Stir-fried kimchi and pork belly served with sliced tofu is a classic Korean dish that pairs perfectly with Korean drinks.
In this crazy time, we’re at home a lot more which means we’re cooking and drinking more at home. It also means we’re exploring various anju to pair with our drinks! Anju = Korean term for food that is enjoyed with alcohol. Recently, in the back of our fridge, I discovered that our big tub of kimchi was becoming really really fermented, almost too sour to eat raw which meant it was perfect to cook.
Stir-fried kimchi is one of the best ways to utilize very very ripe kimchi almost to the point of being sour. This can be transformed into many different dishes such as bokkeum kimchi (stir-fried kimchi), kimchi jjigae (stew), kimchi fried rice and today’s recipe, dubu kimchi.
Dubu kimchi is very simple. You stir-fry kimchi and pork with a few vegetables. Add a few simple seasonings and serve it with sliced tofu! This dish classically goes very well with Korean rice wom, makgeolli. Sometimes I enjoy it as dinner with rice, but it’s the perfect anju.
Chef Baek Jong Won’s Cooking Tips
Kimchi is really important. Your kimchi needs to be good, and well fermented. If your kimchi is still very raw or newly made, I would wait a few weeks!
A unique point in Baek Jong Won’s recipe is that the pork is cooked first. Many recipes have the kimchi stir-fried first. I think this does help to make the pork belly a bit more crisp and you can cook the kimchi in the oil from the pork belly making it extra delicious! If you use pork belly, no oil is needed at all since oil will be released from the pork belly. If using pork shoulder, or a less fatty cut of pork, you’ll need just a bit of oil in the pan so the pork doesn’t stick.
Sugar. Let the sugar crystalize on the pork belly just a bit. Extra crisp!
Water. I thought this was an interesting point that he added. After the pork is well cooked, a bit of water is poured in, then the kimchi is added and stir-fried. This helps to mix all the oil, the gochugaru and into the kimchi so the flavor is well
Dubu Kimchi (Kimchi pork stir-fried with tofu)
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- ½ lb (226 g) pork belly
- 1 ½ cup (260 g) kimchi
- ¼ onion sliced thinly
- 1-2 spicy peppers by preference
- 2 green onion chopped
- 1 tofu block (300 g) medium firm
Seasoning
- ½ Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) water
- 1 ½ Tbsp gochugaru Korean coarse red pepper flakes
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- ½ Tbsp roasted sesame seeds optional
Instructions
- Cut kimchi into bite-size pieces (about 2 inches).
- Place the pork belly on a non-stick frying pan. Turn on the heat to medium-high heat. Continue to cook until the meat is about 90% cooked.
- Sprinkle the sugar on to the pork belly. Let the sugar caramelize. Leave it until it looks nicely browned. Pour the soy sauce on to the side of the frying pan and gently circle the soy sauce in the pan.
- Pour in the water.
- Pour in the gochugaru. Add the kimchi and mix well. Continue to stir-fry.
- Add in the minced garlic and continue to stiry-fry for about 1 minute. Add in the onion and continue to stiry fry. Cook until the kimchi is soft.
- At the end, add in the peppers and green onion. Mix briefly and turn off the heat. Pour the sesame oil and mix well.
Parboil Tofu
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Add in the tofu and cook for about 4 minutes.
- Take the tofu out and drain. Cut the tofu into ½ inch thick slides.
Enoy!
- Take a slice of tofu, and top it with some kimchi and pork. Enjoy in one bite!
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