Yes, you can certainly make this jjigae without pork. Some of my readers have done that. (They often add more tofu to add more protein.) Of course, the flavor will be a lot lighter than with pork in it. 🙂
Thanks Sue for such an authentic recipe.
I also made a variation where I replaced pork with Sardines…really nice too.
I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
Thank you 😀
Great to hear, Julian! Hope you enjoy my other recipes too! 🙂
Can I make this recipe less spicy without destroying the flavor? I want to make it for my kids, but they can’t handle spicy food.
To make it less spicy, I’d use less Korean chili flakes (gochugaru). 🙂
hi Sue,
I’ve had kimche jjigae in Korea a lot as its one of my favorites here. I find a lot of variation in the cooking technique for the pork that ranges from a quick cooked pork like your recipe and others make it with the meat cooked longer. I had it at lunch today and the pork was probably simmered for 45 minutes. I think that they cooked the pork first then added the other ingredients and finished it as you instruct. Can you comment on this? By the way your recipes are the best on the internet and are my go to for Korean cooking in Korea.
You’re amazing that you can notice how long the meat was simmered for! 45 mins sounds excessive, but maybe it is was because the meat was bigger chunks and/or for the larger volume of soup? 🙂 & Glad to hear you are enjoying my recipes!
Love this recipe! I was just wondering if the nutrition-info is per serving or a specific amount of oz? Keep up the great work, you’ve gotten me to basically only cook Korean food haha! 🙂
It is per serving. But it’s only an estimate calculated by using generic information. Enjoy cooking Korean food! 🙂
Thank you So Much for this recipe. It was delicious and heartwarming. 💕
Happy to hear that! 🙂
Hi Sue,
I LOVE this recipe. It tastes just like the kimchi jjigae down the street from my aparment in Gwangju! I really helped with my homesickness now that we don’t live in Korea anymore. While the flavor was on point, I think next time I make it, I might double the water and double the base. I felt like this didn’t have enough liquid as it was. I really love kimchi jjigae broth, especially when I can soak big spoonfuls of rice in it. Thanks for providing this recipe! It’s a winner.
Great to hear! 🙂
Hi Sue,
I came across your site after searching multiple recipes online for Kimchi JJigae. There’s a girl that I like and I want to impress her by cooking her favorite korean dish(Kimchi Jjigae).
Today, I’m going to pickup the ingredients and try cooking it.
Based off the comments, your recipe looks to be the best one online! I’ll respond back with how my cooking attempt turns out!
Hope you guys enjoy my recipe! Good luck with that girl! 😉
Hi Sue,
I just made the recipe with my old and too spicy kimchi 😉 As I tasted it, it was sooooo t I had to force myself not to devour it all, but wait for my man to come to dinner first haha. It is an amazing recipe, comes together so quickly and I cannot get over how easy it is to make. Amazing! Thanks again, I have only just recently discovered your skin routine, your food is the next obviously.
Great to hear you enjoyed my recipe, Alex! But, I don’t remember sharing my skin routine on my site. 🙂
Hi Sue,
Does the black bowl/pots matter when cooking this kind of stew or any Korean dishes? I don’t have it so I was wondering if I can use a normal pot.
Thanks!!
Hi Melody, You can definitely cook it in a normal pot. A ceramic pot holds the heat better and longer, that’s why it’s used. If you’re using a regular pot, I’d recommend a cast iron pot. 🙂
Hi Sue, great recipe. I was wondering if to veganize it, I could just leave out the pork. Is there some other flavor/ingredient I’d need to replace it with? I made kimchi yesterday so will let it age before using it in the stew. Thank you!
Hi Stacey, You can certainly make vegan version of kimchi jjigae, but yes, it might lack depth of flavor coming out from pork.
I remembered I use this recipe, 2 years ago and when the results was super good, I decided to subscribe to your recipes via, email. Unfortunately I stop having those emails. I thought you were no longer active, and today I came back looking for this recipe and hey, you still update the blog, and it’s good to know that.
Anyways, I will just want to check with you, how will it be possible to cook this recipe for 10 people, and they eat a lot, and I don’t think that small dolsot is going to fit and I dont have one too, any suggestion?
Hi Katie, I don’t know why you stopped receiving my weekly emails, but you’re always welcomed to re-subscribe. 🙂
If I were to serve it for 10 people, I would make it in a (heavy based) large stockpot like a dutch oven.
If you go to the recipe card, which is located at the end of this post (before the comment section), you can adjust the serving amount. Just hoover your mouse cursor over the number. An adjustable blue bar will appear. But please remember that quantities in a bracket (after the name of the ingredient) doesn’t change. Only the first quantities before the ingredient name will change. Hope this helps!
The best! I made it with my homemade kimchi, I am in love. I left out the tofu (just didn’t have any) and used thick cut bacon (no pork belly). So so delicious and complex of a flavor. Will be making bigger batches of kimchi with this in mind!
Great to hear! 🙂
After living in Korea for many years, I am finally experimenting with making kimchi jjiegae back in Canada. I think the meat marinating and base are key with the flavour because I’ve tried several recipes without these steps and the taste is not quite right. I’m still trying to get it exactly like the little hole in the wall restaurant in Daejeon but since after eating it in hundreds of restaurants since then (and it never being as good), I may never achieve that greatness. Thanks for the recipe.
I had a Korean friend who took me to a restaurant and ordered me this and it came with rice and seaweed laver, and she put pieces from the soup on the rice and scooped it up with the seaweed. It was the best thing ever and I’ve been serving it like that at my house ever since but I have never again had it served with seaweed laver at a restaurant. Is it normal to eat it that way? How do I ask for it?
I think that seasoned seaweed was just a complimentary side dish, unless your friend ordered it separately. Not all restaurant serve it with the ordered menu. You can certainly eat it as you described, but I will say it’s just you/your friend’s preference. Not all Koreans eat Kimchi jjigae like that. 🙂
Hi Sue, thank you for sharing your recipe. Is so good, my family loves it😋
Keep up the good work👍🏻
Great to hear! 🙂
I was wondering if it would be possible for me to substitute the pork with tofu since I don’t like most meats or tuna.
Yes, you can add more tofu to compensate the pork portion, but the depth of flavor will be different.
I just wanna say I make this about once a month when it’s cold out. I don’t normally have pork belly on hand so I will use a thick cut bacon. My boyfriend and I love it so much and it’s such an easy and hearty recipe. Thank you!
Great to hear, Tay!
Hello… i am wondering if i could substitute the soy sauce with some sesame oil? 🙂 would it affect the taste in any way? thank you so much for taking the time to reply. have a lovely day/night~~!! <3
Hi Jessica, You can add a small drop of sesame oil at the end if you want, but if you don’t add soy sauce at all, the flavor gets most likely unbalanced. Fish sauce might be the substitutes. Hope this helps. 🙂
This looks absolutely delicious!
I’ve tried a few of your recipes already. They all turned out brilliant. So I’m planning to try this, but I don’t eat pork. Is it okay to leave the meat out or is there amother meat which can be used? 🙂
Hi Julia, Great to hear you’ve been enjoying my recipes! You could use beef or canned tuna instead of pork. Enjoy!
This is so good! I’ve made it 3x since last week! 😀
Awesome! Thank you! 🙂
Good recipe I didn’t have any pork belly so I used thick cut bacon was so good
Great to hear! 🙂
Sue, if I want to make this with tuna do I still add the rice wine? Do I need to make any other changes to the recipe? Thank you for your time on this website! I very much enjoy your recipes, they make Korean food seem easier to manage, and are always so delicious!
Hi Jane, I would still add rice wine for tuna. But I may reduce it a little bit depending on the volume of tuna I’m using. Also, I wouldn’t marinated it like 15 mins. Just 1 or 2 mins tops.
Cooking time will be a lot shorter too. Hope this helps!
Thanks for recipe. make it’s easy. Kimchi is nice salad in my country.
This looks so delicious! I love kimchi. Have you ever tried making your kimchi at home? Maybe you already do! I really want to try my hand at making my own kimchi, I just haven’t had the courage to do so yet. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
hi sue..
I gave your recipe a try and it was so good. My husband loved it. Thanks for sharing this recipe. You are awesome! God bless!
Thanks, Pam! That’s good to hear. 🙂
I make this stew over and over again! It is so fabulous! Thanks for being you.
That’s great to hear! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Hi Sue!
I really love Kimchi and I saw on a Korean tv show the Kimchi Jjigae dish. I really want to try this recipe but I don’t know where to get the ingredients. I’m not Korean, and I live in Canada. I have access to stores such as Sobeys, Safeway, Canadian Superstore, Co-Op, Costco, etc. Can you please email me where best to get these ingredients?
Thank you!
Jania
Hi Jania, Korean ingredients are rare to find at a regular grocery store. (Though you might be able to get gochujang / Korean chili paste at a Costco.) Try visiting a large Asian grocery store or Korean grocery store. Google a Korean grocery store in your area. Also try Amazon CA. Some Korean items are available there too. Enjoy!
Hi there,
If you live in Vancouver there’s a T&T Supermarket in Park Royal that’s sure to have Korean ingredients in it. You could also look in Richmond BC for they most likely have that store there too. Do a google search for your area to see who might carry Korean items. Superstore also has an isle for ethnic foods too. I hope this helps you. Alexia
Hmart, T&T and a lot of local asian food store will have gochujang and kimchi.
You can get everything from Amazon
Finally! This recipe tastes very similar to the jjigae served in Ktown restaurants in Houston, TX . I’ve tried to copy my mother-in-law’s recipe but, as is common, she never measures anything 😉
Thank you, Sue, you’ve saved my marriage ????
Glad to hear that!
Thanks I made it tdy. Good tasting
Awesome! 🙂
Hi there.. just wanna ask. Can i omit the “rice wine”? Or are there any substitutes that i can use? Since i don’t consume alcohol ????
If you must, yes, you can omit it. Some of my muslim readers have substitute with grape / lemon juice in other recipes, but I’m not sure how it will affect the taste in this recipe. Anyway, hope it turns out well. 🙂
Sue, I Made this today…kimchi-jjigae is one of my favs from my time spent in South Korea. I used pork stew meat in lieu of pork belly. Everything else was the same. I cooked everything in a standand sauce pot as I don’t have the appropriate dol-sot. Great recipe, thanks. Dan from Texas.
Great to hear that, Dan!
Yums!! Made this twice in one week already. I used cayenne pepper as that’s what I had on hand and it turned out great, also browned the pork before adding to the stew and used my Chinese clay pot. Thanks for this wonderful recipe – a definite keeper! 😉
Hi Rachael, It’s good to hear your Kimchi Jjigae turned out well, even though you used non-Korean chili flakes! 🙂
I love kimchi jiggae and have used your recipe a few times and it’s perfect every time. Since I don’t have Korean chili flakes I tend to use whatever I have at home. But the end product tastes fantastic and my family thanks you for it.
That’s great to hear! What types of chili flakes do you use then? Just curious to know. 🙂
This was awesome!! I love kimchi so I thought I would give this a try, so glad I did! It was so easy to make, what a great recipe!!! I cant wait to try more of your dishes!!!!!
Great to hear Lisa! 🙂
Hi Sue, can you pls tell me what soy sauce brand you are using? Cheers
Hi Daniella,
For this recipe, I used Kikkoman soy sauce (http://amzn.to/1sxFucE). That is what I use for my day to day cooking. Sometimes, I use Korean soy sauce for soup (http://amzn.to/24DB1kw), then I make sure I mention this on my recipe. Hope this helps! 🙂
I’ve already made this twice. It’s soooo good.
I recommend substituting some of the water with kimchi juice though if you want a more intense sour flavor.
Forgot to rate 🙂
Thanks, Melody! 🙂
Sue, another great recipe! I made it tonight. I did tweak it a bit by adding potatoes. Mahalo!
Thanks, Esther! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
I am hooked! This soup goes so well with fatty pork. I cooked the pork on pan together with kimchi then add the rest after pork is done and kimchi is soft. Heavenly! Thank you so much for this great recipe!
Thanks Juwi! Happy to hear you enjoyed my Kimchi Jjigae recipe! 🙂
Ate this the first time in an Auckland foodcourt and was blown away. Now that I’m back in Germany I thought I’d never come to eat it again until I found your beautiful site. Considering that I can’t get my hands on some really good Kimchi and I don’t eat it in NZ, the homemade stew is almost as good as it was back then 😀 Love the site, the layout and the videos! Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Viktor! Glad to hear you enjoyed your first homemade Kimchi Jjigae! 🙂
I love your tutorial video. What a neat way to show how to cook Kimchi Jjigae!
Thanks Holly! 🙂
This looks amazing! Your photos make me want to buy one of those black bowls just to cook Korean soups :). Can’t wait to try it.
Thanks Frances! I hope you give this a try! Yes, all Korean stew/soup taste special in this black pot. 🙂