In Korean: 부대찌개
Hello everyone! I made Budae Jjigae today. Have you ever tried it? It’s a popular dish that’s meant to be shared with others. The flavor profile of this dish is spicy, savory, salty, meaty, tangy, pungent, and packed with umami! It’s a very flavorful dish and it is delicious! For beverages, this dish pairs well with something fizzy like beer or light colored soda (or something non-fizzy such as a nice ice cold water or iced tea).
History
A little fun fact and history about this dish. The word budae means army or army base and jjigae means stew. This dish originated around the early 1950’s after the Korean war (which took place between June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953). It came about due to food scarcity coupled with creativity. They used food that was accessible from the army base which included American foods such as canned Spam, sausages, hot dogs, baked beans, and American cheese and combining them with Korean food such as fermented kimchi, chili paste, rice cakes, spicy ramen noodles, among others. Who would have thought that Spam would work so well in soup with kimchi? This dish is a delicious mix of South Korean and American food coming together and dancing in a pot.
Flavor Profile
There’s slightly different ways of making this dish but the overall flavor profile is still the same but you can adjust the spice level according to your preference by increasing or reducing the spicy ingredients. I personally love my dishes that are a bit meaty, spicy, and garlicky, so this recipe is reflective of that but feel free to adjust it according to your preference! 🙂
Once you’re done making this, be sure to eat it shortly after so your noodles don’t overcook. This dish can also be eaten together with rice.
Some of the links I included below are affiliated which means I may earn a small commission if you click on them and make a purchase. However, these are products that I personally use, recommend to others, and have used specifically to create this recipe. Hopefully, including the condiments will be helpful for you.
Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Stew)
6
servings40
minutesIngredients
- STEW
2 strips of thick pork belly (sliced to a bite size)
⅓ can of SPAM (sliced to a bite size)
3 hot dogs (diagonally sliced to a bite size; My personal favorite is Nathan's hot dogs)
⅓ Kielbasa sausage (diagonally sliced to a bite size)
⅓ tofu (sliced to a bite size)
1 ½ cup of rinsed unfrozen sliced rice cakes (for frozen sliced rice cakes, soak them in warm water for 25 minutes)
1 cup of sliced fermented kimchi
½ enoki mushrooms (cut off base of stem)
½ medium sized sliced yellow onion (sliced)
½ Korean gochu green chili pepper (sliced)
1 packet of ramen noodles (I used Shin Ramen for this)
- STOCK
2 cups of chicken broth (I used Pacific Foods organic chicken broth for this)
6 cups of water
2 dried whole shiitake mushrooms (sliced after boiled)
~5x5 inches sheet of dried kelp
5 dried large sized anchovies (head and gut peeled off)
- SEASONING FOR STOCK
1 tbsp gochugaru pepper flakes
2 tbsp of gochujang chili paste
7 cloves of minced garlic
1 tsp of soy sauce
salt and pepper (to taste)
- GARNISH
1 chopped scallions
- OPTIONAL
1 slice of yellow American cheese or colby-jack works OR for white cheese, use provolone, mozzarella, or white American cheese
3 tbsp can pork and beans
pinch sugar (seasoning for stock)
Directions
- Cut all of your ingredients and set it aside.
- To make the stock, combine ingredients in the pot and place it in medium high heat for about 15-20 minutes. Then, take out the shiitake mushrooms, anchovies, and kelp. Slice the shiitake mushrooms and set it aside to include it together with the rest of the ingredients later.
- Add the seasoning (gochugaru pepper flakes, gochujang chili paste, minced garlic, soy sauce, sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste) into the broth and stir. Then, add the sliced pork belly and boil in medium high heat for about 10-12 minutes.
- In a large shallow pot (I used 10x3), assemble all the ingredients for stew - spam, hot dogs, Kielbasa sausage, tofu, enoki mushrooms, yellow onions, boiled sliced pork, boiled shiitake mushrooms, kimchi, gochu green chili pepper, ramen noodles, and slices of rice cake.
- Pour the cooked broth into the large shallow pot with the main ingredients and boil for about 5 minutes on high heat. Place the extra broth on the side to add it later as you’d like.
- While the broth with the ingredients are boiling, start to loosen your ramen (you can mix your ingredients together as well if you’d like).
- Add chopped scallions on top as your garnish and enjoy! This dish can be eaten by itself or with a side of rice.
Recipe Video
Notes
- (Tip: If you boil the 6 cups of water in an electric kettle and then add it to the pot, it will quicken the process of heating up the broth. An electric kettle is worth the investment!)
- If you prefer your meals less salty, use just half the amount of ramen seasoning packet or to taste, low sodium chicken stock, low sodium SPAM, use/skip low sodium soy sauce, and skip the sprinkle of salt.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Tag @crabcakesandkimchi on Instagram and hashtag it #crabcakesandkimchi
