Boiled Pork With Aged Kimchi

Name: Boiled Pork With Aged Kimchi
Prep time: PT0D0H0M
Cook time: PT0D0H45M
Total time: PT0D0H45M
Yield: 2
Ingredients: One 1½-lb. piece hangjeongsal (pork jowl), or pork belly; 1 Tbsp. doenjang (Korean soybean paste); 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped, plus more, thinly sliced, for serving; One 1-in. piece fresh ginger, finely chopped; 1 medium red apple, quartered; 2 bay leaves; 1 Korean pear, quartered; 1 small onion, quartered; Mukeunji, thinly sliced Korean green chiles, ssamjang, and wasabi, for serving

Simmered until melt-in-your-mouth tender, rich jowl meat is the perfect partner for fiery fermented cabbage.

Serves
2
Time
45 minutes

MATTY YANGWOO KIM

By Ju-won Lee

Published on October 27, 2025

At 7.8 Makgeolli, a back-alley bar in Seoul’s hip Euljiro neighborhood, owner Ju-won Lee makes the classic drinking snack suyuk (or “water meat”) with hangjeongsal—a meltingly tender cut of pork jowl—then serves it with the super-ripe, intensely flavored kimchi known as mukeunji. Ask your butcher for a whole pork jowl, or swap in a slab of pork belly. Pick up doenjang and ssamjang, a spicy-sweet sauce made from soybean paste, at Asian markets or online.

Featured in “In South Korea, a Craft Soju Boom Preserves the Past” by Frances Kim in the Spring/Summer 2025 issue. See more recipes and stories from Issue 204.

Ingredients

One 1½-lb. piece hangjeongsal (pork jowl), or pork belly
1 Tbsp. doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped, plus more, thinly sliced, for serving
One 1-in. piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 medium red apple, quartered
2 bay leaves
1 Korean pear, quartered
1 small onion, quartered
Mukeunji, thinly sliced Korean green chiles, ssamjang, and wasabi, for serving

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Instructions

Step 1

Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring to a boil (there should be enough water to fully submerge the meat). Add the pork, doenjang, garlic, ginger, apple, bay leaves, pear, and onion, return to a full boil, and cook for 10 minutes. Turn the heat to low and simmer until the pork is tender and easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes more.

Step 2

Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and set the pork aside to rest in its cooking liquid for 10 minutes. Transfer the pork to a cutting board (discard the broth and remaining solids) and slice it thinly against the grain. Serve warm with the mukeunji, sliced garlic and chiles, ssamjang, and wasabi.

Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring to a boil (there should be enough water to fully submerge the meat). Add the pork, doenjang, garlic, ginger, apple, bay leaves, pear, and onion, return to a full boil, and cook for 10 minutes. Turn the heat to low and simmer until the pork is tender and easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes more.
Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and set the pork aside to rest in its cooking liquid for 10 minutes. Transfer the pork to a cutting board (discard the broth and remaining solids) and slice it thinly against the grain. Serve warm with the mukeunji, sliced garlic and chiles, ssamjang, and wasabi.