Kimchi Jjigae | Kimchi Stew Hobi’s Way

Happy hearts month. It’s February and this post is dedicated to the birthday celebrant himself, the sunshine of BTS, JHope 💜

When Hobi visited Los Angeles in 2025, he went on a few very LA-type food adventures like doing groceries at the Farmers Market at The Grove and going through the drive-thru at In ‘n Out.

He also did some cooking, preparing a taste of home; Kimchi Jjigae, a stew popular in Korean cusine.

This was my first time making Kimchi Jjigae, and I LUV that it’s Hobi who introduced the recipe to me.

Hobi’s approach is to boil the pork belly, skipping the sear on the meat. Many recipes suggest sautéing the pork belly first yielding comparable results.

I prefer the the boil method as it offers a gentle cooking experience by eliminating the chaos that comes with frying pork (picture it: a screaming hot pan, oil splattering everywhere). This approach is a sensory-friendly alternative which is especially nice when you’re making this at night, like Hobi did.

Pork belly sliced into even pieces

Start the pork belly in cold or room temperature water and bring to a boil

Spoonfuls of Kimchi go in

Gochujang

Cover the pot and reduce the liquid by simmering for 10 mins on low heat. Add slices of firm tofu and cover. Steam for 3 minutes before serving.

A comforting one-pot recipe

Garnish with green onion

#bts