Kimchi-jjim (Braised Aged Kimchi with Pork)

Kimchi-jjim has no documented birth date. The standard reference works cover its two parent dishes rather than this one, so the story is best told through them. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture explains that jjim originally meant food cooked in a rice steamer (siru). As kitchens changed, the name stayed while the method shifted to simmering or boiling down to a dish with little or no broth. The entry treats jjim less as a technique than as a finished state: a pot closed tightly enough that the food cooks in its own steam and juices.

Its other parent is kimchi-jjigae. The same encyclopedia suggests that kimchi stew grew out of ways to use kimchi that had turned sour or that people did not want to eat raw, and it adds that kimchi in its modern chili-red form became common only after chili peppers arrived in the mid-Joseon period. Its preparation is a clue to kimchi-jjim as well: winter whole-cabbage kimchi is squeezed or rinsed to take off its stale sourness, cut roughly, and cooked until very soft with seasoned meat, with pork or pork ribs among the options.

The Korea Tourism Organization's English-language food pages describe kimchi-jjim as tangy kimchi simmered a long time with moderately fatty pork, usually belly or neck, until the meat is tender and the kimchi's sharpness softens into savory depth. It is served hot with freshly steamed rice. The same site defines mugeunji as kimchi aged for more than six months at low temperature, and says that aged kimchi suits stews and braises, whereas merely sour kimchi is typically used in stir-fries and soups.

• Fiber from kimchi: USDA lists about 1.6 g of fiber per 100 g of kimchi, so a generous helping adds a few grams of fiber to the meal.
• Fermented food: kimchi is a fermented food; see fermented foods for what is and is not established. Long cooking would be expected to reduce live cultures, so this dish is better thought of as a source of flavor and fiber than of probiotics.
• Protein: the pork contributes protein, about 10 g per serving in the estimate.

• Wrapped pork belly: one Korea Tourism Organization recipe lays thick onion slices in the pan, wraps pieces of pork belly in leaves of aged kimchi, stands them upright, and braises them in kimchi liquid and anchovy broth with the lid on.
• Loose, layered style: cooks who skip the wrapping simply layer kimchi and sliced pork in the pot, which is the version in the recipe below.
• Jjim versus jjigae: kimchi-jjim is cooked with far less liquid than kimchi-jjigae, so the result is thicker and closer to a braise than a stew.