Kimchi Jjigae

Kimchi jjigae is aged kimchi simmered into a rich, sour-spicy stew with pork and tofu. It is the dish Korean cooks reach for when the kimchi jar has gone properly sour, turning an ingredient many would otherwise throw out into the main event.

What it really is

Kimchi that's fermented well past its crisp, fresh stage is cooked down with pork, releasing a deep sourness that a younger kimchi simply doesn't have yet. Gochugaru and garlic build the heat further, and the stew simmers long enough for the pork to turn tender and the cabbage to soften completely, with soft tofu added toward the end so it doesn't break apart from too much time on the heat.

Old kimchi makes a better stew than fresh kimchi does. The sourness that develops over weeks of fermentation is exactly what the dish is built around; a jjigae made with young, barely-fermented kimchi comes out flatter and misses the point entirely.

How it is served

• Bubbling in a small pot, straight to the table.
• With a bowl of steamed rice on the side.
• Alongside other banchan, as part of a full Korean meal.

How to write it on the menu

• Flag the fish sauce carried over from the kimchi and the soy used in the stew.
• Say how well-aged the kimchi used is, since that genuinely changes how sour the finished stew tastes.
• Note if a vegetarian version without pork is available, since tofu alone can carry the dish.