Kimchi Jjigae

Hot spicy and yummy!
     This Korean stew is easy to like, if you are fond of a hot chile broth.  You can taper the amount of chile to make this dish mild.  This recipe traditionally uses large chunks of pork belly for the meat.  Pork belly has a very high proportion of fat.  I used pork shoulder because it has less than half the fat content of pork belly.  Pork stomach is sometimes added too.
     Traditionally, jjigae is served in a very hot baked eathenware bowl.  The stew literally boils on the way to the table and for several minutes after it is served.  To use that method, the stew must be cooked only halfway done in a sauce pot, before being placed in the red hot earthenware bowl.  The egg can be poached in the earthenware bowl too.  This recipe is a home style presentation with no hot earthenware bowl.  The large soup bowl should be gently warmed for this recipe.   
     Recipe:  Heat a sauce pot over medium heat.
     Add a small splash of sesame oil.
     Add 2 minced garlic cloves.
     Add a small spoonful of minced ginger.
     Add about 1 ounce of bite size pork pieces. 
     Saute till the pork is half cooked. 
     Add a splash of soy sauce.
     Add a splash of rice vinegar. 
     Let the meat simmer in the soy sauce for one minute.
     Add enough rich beef broth to make a large bowl of soup. 
     Raise the temperature to high heat and boil the stew.
     Add 2 tablespoons of Korean Red Serrano Chile Sauce.
     Add sea salt and white pepper.
     Add 1 tablespoon of  Korea hot dried red chile powder.  (Chinese red chile powder isnearly the same thing.)
     Add a handful of thick daikon radish slices. 
     Add a generous handful of cabbage kimchi.
     Boil till the daikon radish is almost fully cooked.
     Add 2 to 3 baby bok choy stalks.
     Add 2 sliced shiitake mushrooms.
     Add small handful of large green onion pieces.
     Add a small handful of sliced onion.
     Add a few pieces of sliced carrot.
     Add a few small bite size celery pieces.
     Set a thick slice of firm tofu on top of the stew.  (Do not stir the stew after the tofu is added!)
     After the vegetables are cooked al dente, ladle the stew into a hot ceramic large soup bowl. 
     Set the piece of tofu on the surface of the stew. 
     Poach an egg in salted water in a separate pan over medium high heat. 
     Set the poached egg on top of the stew.
     The flavors are deep and spicy!  The kimchi with the fatty pork is very warming.  If you use large pork belly pieces, then this stew becomes more of a winter time version.  Cutting back on the fat does make this recipe healthy.  This spicy stew will make you sweat!  But it is so good! ...  Shawna