Kimchi-jjim (Pork and Aged Kimchi Braise)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart pot or Dutch oven with lid
• •Kitchen scissors for serving
• •Wide spoon for basting

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the kimchi

   Use kimchi that has gone fully sour, not a fresh jar with ambition. Six months old is good; a year old is better if it has been kept cold and clean. Taste one piece. It should be sharp, deep, and a little too strong to eat by itself, because the pork fat and broth will soften it. If the kimchi smells spoiled, moldy, or fizzy in a rotten way rather than cleanly fermented, do not cook with it.

2. 2

   Season the pork

   Pat the pork dry and put it in a bowl with the doenjang, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil. Rub it in with your hands and let it stand 15 minutes while you prepare the pot. Doenjang gives the pork depth without making the whole braise taste like soybean paste, and the short rest seasons the surface before the meat meets the sour kimchi.

3. 3

   Pack the pot

   Lay the onion in the bottom of a heavy pot. Put the pork on top, then drape the kimchi leaves over and around it, keeping them large if you can. Pour in the kimchi brine and broth. The liquid should come about two-thirds of the way up the kimchi, not cover it completely. This is a braise, not soup.

4. 4

   Bring it steady

   Bring the pot to a boil over medium-high heat, then immediately lower it to a quiet simmer. Skim any gray foam from the edges during the first 10 minutes. Add the gochugaru and sugar. The sugar is not for sweetness; one measured teaspoon rounds the sourness of old kimchi without making the dish taste sweet.

5. 5

   Braise until soft

   Cover with the lid slightly ajar and simmer 55 to 70 minutes, turning the pork once and spooning the liquid over the top every 20 minutes. The kimchi should slump and turn silky, and the pork should yield when pressed with a spoon. If the pot dries before the meat softens, add hot water 1/4 cup at a time. Do not flood it.

6. 6

   Add tofu

   If using tofu, slide the thick slices around the edge of the pot for the last 10 minutes. Spoon broth over them instead of stirring. Tofu belongs here because it drinks the braising liquid gently; stirred hard, it breaks and clouds the sauce.

7. 7

   Finish the pot

   Taste the braising liquid. Add salt only if your kimchi was mild, and add it in 1/4 teaspoon pinches. Stir in the remaining 1 teaspoon sesame oil, then scatter the scallions and green chili over the top. Rest the pot off the heat for 5 minutes before serving, so the pork settles and the kimchi carries the sauce back into its leaves.

8. 8

   Serve with rice

   Serve the kimchi in long leaves with the pork beside it, and cut both at the table with scissors if you like. Eat with hot rice and one or two quiet banchan, not a crowd of strong side dishes. This pot already speaks loudly enough.

Chef Tips

• •Use pork with fat. Shoulder, belly, or neck all work because old kimchi needs richness to balance its sourness. Lean loin will cook, yes, but it will taste lonely in the pot.
• •If your kimchi is only mildly sour, leave it at room temperature for half a day before cooking, then taste again. If it is still too young, make kimchi-jjigae instead and save this recipe for the next jar.
• •Anchovy-kelp broth gives a cleaner Korean base than plain water, but water is an honest weeknight choice because the kimchi brine carries plenty. The corner you may cut is the broth. The corner you may not cut is using properly aged kimchi.
• •Keep the cabbage leaves large. Cutting everything small turns the dish toward stew. Kimchi-jjim should let you lift a whole softened leaf and wrap it around rice or pork.
• •Leftovers are good for 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat gently with a splash of water, covered, until the pork softens again. The next-day broth is strong enough to fry with rice.

Advance Preparation

• •The braise can be cooked 1 day ahead, cooled, and refrigerated. Reheat it covered over low heat with 1/4 cup water until the pork is soft again; the flavor deepens overnight.
• •Anchovy-kelp broth can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept refrigerated. Pull the kelp as soon as the water simmers, then simmer the anchovies 8 minutes more for a clean broth.
• •Do not freeze finished kimchi-jjim if tofu has been added. The tofu turns spongy. If you plan to freeze leftovers, leave the tofu out and add fresh tofu when reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 580g)