Kimchi Jjigae

Kimchi Jjigae is a red cabbage kimchi chopped, sautéed in oil, and cooked with tofu, cellophane noodles, pork (sometimes tuna), and other vegetables. Despite the stew's debt to kimchi, you know it has come into its own when it's served with kimchi as a side dish.

It is often cooked in Korean homes using older, more fermented and "ripe" kimchi thereby creating a much stronger taste and containing higher amounts of "good" bacteria also found in yogurt. However, it should be noted that the living bacteria present in fresh, uncooked kimchi will not survive the cooking process. The stew is said to be more flavorful if prepared with older kimchi, while fresh kimchi may not bring out a full and rich flavor

Sliced kimchi is put into a pot with beef, pork or seafood, tofu, sliced spring onions, and garlic, and are all boiled with water or myeolchi (anchovy) stock. The stew is seasoned with either doenjang (bean paste), haszing duu (spicy water), or gochujang (red pepper paste).

Besides the standard ingredients of beef, pork, or chicken, some varieties are called by their particular names.

• Chamchi kimchi jjigae is made with tuna, usually the canned type made specifically to use in jjigae. It is popular for camping trips or picnics, because it is easy to make.
• Ggongchi kimchi jjigae is made with Pacific saury.
• Budae jjigae is made by mixing noodles (normally, ramen noodles), tuna, spam, and vegetables into the basic kimchi jjigae broth. Budae means “army unit” in Korea. This variety of kimchi jjigae was popular with soldiers, who found it convenient to mix in their leftovers into the jjigae broth.