Bacon and Kimchee Chigae

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    • #48759
      icxnamjah
      Member

      Hi Maangchi, great website!

      I am a student in a state where even a chinese take-out place is rare so I have been craving some authentic korean food.

      I finally found a place online where I can order kimchee (granny choe’s) and it is pretty amazing I must say. Taste almost as good as my own grandmother’s kimchee.

      I was wondering, since I can not find pork belly (sam gae sarl) anywhere around here if I can use thick hickory smoked bacon instead? I don’t want it to end up tasting bad and wasting this rare bottle of kimchee haha…

      Any other suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

    • #51909
      Maangchi
      Keymaster

      icxnamjah,

      yes, you could use the bacon for kimchi stew. Some people use “spam” or sausage and bacon for their kimchi stew.

    • #51910

      It’s a little bit late to reply, but I think you could use anykind of pork meat no? Something like pork loin or maybe chopped spare ribs. Are there any rules for kimchi chigae anyway?

    • #51911
      Maangchi
      Keymaster

      rXcanadensis,

      I prefer pork belly to other parts of pork for kimchi chigae, but you could use any parts of pork meat.

    • #51912
      alibsam
      Participant

      You can also use canned tuna and make chamchee kimchi jjigae.

    • #51913
      dannyboy001
      Participant

      Tuna or pork is good. I think beef or chicken gets really tasteless and sometimes too dry. I would not use bacon since it adds that smokey flavor to the kimchee jigae, rather use pork belly meat from a butcher or something.

    • #51914

      Hi Maangchi!

      I love your videos and I’ve actually tried making ddukbokgi using the help entirely from your video! The recipe is great thanks a lot for making them.

      I’m planning to make kimchi jigae now, but I’m just wondering if I could replace pork with fish fillet? Cos I’m not really a big fan of tuna so can I use some other fish? and if yes, would there be any alterations in terms of when the fish should be put into the jigae, since fish is very soft compared to pork belly? Should I pre-cook the fish first? Or is it a bad idea to put fish fillet in the jigae at all?

      thanks alot ^^

    • #51915
      koralex90
      Participant

      Well, from my experience, I really do not recommend fish fillets in kimchi jigae. pork and tuna give the soup a deep taste but fish fillets at least for me dont give a good broth. I dont like tuna that much too but with Kimchi Jiggae it’s a wonder!

    • #51916
      Pure_Hapa
      Member

      If you want a spicy fish stew, try Maangchi’s MaeunTang recipe instead.

      The pork flavor is so important in Kimchi Chigae, in my humble opinion. I don’t use pork belly myself, since it’s not something I usually keep in stock. I use regular bacon or some other pork that I have on hand instead.

      Of course, there are no rules in cooking! So if you want to try something different go for it! Then make sure to post your results for us.

    • #51917
      chirp
      Participant

      Bacon just might do… if you do it the Budae Jjigae way.

    • #51918
      emilgower
      Participant

      I know I’m late in the conversation, but if you want to get rid of much of the smoky flavor and salt that’s in bacon you can blanch it (put it in boiling water for a few minutes) before using it in a recipe. This will also boil off a little of the fat.

      Also, if you can’t find pork belly anywhere consider salt pork, which isn’t smoked but does have a lot of salt. You can blanch this also to reduce the saltiness, and it doesn’t have any smoky flavor at all.

    • #51919
      EthanHam
      Participant

      My wife puts spam in kimchi jigae and it’s great! So if that doesn’t sound too gross to you, it might be worth a try.

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