Recipe Wed Dec 03 2008

Crazy for Kimchi Chigae

If it's snowing out, chances are you'll find me in my kitchen cooking my favorite comfort dishes. Chief among them for me at this time of year: kimchi chigae (sometimes "jjigae"), the spicy, garlicky, fizzily fermented Korean kimchi-beef stew.

When I first sampled the stuff at the home of old Korean friend I-don't-freaking-look-like-Margaret-Cho Rozella, she was shocked I could stand this brew so atypical for an anglo like me to relish.

"You're, like, only the second white person I know who'll touch the stuff," she told me.

Too bad for anyone else, I say. Besides being cheap and easy to make, the stew not only offers a similar depth of flavor and root vegetable-based texture to more traditionally American stews, but the fact the main ingredient has spent several of the past few months in a pickle jar (allegedly) offers some friendly health benefits as well.

I like to get my ingredients at Chicago Food Corp., the enormous Korean grocery at 3333 North Kimball Avenue just north of Belmont (adjacent to the Kennedy Expressway). You can always ask for mild kimchi if you're heat-averse (very unlike Yours Truly, mind you).

Here's how I make my favorite Korean stew brew...

KIMCHI CHIGAE (Kimchi Stew)
1 qt. cabbage kimchi, sliced
1 lb. pork belly, cubed
1 container med. Tofu, cubed
1 tablespoon Korean beef powder
1 large onion, sliced
1 green onion, small chop

Toss everything except the tofu and the green onion in a big stock pot with some of the kimchi juice and enough extra water to cover, and let it vigorously simmer for about half an hour. Take it off the heat and stir in the tofu. Serve it with medium grain rice (Japanese rice is best), served as a side dish and garnished with the green onion. Alternate between a spoon of stew and a spoon of rice.

You can pair this with any spicy red or sparkling white wine you'd normally pair with spicy or even fishy food (a Rioja, Rhone, Vinho Verde, etc.)

Even better, finish off with Korean red-bean-paste ice cream (also available at Chicago Food Corp). Much better. Mmm...

— Mike Doyle / Comments (0)