Kimchi and gochujang makes this an all-in-one one pot meal that doesn’t compromise on flavour. Ideal for a weeknight meal prep.

Time: 3/5
Cooking and cleanup within an hour, with minimal prep.

Effort: 3/5
Not much to do besides letting gochujang work its magic

Hot (or not)

Beef bowls are one of the more beginner-friendly recipes out there. They require little prep, especially since if you buy the beef pre-cut (they’re usually sold as “Shabu shabu beef”) you don’t even need to wait for the meat to defrost! The slices are thin enough that they will cook quickly, even straight from the freezer, and the high surface area to volume ratio means they will absorb plenty of flavour even without a marinade.

That is, if you give the meat plenty of flavour to absorb. That isn’t a problem, if you have a tub of Gochujang. This Korean fermented bean paste is sweet, savoury, and has a touch of funk and heat to keep things interesting. You can use it to make a hot honey glaze for roasted chicken thighs, or as a fantastic sauce for chicken wings.

When added to a stew like this one, it also has the benefit of making it taste like Gyudon’s M-rated cousin had a baby with Mapo Tofu. Which makes sense, because there’s a lot of shared ingredients. Beef and onions make up most of the substance, and you’re free to adjust the beef to tofu ratio to your liking.

This dish also happens to be a complete one-pot meal, because you can load it with onions and kimchi and tick the vegetable box off the checklist. I used kimchi from my mom (she isn’t even Korean, just learned to make it for fun – I must show you how sometime) but nothing stops you from using store-bought. There’s a ton of health benefits to it, from the fermentation process as well as the ingredients in it like garlic and ginger. And like any stew-like recipe, you can scale it up to as much as your cooking utensil can hold without much more additional effort.

That’s basically all I have to say: kimchi jiggae is a quick, delicious and healthy one-pot recipe that is ideal for a weeknight meal prep. I hope you give it a try and give it a place in your rotation!

Dramatis Personae

Served 2.

300g Shabu Shabu Beef

This is usually sirloin or ribeye that has been frozen solid, then machine sliced into paper thin strips. You should be able to find it at any well stocked store, or failing that at an Asian grocer.

220g Tofu

Soft or silken tofu has the best texture, but the fragility can be a challenge to manage especially as they can knock into each other as they simmer. Even then, I think it’s worth the effort to take care of your soft tofu and enjoy the silky mouthfeel.

Half of a medium onion

I like to cut the onion pole to pole. Sometimes I like to cut them across the equator so the onions break down into nothing (like this Beef and Guinness stew). But this kimchi jiggae only gets simmered briefly, and I want the onions to retain some structure.

Bit of spring onions

Interchangeable with scallions. They provide aroma, as well as a welcome addition of fresh green colour to the dish. I’m only using the greens for garnish, because I grow my own and want to keep the stalks so they regrow. But if you want to use the whole plant, treat the white part like regular onion.

300g Kimchi

By which I mean Napa cabbage kimchi. Kimchi can be made from all sorts of vegetables, Napa cabbage just happens to be the most common so it kind of became the default when referring to kimchi.

The acidity and funk of kimchi gets toned down after you cook it, so kimchi jiggae is a good way of using up a large amount of it if you find it difficult to eat a lot of raw kimchi in one sitting. In my case, while it’s very nice to have homemade kimchi ready in the fridge, it was taking up space that I needed for something else. Sorry, mom!

1 tablespoon Gochujang

The star ingredient, which makes all the difference. Besides the flavour, it also brings a lot of colour to the dish by turning the broth a bright, fiery red. Despite the colour, it isn’t usually that spicy – at about 1000 Scoville units, it’s just a bit north of Sriracha in terms of heat.

Other seasonings to taste

The gochujang is sweet enough for me, but you might want to add some more sugar. A drizzle of sesame oil after the kimchi jiggae is done cooking is also very nice, if you can afford the calories.

1 head of Broccoli

Always eat your veggies! Broccoli is just what I had on hand, and I’m doing the bare minimum by steaming them in a shallow pool of salted water.

Feel free to use anything you want. I don’t think you can make a bad choice here. If you want to keep the Korean theme going, you can pair it with this chilled spinach salad.

Executive summary

1. Make rice. Bring salted water to boil in a big pan.
2. Wash and cut vegetables then place in pan. Cover to steam, until done to your liking.
3. In the meantime, prepare the onion and kimchi.
4. Stir fry onions until slightly wilted. Add kimchi and stir fry until aromatic.
5. Add water and gochujang, along with the beef. Bring to a simmer, stirring to separate the beef.
6. Once at a simmer, add tofu and cover. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
7. Drizzle with sesame oil once the heat is off, and serve. Garnish with spring onions.

Play by Play

Always wash your veggies! I brought a bit of salted water to boil while I washed and chopped the broccoli, and it’s ready by the time I was done.

Into the water, cover and steam. This supposedly helps retain more nutrients than blanching because there isn’t a lot of water for the vitamins to leech into, and as an added bonus the water comes to a boil faster when there isn’t as much volume.

The saucepan will be occupied for a while, which is perfect timing to prep the onions. I’ve already cut my kimchi into small pieces earlier, but if that wasn’t the case then this would be when I do.

Broccoli is done, which frees up the pan. Onions, kimchi, sauce, then beef. Taste and adjust seasoning now, because you don’t want to rummage around once the tofu is in the pan.

Tofu in, cover and simmer. All the tofu needs is to heat through and absorb some of the flavour from the broth.

And we’re done! Remember to add sesame oil after you turn off the heat, so you don’t cook off its delicate taste.

The tofu really makes a difference by providing some textural contrast!

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