Winter is a few months away.  What does my body crave during cold weathers? Soup! On this episode of Ivy’s Kitchen, I show you how to make Kimchi jjigae.  This is my favorite stew/soup that I love to order whenever I go to a Korean restaurant.  This soup is hearty and spicy, of course you can control the spice level by the amount of gochujung (Korean chili paste) that you put into this.  You can also add gochugaru (chili powder).  This is also a great way to get rid of your sour kimchi if you have this at home.  It is also a less than 30 minutes to make stew/soup, in one pot.  This may not be the traditional way to make this, but it is the way I make mine, and it is so delish!

Ingredients:

4 strips of pork belly
1 cup of fermented kimchi
1 1/2 cups of low sodium chicken broth
1 cup of fermented kimchi broth
2 tsp of gochujung (less or more, depending on your spice level)
1 tsp of sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 a block of firm tofu
2 green onion stalks
Drizzle of sesame oil

Steps:

1. Slice up onions.
2. Cut tofu into big cubes.
3. Slice pork belly into bite sized pieces.
4. Heat up cooking oil and saute your pork until it becomes golden brown.
5. Once golden brown, drain off excess fat and ditch the oil. Return meat to pot.
6. Add chicken broth and scrape off the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
7. Add kimchi broth and stir.
8. Add gochujung, sugar, and a pinch of salt and stir.
9. Add kimchi and bring your stew/soup to a low simmer.
10. Once it is simmers, add your firm tofu and garnish with green onions.
11. Drizzle a little bit of sesame oil and serve hot.

Enjoy!