Kristen Kish Eats Kimchi Straight From the Jar. Here’s the 20-Minute Dubu-Kimchi That Comes Next.

WHO’S EATING KOREAN · No. 4 · Jar: kimchi · 20 minutes · about 38 g protein per serving · See the series →

There is a particular way Korean people eat kimchi when nobody is watching: standing at the open fridge, a piece pulled straight from the jar, no plate. It turns out the host of one of America’s biggest cooking competitions does the same thing, and said so in print. This series collects those moments, with sources, and then cooks something with them. Not the dish they ate, exactly. The weeknight version a Korean cook would make at home, with the protein and fat numbers written down.

What she said

Kristen Kish, the chef who hosts Bravo’s Top Chef, was asked by Yahoo Life to explain kimchi to people who’ve never had it. Her definition was short, and so was her serving suggestion:

“Kimchi is a fermented cabbage with chili flakes.”

“Well, kimchi, straight out of the jar with your fingers is absolutely delicious.”

Kristen Kish, quoted in Yahoo Life, “What is kimchi and how do you eat it? ‘Top Chef’ host Kristen Kish explains”

Source: Yahoo Life (undated article). Kristen Kish has nothing to do with My Healthy Food Life and has not endorsed anything here; we’re quoting a published interview because “straight out of the jar” is the most honest kimchi advice we’ve seen from a television chef.

She’s right on both counts. Fermented cabbage with chili flakes is the whole definition, and the jar is the first and best way to eat it. (Which jar, and how to tell a fresh one from a sour one, is on the kimchi hub.) But every Korean household also has a second way, for the night the jar has gone too sour to eat with your fingers. It’s called dubu-kimchi, and it’s what this post is about.

The Korean cook’s version

Dubu-kimchi (두부김치) is a bar snack and a home dinner at the same time: a plate of warm tofu slices around a heap of kimchi stir-fried with pork. The classic version uses pork belly, and a lot of it, because the fat renders into the kimchi and that’s where the flavor comes from. In our house my mother made it with the lean cut she had, which was usually tenderloin, and nobody complained, because sour kimchi fried in a little sesame oil has more than enough going on. That’s the version here.

The health change, in one line: a whole block of tofu and lean pork tenderloin instead of pork belly, which puts a serving at about 38 g of protein with roughly 70% less saturated fat than the belly version, for the same twenty minutes and the same pan. It is still, first, a plate you’d order again.

Ingredient Notes

Tofu, one 14-oz block, firm or extra-firm. Korean brands sell a “high-protein” firm tofu that sears beautifully; any extra-firm block works. Pat it dry and slice it ½ inch thick. Traditionally the tofu is simply simmered; searing it in a teaspoon of oil gives it a skin that holds up to the kimchi and is worth the extra three minutes.

Sour kimchi, 1½ cups, chopped. The older the better. If your jar is fresh, add ½ teaspoon of rice vinegar with the soy sauce. Squeeze the kimchi lightly and keep 2 tablespoons of the juice.

Pork tenderloin, 6 oz, sliced thin. Freeze it 10 minutes first and it slices like paper. Pork loin chops work; so does chicken thigh. Pork belly is the classic, and you’re welcome to it; the fat numbers below are for tenderloin.

Gochugaru, 1 teaspoon; garlic, 2 cloves; soy sauce, 1 teaspoon; sesame oil, 1 teaspoon. That’s the entire seasoning. Many restaurant versions add sugar; the kimchi’s own sweetness, brought out by the heat, is plenty.

Rice. Half a cup of cooked brown rice per plate, or none. Dubu-kimchi stands on its own.

Dubu-Kimchi Skillet

Serves 2 · Prep 8 min · Cook 12 min · Total 20 min · Dinner · Korean

Ingredients

• 1 block (14 oz / 400 g) firm or extra-firm tofu, patted dry and sliced ½ inch thick
• 2 teaspoons neutral oil, divided
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 oz (170 g) pork tenderloin, sliced very thin
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1½ cups sour napa cabbage kimchi, chopped, plus 2 tablespoons kimchi juice
• 1 teaspoon gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 scallions, sliced; 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
• 1 cup cooked brown rice, to serve (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Lay in the tofu slices in one layer, sprinkle with the salt, and cook 3 minutes per side, until golden and crisp at the edges. Move them to a serving plate, arranged in a ring, and keep warm.
2. Add the remaining teaspoon of oil to the pan. Add the pork in one layer and cook 2 minutes without moving it, then stir and cook 1 minute more until no longer pink. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds.
3. Add the kimchi, kimchi juice, gochugaru and soy sauce. Cook, stirring every minute, for 4 to 5 minutes, until the kimchi softens, the liquid cooks off, and the edges start to catch and caramelize. Taste: if it’s sharp, give it another minute; the sourness mellows with heat.
4. Turn off the heat and stir in the sesame oil.
5. Spoon the kimchi and pork into the center of the tofu ring. Scatter scallions and sesame seeds over everything. Eat a slice of tofu with a bite of kimchi on top; rice on the side if you like.

Per serving, with ½ cup brown rice (estimated from USDA FoodData Central values): about 450 kcal · 38 g protein · 33 g carbohydrate · 20 g fat (4 g saturated) · 5 g fiber · about 950 mg sodium. Without rice: about 340 kcal, 36 g protein, 10 g carbohydrate. The same plate made with 6 oz of pork belly runs about 13 g saturated fat per serving.

Make It Yours

• Vegetarian: skip the pork and add 1 cup of sliced mushrooms with the garlic. About 24 g protein a serving, and fully plant-based if your kimchi is made without fish sauce.
• Canned tuna: one 5-oz can, drained, stirred in for the last minute instead of pork. A classic student version. About 40 g protein.
• Simmered tofu, the traditional way: instead of searing, slide the slices into simmering salted water for 3 minutes and drain. Softer, cleaner, 60 fewer calories.
• Less sodium: rinse the kimchi briefly before chopping and drop the soy sauce; about 650 mg.

Storage

The kimchi-pork keeps 3 days in the fridge and reheats in a pan in two minutes. Sear fresh tofu; reheated tofu goes rubbery.

Recipe by My Healthy Food Life, developed for this series. Not adapted from any recipe by Kristen Kish; her words are quoted from the published interview linked above.

Previously in Who’s Eating Korean: Eric Kim’s gochujang buttered noodles, rebuilt with 28 g of protein, Milk Street’s kimchi fried rice and Sunny Anderson’s gochujang. Kimchi is also December’s One Jar Challenge jar; start with the fifteen-minute fresh kimchi.