Instant Pot Braised Kimchi with Pork, Korean Kimchi Jjim

June 1, 2020

You probably have heard of Kimchi jjigae, but have you heard of Kimchi Jjim? What is the main difference you ask? In Kimchi Jjigae, kimchi is the shining star. But for Kimchi Jjim, the meat is the star of the dish and kimchi plays the supporting role. Nevertheless, you really need both ingredients to create this wonderful tasting Kimchi Jjim. Kimchi Jjim is also great for sharing with a group of people and has somewhat of a fancy look about it once served. Meaning you can probably gain some brownie points there, to whoever you are trying to please. LOL. Kimchi Jjim is typically made by braising, for a long time, to get that nice rich flavor and texture. However, as a challenge to myself, I put my Instant Pot to the test! And you know what; it did not disappoint! Let me show you how I did it.

What kind of kimchi do you need?

The best kimchi to use for Kimchi Jjim is the napa cabbage kimchi that has been fermented. The sour flavor from the kimchi will work very well with the pork flavor. As you can see in the picture, I used my Vegan Pogi Kimchi. If you need a recipe for Vegan pogi kimchi, please click here. I highly recommend using the Pogi kimchi; It’s the one where the cabbage is still attached to the stem/stalk. This will ensure that the kimchi will stay as one whole piece while it’s cooking and the flavors will infuse very evenly. It also helps with serving and presentation. Plus, you get to wrap the pork with the long kimchi leaf, which I highly recommend trying!! LOL.

what kids of meat do i need?

For this recipe, I used mixture of pork meat and bones. I used some Country Style Pork Ribs with some pork neck bones. Some other options may be pork butt steak or pork shoulder. Rinse the meat well, and if bones are attached, soak them for about 30min to 1hour in cold water. It will help you to achieve that clean tasting broth and take away the bitterness.

what are the ingredients needed?

The ingredient list is pretty simple. But you definitely need pork and kimchi!!

• pogi kimchi, 2-3 big chunks (I used 2 chunks, which equal to 1/2 of a whole napa cabbage)
• pork
• onion
• large green onion (dae-pa) or leek
• garlic
• gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes)
• soy sauce
• ginger
• sugar
• doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
• gukganjang (Korean soup soy sauce)

What are the steps in making kimchi jjim?

1. Clean the pork and pat dry with paper towel. Add the dry meat seasoning and set aside.
2. Chop the vegetables and aromatics and set aside. Have kimchi ready.
3. Spread a layer of pork on the bottom of Instant pot.
4. Lay kimchi on the next layer.
5. Add the rest of the pork meat/bones.
6. Add all the vegetables, aromatics, doenjang, sugar and red chili pepper flakes. Pour water.
7. Close Instant Pot lid. Select Pressure Cook on high for 40 min. Natural Release for 20min. Quick Release. Do you need an Instant Pot? Click Here for the one I recommend.
8. Open Instant Pot, press saute mode, high temp. Add soy sauce and stir well. (The soy sauce amount will depend on your preference. Please taste before adding more or less) Close glass lid and boil for a few minutes and turn off the Instant Pot.
9. Serve hot, garnish with scallions and sesame seeds.

If you have a glass lid for the Instant Pot, it will come in handy at this point, right after you add the soy sauce. Let the stew simmer for a few minutes so the soy sauce gets infused well. Again, due to the variation in everyone’s kimchi, the final outcome may be slightly different visually and flavor wise, but that’s the beauty of it. The kimchi I used was a vegan kimchi, without much radish to start with, so it already had a very clean base flavor. If you have kimchi with lots of radishes, carrots, fish sauce or is extra spicy, you may have to adjust the seasonings you add to the Kimchi Jjim.

how should i serve kimchi jjim?

When you serve this dish, you want to present the kimchi as a whole piece next to the pork meat. You could provide a pair of scissors for the guest to cut as they eat. The kimchi will be very tender, it will be long but easily separated, so you won’t always need to cut them, just tear them. That’s the fun part of eating Kimchi Jjim! Carefully use tongs to take out pogi kimchi and meat onto a large platter. Drizzle with stew. Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds. And lastly, serve with hot rice.

There will also be plenty of soup left in the Instant Pot, for you to enjoy on the same day or to use for later. If you are a soup girl like me, you can chop up some soft tofu and bring the instant pot to a boil for few min and then serve it as an additional side item. A win win!!

Is this mouthwatering or what?? Can you see the meat being wrapped with kimchi like a blanket? Seriously, when you take that first bite, it is totally bursting with so much flavor, it’s not even funny!! I truely enjoyed every bite of this! Overall, It was somewhat different from a kimchi stew, where the kimchi became the wonderful sidekick for the pork. All I needed was my bowl of hot sticky rice and was ready to go! This would be a great dish to share with others for gatherings and parties. It will actually look like you put a lot of effort into it! LOL. Simple and delicious!! I hope you guys can try this soon!! And let me know how you liked it!!

If you liked Kimchi Jjim, you may also like these other recipes:

• KOREAN KIMCHI STEW, KIMCHI JJIGAE
• KOREAN SOY BEAN PASTE STEW WITH PORK, DAEJI DOENGJANG JJIGGAE