Kimchi Jigae (Kimchi and Pork Soup)

This is such an easy soup to make, provided you have some fatty pork and some old kimchi. It’s so easy, and tastes great provided you like kimchi and a little spice.

I once lived on kimchi and sardines for a week. I was unemployed and job hunting and I didn’t have the energy at the end of the day to cook. There was a place nearby my apartment where I could get a decent side of kimchi “to go” for a dollar, so I would take that home and dump a can of sardines in oil on top and eat that for dinner. Not bad. There was also a place you could get a slice of pizza for a dollar, but I was trying to eat healthy and stay away from junk food. I think I got a job pretty soon after that though, possibly motivation helped.

To make kimchi jigae, first cut up a pork belly roast or some other fatty pork into chunks (about an inch). Slice at least one onion and prep however much garlic you want.

Put some lard in the bottom of your stew pot and put it on high heat. Add the pork and cook until the pork is pretty well cooked. Add in the onion and garlic and cook for another minute or so.

If you have gochugaru of course use that, but you can get by just fine with some dried red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. Or maybe like a smoky chile powder. Add in however much spice you want. Also add some powdered ginger if you have it. If you don’t want spice, don’t make this dish.

Stir to incorporate the spice, then dump in your old leftover kimchi, stir again, and add enough water to cover everything.

Bring the soup to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and simmer for…well, everything is cooked now but it will taste better if you simmer it for several hours and let all the flavors meld and the pork fat melt into the soup. But you don’t have to.

Serve over rice or on its own.

(Okay yes you CAN put tofu into the soup, if you really want to be that kind of person. But you could also just add more fatty pork. I don’t like any of the recipes that call for adding rice cakes or other starch, because when I make kimchi jigae I make A LOT and those rice cakes and other starches just get weird, I think, when you re-heat them. I’d rather keep the starch on the side.)

Easy Not-Made-From-Scratch Meat Buns

You can of course make the dough used in these from scratch. However, we must not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. Only God is perfect; if you, dear reader, are not a Divine being, you must accept that “good enough” is the best you can do, most of the time. Given the choice between making these meat pies at home and buying something from the frozen aisle, this recipe is quick and easy and at least more natural and healthier than the frozen option.

This is loosely based on a recipe showed me many years ago by a kind lady from Vietnam.

You need:

1 cylinder/package/container of your choice of pre-made biscuit or croissant dough

A handful of fresh mushrooms (your choice, but standard cremini work fine)

One small shallot (or a small piece of onion)

A couple tablespoons of butter

1/4 pound of ground pork

Fennel seed, rosemary, salt, black pepper, sage, marjoram (or thyme)

Brown sugar

Green peas (canned is fine, or use a substitute)

A skillet

A baking sheet and oven

To make the meat pies:

Dice the mushrooms and the shallot - chop it finely, or as much as you feel like working.

Put the butter in a skillet on low-medium heat and add the mushrooms and shallot. Cook slowly until the shallot is translucent and the mushrooms are cooked down and browned.

Add the ground pork and a good pinch of salt. Turn up the heat to medium-high and cook until the pork is mostly cooked through, stirring to mix. Break up the pork as small as possible. If you have one, try using a potato masher to break up the chunks of ground pork.

When the pork is mostly cooked but not browned, add the herbs and black pepper. The mix is equal amounts crumbled sage and crushed fennel seed; add more of either if you want a stronger flavor. Add a pinch of rosemary or to taste, the same with marjoram or thyme. You could substitute crushed red pepper flakes for black pepper if you prefer some added spice. Stir well while the mix continues to cook for a few more minutes and the pork starts browning. Taste, add more salt if needed, then turn off the heat and add brown sugar to taste, maybe a spoonful. Mix well. Taste, add however many peas you want and mix again. (Any other soft green vegetable also works. Leftover cooked greens would be a great substitute for peas.)

Let the mix cool until you can work with it.

Meanwhile, prep your pre-made dough per the instructions on the package. Once you have each piece separated and on the baking sheet, cut or pull it apart down the equator. Put a tablespoonful of your pork mixture in the middle of the bottom half, put the top half of dough over it, and crimp the edges together using the tines of a fork. Or your fingernail.

Bake as directed on the package. Enjoy the meat pies hot or cold.

Red-Braised Pork Belly

This is based on the recipe for “Dong Po Rou” here (see link), adjusted mostly to use ingredients which may be more commonly found in American kitchens. It takes about 3 1/2 hours and is extremely easy. (“Red Braised” refers to the color meat gets when slow-cooked in one of several kinds of cooking liquid, including soy sauce. And no, it’s not a bright red red, the same character for “red” also describes the color of tea.)

Materials

Pasture-raised pork belly roast 2-3 pounds

2 or 3 bunches of green onions (scallions)

An inch or 2 of ginger

2/3 cup Soy sauce

2 cups Shaoxing wine OR dry sherry OR cream sherry

A few tablespoons of molasses and white sugar, or brown sugar

A covered pot that will fit your pork belly, ideally heavy and ceramic

Method

Scallions and ginger in a ceramic-coated cast iron pot.

Trim the green onions and scatter them in the pot until the entire bottom is covered. If they are too big cut them in half. You need enough scallions to cover the pot, so, perhaps 6-10 plants (2-3 bunches).

Slice the ginger and arrange the slices relatively evenly on top of the scallions.

(Optional) blanch the pork belly for about a minute to firm it up and make it easier to cut.

Pork belly pieces in braising liquid and sprinkled with molasses and sugar

Cut the pork belly into pieces 2 or 3 inches on a side. (Leave all the layers of the pork belly intact.)

Place the pork belly pieces fat side up on top of the scallions and ginger.

Pour the wine or sherry (or some mix thereof) and the soy sauce over the pork.

Sprinkle the pork with molasses and sugar or brown sugar. How much depends on what you want. Probably a tablespoon of molasses and 2 T of sugar are a good start. Most of the sugar is probably going to dissolve in the sauce, so if you want sweeter pork but you don’t want to eat the sugar, just skip the sauce.

Cover the pot, bring the mixture to a boil, and then turn down to a low simmer (no need to stir). Cook for one and a half hours and then flip the meat fat-side down and continue cooking, covered, for another 90 minutes.

(Optional) Before serving, take out the meat, put it in a pan and put it fat-side up under the broiler for a couple minutes to brown and slightly crisp the top. (If you’ve left the skin on the pork belly roast you can try to crisp the skin this way, although crispy pork belly would require a different recipe.)

(Optional) Put some of the cooking liquid into a saucepan and cook it over high heat to make a reduction.

Red-braised pork belly served with basmati rice, steamed broccoli raab with toasted sesame seeds, and pickled bamboo shoots.