チゲ

찌개 (jjigae) is the Korean source form behind チゲ. Digital Daijisen labels チゲ as Korean and defines it as a Korean nabe dish made with seafood or meat, tofu, vegetables, kimchi, doenjang, or gochujang. Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten gives the romanized source as jji-gai, while Korean dictionaries write the standard form as 찌개. Wiktionary analyzes it as 찌- plus -개, not as a Chinese-character word. The borrowing entered Japanese through Korean-restaurant vocabulary, especially after postwar Korean food businesses and the 2000s Korean Wave expanded menu words. Japanese menus list キムチチゲ, テンジャンチゲ, スンドゥブチゲ, and プデチゲ. Because Japanese 鍋 already means a pot dish, the common restaurant phrase チゲ鍋 repeats the "stew or pot dish" idea. The same menus often place チヂミ, ビビンバ, and ナムル nearby. Modern Japanese often associates チゲ with a spicy red soup, but Korean jjigae is a broader stew category. Doenjang-jjigae is soybean-paste based, kimchi-jjigae uses kimchi, and budae-jjigae includes sausage or luncheon meat. English "jjigae" is closer to the Korean category than "hot pot," because a Japanese nabe is often cooked at the table for several people. Example: キムチチゲを頼みます.