January 29 may be the debut of the Year of the Dog, but I'm quite certain that 2006 will be the Year of Korean Food. It's going to be my personal mission this year to see that red (pepper) will be the new black, Korean barbecue will be the Asian answer to South Beach, and kimchee will be right up there with salsa and sauerkraut. 

If you look on the bottom shelf, toward the back, of any Korean kitchen refrigerator, you will find at least one large jar of kimchee. A house full of Koreans can eat through jar after jar of kimchee, but there may be times when a jar of kimchee lasts a little longer than usual, resulting in kimchee that has pickled to a point that makes even a hard core Korean pucker. The kimchee hasn't gone bad (I doubt that it ever does, with all that salt and red pepper), but it's a little too sour to serve straight up. There are a lot of things to make with over-ripe kimchee. Kimchee jji-gae ("jj" is pronounced somewhere between "j" and "ch") is one of my favorites. Jji-gae is a general Korean term that is similar to a stew served in a hot pot.

Like Mario Batali explains that recipes for the exact same thing varying from house to house in Italy, so does the recipe for kimchee jji-gae differ from one Korean family to the next. Traditionally, kimchee jji-gae is made with pork (that's what my family does), but some use beef, some use Spam (which I just cant bring myself to categorize under "pork"), and others leave their kimchee jji-gae vegetarian and add tofu or nothing at all. You can adjust just about everything in the recipe below from my family.

Sarah's Family's Kimchee Jji-gae with Pork Ribs

In about 1 Tbsp. oil in the bottom of a medium to large pot, cook ½ onion chopped into large pieces and brown about ½ to 1 pound of pork spareribs. Add enough water to just cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Cut 4 c. ripe kimchee into 2" pieces. Most people cut the kimchee smaller, but for some reason, my family likes it bigger. Weird. Add kimchee, along with any "kimchee juice" that has wept out onto your cutting board into the pot. Add about 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1 Tbsp. soy sauce, and a dash of black pepper. All of these can also be left out since the kimchee by itself has a lot of flvor. Simmer everything together for about 15 minutes. The longer it cooks, the softer the kimchee will be and the stronger the flavor of the jji-gae.

In the last five minutes, add ½ block of sliced tofu. (If you add it too early, it might break apart.)

Drizzle with a little bit of sesame oil for taste just before serving.