Spicy Kimchi Tofu Stew (Kimchi Jjigae)

A piping hot and bubbling spicy kimchi tofu stew (kimchi jjigae) made with a seafood broth chocked full of pork and shrimp. The best kind of comfort food in this wet and cold weather. 🙂

When the weather outside is wet, soggy and cold, things start to really feel gray around here, even Oscar seems a bit off and down in the dumps – refusing to eat or play. Quiet evenings indoors with hot bowls of comfort foods are what keep us all cozy and happy here so I’m thrilled to share my kimchi stew (kimchi jjigae) with everyone, in hopes it can bring comfort to you as well.

 

WHAT IS KIMCHI JJIGAE?

Kimchi means kimchi and jjigae means stew. Essentially it’s a piping hot and slightly spicy stew made with soft tofu, pork, kimchi and served in a earthenware stone bowl.

The unique characteristics of these stone bowls are the thick walls (approximately 1/2 inch thick) that can retain heat, so when the stew is served at the table it stays piping hot longer.

If you can’t find these bowls you can use a regular pot for this recipe as well. The only difference is, the recipe will cook a lot faster since the pot walls are thinner and when you serve it you will pour it out of the pot into a serving bowl and it won’t be able to retain the heat as long but it will not compromise the flavour. 🙂

 

 

INGREDIENTS

For this kimchi jjigae recipe, most of these ingredients can be found at an Asian grocery store.

Traditionally, the tubed soft tofu is used in Korean stews. It is softer in texture than the cubed ones but if the cubed ones are all you can find then you can use that instead – just make sure it’s soft and not medium or hard.

Tip #1: If you are using the tofu that come in tube form, don’t use the spout to get it out of the packaging. That will result in strings of goop (the tofu is very soft). The easiest way to get it out is to just cut the tube right in half and the squeeze directly into the stew.

For the shiitake mushrooms, I used dried ones which require a good rinse and 10-15 minutes of soak time in cold or warm water. Fresh shiitake can be used as well and will produce an even more flavourful broth.

Korean pepper flakes are usually found in the dried spices aisle. I find it quite mild in spiciness but it provides a nice peppery flavour. If you are looking for more heat in your stew, I’d suggest adding a few tablespoons of Sambal Oelek into the stew.

 

 

BROTH INGREDIENTS

Most of these ingredients can be found in an Asian grocery store.

For the radish, I stayed traditional and used a Korean radish and did not use a daikon radish. Korean radishes are sweeter and have milder radish flavour. They are thicker in size and have a more prominent greeness at the top half. However if you can only find daikon that works as well, it will just produce a stronger tasting broth.

The anchovies for the broth are dried and can usually be found in the refrigerator section, not to be confused with the anchovies in oil.

 

 

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

I know what you’re thinking.

“Are you serious, Joyce? This recipe looks SO complicated with all those ingredients! Cripes! No thanks!”

It’s actually not that bad and there is a way to simplify it. Trust me on this! 🙂

Let’s break this down to 4 steps:

1. Making the Broth– Making the broth is simple, you throw the broth ingredients in a pot and away we go. If you have the time, it takes about 30 mins and produces a wonderfully scented and flavoured seafood broth. If you are pressed for time, you can use pre-made broth – any kind. (Note: Don’t discard the shiitake mushrooms after the broth has been made, chop them up and keep them aside to add to the stew)
2. Preparation – The only preparation you will have to do is chopping of the meat, kimchi and veggies and combining the sauce ingredients into a bowl and setting it aside. You can skip the sauce making step and just throw the ingredients directly into the bowl as you’re cooking but I find that I tend to forget ingredients that way so it’s just easier for me to have it prepped and waiting to be used.
   
3. Cooking – This is all done in the stone bowl (or pot) in this order:
   
   1. Add the sesame oil, kimchi, sauce and onions into the stone bowl over medium heat and cook it for about 5 minutes
   2. Add in the meat and shiitake mushrooms and cook it until it is almost done. Depending on how thick you cut the pork, this will take approximately 5 minutes.
   3. Add in the broth and bring it to up to a low boil. Then, add in the shrimp and tofu and cook it for 2-3 minutes.
   4. Turn off the heat, add in the raw egg and let it sit for 1 minute.
4. Toppings and Serve – At this point, the stew is done! Just add in the toppings and serve right away with side dishes or rice!

Tip #2 : If you don’t have the time or energy and you just want this on the table in 20 minutes then the best way to simplify it is to use pre-made broth.

Tip #3 : Soft tofu is very delicate, especially the ones that come in the tube. When you put it in the stew break it up into larger chunks. The cooking and stirring process will break it down further and some of it will melt into the stew. So you don’t need to pre-cut it, it can go directly into the stew and broken up with utensil directly in the stew.

That’s all there is to it!

 

KIMCHI JJIGAE TOPPINGS

Here comes to fun part, garnishing your kimchi jjigae!

Here are a few ideas you can use to top this kimchi jjigae but honestly, the sky’s the limit!

• Sesame seeds
• Hot peppers (Jalapeno, ghost peppers, habanero peppers etc)
• Green onions
• Zucchini
• Egg
• Toasted seaweed
• Furikake
• Bonito flakes
• Enoki mushrooms

A raw egg is cracked into the bowl at the very end to give the stew a bit more substance. It is usually cooked for a few seconds within the stew and broken into the stew for a creamier texture. However, if raw eggs make you cringe a fried egg is just as good – if not more delicious! 🙂

If you’re wondering why I didn’t cook the zucchini and why I used it as a topping? I prefer raw zucchini as it has a bit of a crunch – more texture is good! You can cut them into slices and cook them in the stew if that is your preference.

Enoki mushrooms give a nice crunch and literally take 10-20 seconds to cook, so instead of putting it directly in the stew and having it go mushy and wilty, I opted to keep it as a topping to put in at the end! Don’t worry, the stew will still be hot, so it will get cooked.

Get your jjigae on and enjoy! 🙂

Print

Disclaimer: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, however I provide these links to make items easier to find if you cannot purchase this locally and I would never recommend anything I don’t own myself or highly recommend. I would prefer you buy your items locally if possible to support your local shops (and chances are they are cheaper locally as well!) 🙂