Kimchi Jjigae Broth

Set a heavy-bottomed pot or Korean earthenware dolsot over medium-high heat without oil. Add pork cubes in a single layer and leave them undisturbed for 2–3 minutes. You want rendered fat pooling in the pot and caramel-brown crusts on at least two sides — this Maillard base is what gives the broth body. Turn once and brown the opposite side for 90 seconds. The pork should not be cooked through.

Push the pork to one side. Drop garlic and gochugaru into the rendered fat in the center of the pot. Stir and cook for 60–90 seconds until the garlic is fragrant but not browned and the gochugaru has turned the fat a vivid brick-red. This blooms the fat-soluble capsaicin compounds and builds colour into the broth from the start.

Add the chopped kimchi and its reserved brine, then the doenjang. Stir everything together, coating the kimchi in the red fat. Raise heat to medium and cook the kimchi for 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally. The kimchi will begin to soften and deepen in colour from bright orange-red to a darker, brick-maroon. The smell shifts from sharply fermented to rounder and more complex.

Pour in the anchovy-kelp dashi and fish sauce. Bring to a vigorous boil over high heat, then reduce to a gentle, steady simmer. Cook uncovered for 20–25 minutes. The broth will reduce slightly and the pork will become tender. Skim any grey foam that rises in the first 5 minutes — after that, the fat rising is flavourful and should be left in.

Taste the broth and adjust: if it needs salt, add fish sauce in 1/4-teaspoon increments rather than table salt. If it's too sour, a small pinch of sugar (not in the recipe — use judgment) will round it. If it's flat, add a little more kimchi brine. Remove from heat and drizzle sesame oil over the surface — do not stir it in fully, let it pool in patches. Scatter scallion over the top and serve immediately in the pot.