Recipe: Perfect Simple Korean Army Stew or Budae Jjigae

Simple Korean Army Stew or Budae Jjigae. This dish started after the Korean War when food was in short supply. Canned ham, hot dogs, and beans were taken from American military bases and mixed with traditional Korean kimchi, vegetables, noodles, and spicy seasonings to create a delicious spicy and hearty stew. I first had this dish in a Korean restaurant near my home.

Hence the word army stew or army base stew was born. Korean Army Stew (Budae Jjigae) transforms simple everyday ingredients like spam, noodles, mushroom and veggies into a mouth-watering spicy stew. Budae Jjigae is perfect for sharing and entertaining too - if you have a table top cooker, why not cook it all together with friends! You can cook Simple Korean Army Stew or Budae Jjigae using 22 ingredients and 4 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Simple Korean Army Stew or Budae Jjigae

1. It's 6 cups of chicken stock.
2. You need 200 g of SPAM cut into cubes.
3. Prepare 200 g of mushroom (enoki and or oyster mushrooms).
4. It's 200 g of shitake mushrooms.
5. You need 6 of cocktail sausages cut thinly.
6. It's 3 of instant ramen noodles.
7. Prepare Half of a cup of cheese(cubed or 2 slices).
8. Prepare 1 cup of kimchi (bite-sized).
9. Prepare 1 of Napa cabbage (cut and sliced).
10. Prepare 100 g of Rice cakes (Tteokbokki) or replace with kikiam.
11. You need 100 g of tofu (sliced or cubed).
12. It's 4 of cobs cooked corn or 1 can of sweet corn kernels.
13. It's 2 tablespoons of Korean chili paste (Gochujang).
14. It's 1/2 tablespoon of sugar.
15. You need 1 tablespoon of Korean chili flakes.
16. It's 1 tablespoon of garlic (minced).
17. It's 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.
18. It's 1 tablespoon of fish sauce.
19. Prepare of Green onions.
20. It's 1 teaspoon of cooking oil.
21. It's of I added corn instead of baked beans.
22. You need of I also removed kelp and anchovies because I don't like them.

Budae is a general term for a military base in Korean, but budae jjigae is translated into "Army stew" or "Army base stew" because of its origin. This is our second take on Budae Jjigae! This dish, budae jjigae, or Korean army stew, is no different. After the cease-fire of the Korean war, food was extremely scarce.

Simple Korean Army Stew or Budae Jjigae step by step

1. Cook garlic in oil until golden brown. Set aside so it doesn't burn..
2. Assemble the ingredients (except for the ramen noodles, rice cakes, green onions, napa cabbage, corn and cheese) in a pot. Mix the Korean paste with soy sauce, chili flakes, sugar, and fish sauce and add the mixture to the pot. Pour the stock and bring to boil on medium heat (about 10 mins). Reduce heat and let simmer for another 10 minutes..
3. Add the remaining ingredients – garlic, instant ramen noodles, rice cakes, green onions, napa cabbage (I like my napa cabbage crunchy), corn and add cheese on top of the pot and boil uncovered until the noodles are cooked (about 2 to 3 mins)..
4. Serve with steamed rice (& with other Korean side dishes). Or if doing hot pot, reduce the heat to low (using a portable burner) and share the food at the dinning table..

But there was a huge surplus of processed meats and cheese on US military bases. Thus, this dish was born, and is now enjoyed all over Korea, and frequents our campsites very often. In true Korean Fashion we took these ingredients and mixed with our own to make a spicy stew named Budae Jjigae which literally translates as the 'army stew' Its a spicy dish, normally cooked in a big pan and served from the middle of the table, containing noodles, western ingredients and plenty of vegetables Budae Jjigae is a great example of. Budae-jjigae (부대찌개) simply translated means army base stew. As a dish it originated soon after the end of the Korean war.