Kimchi stew is one of the most-loved stews in Korean cuisine. It’s a warm, hearty, spicy, savory, and delicious dish that pretty much everyone loves. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like kimchi-jjigae, as long as they could handle spicy food!
Kimchi jjigae tips
For the best sour flavor, make kimchi jjigae with well-fermented kimchi. Freshly made kimchi is delicious as a side dish, but it needs time to ferment before it is ready for kimchi jjigae.
I usually store my kimchi in the refrigerator. If I want to make kimchi jjigae but all my kimchi is still fresh, I take out just the amount I need, put it in an airtight container or glass jar, and leave it on the kitchen counter. It usually turns pleasantly sour in about 2 days. The fermentation time depends on the room temperature and how salty the kimchi is. Very salty kimchi ferments more slowly.
You can make this stew with pork shoulder, pork belly, chicken, or beef. If using beef, choose a tender cut. Tougher cuts such as brisket need to simmer much longer to become tender. For a tuna version, see my tuna kimchi jjigae recipe. Anchovy stock is my favorite because it gives the stew a deep, savory flavor, but chicken or beef broth also works well.
I learned this recipe from a restaurant famous for kimchi-jjigae in Korea. People usually went there with friends and ordered enough for 2 or 4 people. The restaurant was always full of groups eating and sweating over kimchi stew. There was only one item on the menu.
What really made an impression on me was the way the meal came to the table. An uncooked pot filled with all the raw ingredients for kimchi-jjigae was set in the center, with the side dishes arranged around it. The pot was covered with a glass lid, and as soon as it arrived at the table, the server lit the tabletop burner. We would sit, talk, and sip soft drinks while watching the stew come to a boil through the glass lid. I could get a good look at the ingredients: kimchi, onion, green onion, thinly sliced pork on top, and seasonings. There were some white granules (salt, sugar, and probably MSG), and they also used water as the broth base. When the stew was ready, the warm rice was brought to the table. Each person had their own bowl of rice and a small bowl for the stew, and everyone used a ladle to serve themselves. Customers would call out: “Please give me another bowl of rice!”
From what I saw, I developed my own delicious version to make at home.
My kimchi-jjigae recipe served me well for years and years and I even made a video of it in 2007. But since then I’ve developed this version, which is even more delicious. The secret is in the savory anchovy stock.
I hope you make it and enjoy it for years and years to come!
The difference between kimchi soup and kimchi stew
Kimchi soup has more broth than kimchi stew because it is usually served in individual bowls and people often mix rice into the broth as they eat. Kimchi stew is thicker and saltier than kimchi soup.
Traditionally, kimchi stew is served in a large pot in the center of the table for several people to share. In Korea today, everyone is given an individual bowl and uses a ladle to serve themselves from the shared pot.
Ingredients
Serves 2 to 3.
- 1 pound kimchi, cut into bite-size pieces
- ¼ cup kimchi brine
- ½ pound pork shoulder (or pork belly)
- ½ package of tofu (optional), sliced into ½-inch-thick bite-size pieces
- 3 green onions
- 1 medium onion, sliced (1 cup)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes)
- 1 tablespoon gochujang (hot pepper paste)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 cups of anchovy stock (or chicken or beef broth)
For stock (makes about 2½ cups):
- 7 large dried anchovies, heads and guts removed
- ⅓ cup Korean radish (or daikon radish), sliced thinly
- 4 × 5-inch dried kelp
- 3 green onion roots
- 4 cups water
Directions
Make anchovy stock:
- Put the anchovies, daikon, green onion roots, and dried kelp in a saucepan.
- Add the water and boil for 20 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Strain.
Make kimchi stew:
- Place the kimchi and kimchi brine in a shallow pot. Add pork and onion.
- Slice 2 green onions diagonally and add them to the pot.
- Add salt, sugar, hot pepper flakes, and hot pepper paste. Drizzle sesame oil over top and add the anchovy stock.
- Cover and cook for 10 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Uncover and mix the seasonings in with a spoon. Lay the tofu over top.
- Cover and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes over medium heat.
- Chop 1 green onion and put it on top of the stew. Remove from the heat and serve right away with rice.
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Made kimchi jjigae with a mix of yours and my mother in laws recipe. My boyfriend (Korean) and mother in law told Me that it was better than the ones you get in Korea (restaurant). Probably the biggest compliment I could get, cause I know how good it can taste.. thank you for your genius cooking!
I made using the Poggi Kimchi recipe you gave us.. let it age for 2 months. I made the broth with Kelp, Dried Anchovies (Thai, not Korean.. only thing available in Barcelona), and I added onion and garclic… I also added mushrooms at the last stage along with the tofu
This is the second time I have made it and I waited until the last five minutes to add the red pepper paste and red chili peppers … and adding salt as needed
The first time I made this it, it turned out too salty…
This time,
It was DELICIOUS
Thank you!
Thank you very much for this recipe. I used the kimchi recipe (which was a great success) also on your website. Wanting to use it differently I prepared this recipe. It was quick and easy to prepare, something I’ll definitely make for many years to come!
hi Maangchi, i’m making this for my family tomorrow..and there will be like 10 people..so i’m not sure whether i should double your ingredient or is there anything else i could do? i’m a 17yo that is new to cooking but i have tried several of your receipes and everyone in the family loves it..love you, Maangchi! <3
Hi everybody, Can I substitute kelp with seaweed?
Pls help somebody, because kelp itsnot available here thanks!
Kelp is a kind of seaweed. I assume you are asking if you can substitute miyeok? If so, no. Only dried kelp works for this, I use it to make a good stock.
Hi Maangchi, I’ve tried this recipe today and I LOVE IT! I didn’t have any daikon so i omitted it out and substitute the pork with boneless chicken thigh. It was so delicious that my family and I gulped down the whole thing. And my gran, who’s someone that doesn’t like to try new things, gave 2 thumbs up for this. Thank you Maangchi!!
I’m glad you and your family enjoyed your kimchi-jjigae. Continued good luck with your Korean cooking!
I used Japanese kombu, so long as the seaweed you use is dry and not flavored, it should be fine. But what kind of seaweed are you asking about?
Hi Maangchi, I just tried out this recipe today and it was PERFECT! Really delicious. The only flaw is that there are no leftovers, we finished it all so fast. If I double the ingredients will that still keep the proportion of the recipe intact, or is there a better way to scale the servings of this dish up?
wow, this looks delicious. quick question, can i somehow substitute pork for chicken? or will it change the flavor too much?
I wanted to make this for my family but my boyfriend who will be joining us for this Christmas dinner is allergic to onions. Do you know a good way to substitute it?
In that case, you would have to prepare a batch of kimchi without any onions (that includes garlic), too. And a different stock.
Wouldn’t it be easier to prepare an entirely different extra dish for him instead?
Bye, Sanne.
Do you think this would come out ok if I used a homemade miso-ginger broth instead of anchovies? I don’t eat meat. It’d be easy to substitute the pork with pressed yam and tofu :) The pictures look so good!
I also am vegan. I just used a spasm of soy sauce and a little extra seaweed to the broth and instead of using pork I used jack fruit. It turns out delicious every time.
I made this with chicken stock cube and chicken breast pieces. I didnt have sesame oil and tofu, so instead i added some butter in before adding kimchi and some mushroom as well :) It came out great. My first time cooking with gochujang! even though my local korean food store drained my money, i must say that it is SO WORTH IT!❤
mine was a little watery but i liked it because it was fullllllll of flavour. gochujang is soo awesomee!! little of gonchujang changed everything! :) i am very amateur cook. thanks for letting me cook tasty food easily Maangchi❤❤
I love this recipe ❤️
That kimchi-jjigae looks amazing!
Hi Maangchi and fans,
I have tried making kimchi jjigae a few times. But, I think I used the old recipe. This time I followed this recipe and it was delicious. I made several of your other banchan, too.
You are the best ambassador to South Korea.
Thanks for your hard work.
I made this kimchi jjigea last November for the first time. It was so delicious. This past week I made it with homemade kimchi and it was even better. Thank you so much for sharing your great recipes.
Hi Maangchi, i tried your kimchi recipe and used the one that i fermented for 3 months in my fridge to make this kimchi jigae recipe of yours.It was soooo tasty. Thanks for the recipe!
this is what’s left of my kimchi stew! My family totally loved it!
I made this just over an hour ago and loved it so much! I used store bought kimchi and didn’t have enough brine, so I put one more tablespoon of gochujang. This was my first try and it turned out really good! Thank you so much for this awesome recipe!
This is the best thing I have ever ate. Me and my husband are eating the whole thing. So delicious. I added a little radish kimchi to it. Best meal all week. Hugs and loves.
Ok was too filling to eat it all, but we are so happy with this. I am thinking to serve it at my cafe one day
Thank you so much for this recipe; I followed it to the letter, except for leaving out the onion, and using chicken instead of beef. My first attempt at 김치찌개 turned out to look just like the last picture in your recipe/guide! 자세하고 따라하기 쉽게 김치찌개 만드는 밥법이 알려주셔서 진심으로 감사드립니다! 덕분에 아주 이쁘게 잘 나왔습니당~
The kimchi was cooked well and the broth looks so tasty! Congratulations!
Making this dish now, looking forward to eating it! However, there is no onion listed in the ingredients? Did you missed it? I will put in one sliced brown onion. Thanks for all your recipes! Absolutely love them, they are spot on!
Thank you for letting me know about it. I just fixed it. Good luck with making delicious kimchi jjigae!
Hi Maangchi! I love this recipe, but I was wondering – what is the type or name of the pot that you used in this video to cook the stew?
Hi Maangchi, i wonder if chicken can substitute the pork meat…
And chicken stock rather than anchovy stock, or do you have any recommendation for better taste? Thank you ^^
No problem – guess what I’m eating right now… ;-)
My put-paechu-kimchi is so hot, I even left out gochujang and -garu.
And I only used water.
A little freshly ground black pepper when adding the tofu adds a nice touch!
Hi Maangchi! I understand that eating raw kimchi is healthy but what about cooked kimchi such this kimchi stew, is there any good bacteria left after high heat cooking?
Thank you very much in advance for this important information! God bless you!
No. The beneficial bacteria is destroyed. An alternative would be to stir the chopped kimchi in last after the other stew ingredients are cooked. If you want the bacteria, don’t boil it.
Mixing the kimchi into the hot stew after cooking may still kill a lot of the beneficial bacteria, plus the flavor would be different. I’d make the stew, then just have MORE kimchi on the side with the rice! :-)
My second go at making this, my first after watching your video. first time was bland, but this one is super good!
wow, Your kimchi stew looks like mine! : ) Congratulations!
Yum!!
Reduced hot pepper because I can’t eat very spicy food, but it still tasted good! And added some mushrooms and glass noodles. All ingredients turned out delicious! I especially like the anchovies stock, I think I can use the same stock to make noodles soup :)
Your kimchi stew looks nutritious and delicious!
I love the idea of adding mushrooms :) I omitted the hot pepper flakes and just used gochujang. The kimchi I used is pretty spicy already. I bet the mushrooms really were delicious in this… I’ll try that soon!
The Directions mention onion in step 1 add pork and onion and I can see onion in the pictures but onion is not in the ingredient list. Thank you. Also many recipes call for garlic or garlic and ginger but I do not see these either??
PERFECT.EVERY.SINGLE.TIME!!!!
My mother’s kimchi-jjigae is more delicious. But, oddly enough, both my parents really love the jjigae I made using your recipe! I made it yesterday and it’s all gone. I didn’t even get a second serving. Thank you for sharing this recipe – since I can’t make it like my mother, (I have no idea what she does) I’ll be using your recipe again and again.
So sad that your mother haven’t taught you her recipe and you have to use second rated recipe. Maangchi’s recipe is fantastic and it’s not odd that your parents liked it.
Hello!
I made too much stew. How long can i keep them in the fridge?
Thank you!
3 days is a rule of thumb, any longer and you should place in freezer in ziplock bag or another container, you can defrost the ziplog bag in a pot of room temperature water.
http://www.southernliving.com/food/how-to/how-to-freeze-and-store-soup
Dear Maangchi ! I made Kimchi stew yesterday , and I loved it ! I am gonna cook it again , this time I’m going to mix this food with my persian taste !
I’m going to roast a tbsp of tomato paste , and add it to my kimchi stew !!
Thanks !
“I’m going to roast a tbsp of tomato paste , and add it to my kimchi stew” It sounds very delicious!
I made this for lunch today… WONDERFUL! I didn’t have any dried anchovy or kelp, so I used Wakame and Dashi powder for the stock, and it turned out tasting just as good.
Yes, when dried anchovies are not available, dashi powder can be used. Great!
I’m sure dried anchovies make it the best. I haven’t tried that. I always use dashi powder and it’s good too.
Hi Maangchi! Am a big fan. I started to try your different recipes. Here’s my stint of Kimchi-jjigae. My family loved it :) Hope you could visit the Philippines again.
Maangchi, do you add four pieces of 5 inch length kelp or one piece of 4″x5″ dimensions? The writing made me think the latter, but I think I see several pieces of kelp in your video… Thanks!
One piece of 4″x5″ dried kelp.
Understood. Thank you! Let us know if you ever do an event in LA. You have many fans here ;-)
Made this for the first time today for my lunch! With steamed rice, Cheonggyeongchae doenjang-muchim, and blueberry green tea! Everything is so yummy!
I used homemade kimchi as well!
Yes, your photo is featured on my website! https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/dubu-ganjangjorim#comment-43099
Hello! I just wanted to say that I have fallen in love with your recipe the first time I took a bite out of it but I need your help.
I am thinking of making this stew but for 10 people.
How much should I increase each each ingredient if I want to make it for 10 people?
Thanks ^^