Korean Army Stew (Budae Jjigae) Recipe. A Hot Pot Soup Base Recipe.
Korean Army Stew, Budae Jjigae (부대찌개 in Korean), is an easy-to-make, all-in-one-pot hot pot dish, the whole family can dig in and enjoy it together.
Korean Army Stew is basically a combination of a variety of American staple food with traditional Korean flavors, created out of necessity by Koreans living near U.S. military bases after the Korean War in the 1950s when food is scarce in South Korea. They incorporated surplus American canned goods like Spam, sausages, and baked beans into a spicy Korean stew made with Kimchi and gochujang (Korean chili paste). This unique fusion of American and Korean ingredients became popular, and is arguably considered as one of the national dishes.
The best thing about it is - it's completely customizable. You can put in ingredients you like, however much you want or even skip a few. Sky's the limit when it comes to creativity, right?
Here, I would like to share with you our version of it and the recipe for the stew base so that you can get inspired and make one on your own at home.
These (from top left) are what you need for the stew base. Basically just mix them altogether and you'll be all set.
- Mirin - 1 Tablespoon
- Soup soy sauce - 1 Tablespoon
- Gochujang (Korean red chili paste) - 1 Tablespoon (this one is a mild one. If you're a spicy fan like us, use the very hot one.)
- Minced garlic - 1 Teaspoon
- Gochugaru Korean red chili flakes - 2 Tablespoon
- Black pepper - couple shake
- Korean Anchovy Broth - 4 cups (not shown above, adjust the amount so that it fills up 80% of the pot)
Keep the stew base aside when done. Now, it's showtime - to assemble your army pot. Below is what I used. You can use as much or as little of the ingredients as you like. If you don't feel like any of them, just skip it, no big deal! One note - those marked with '*' below contribute quite a bit to the army pot flavors so if you can, try not to skip those.
- Tofu - make sure you get these firm ones. If you put the soft tofu in there, they'll be all broken up when you and your family are fishing for food in the pot.
- Kielbasa Sausages
- Spam*
- Onion*
- Spring onion*
- Napa Cabbage - I'm all about having a balanced diet, just a few bites of Kimchi isn't providing enough fiber for the day.
- Pork Belly Slices - usually only cooked meat are put into the Army Pot so you don't need to care about things that aren't cooked thoroughly before digging in. If you do put these in (they're uber yummy!), make sure they're completely cooked before you eat anything else in the pot. Eat these first before they are over-cooked.
- Baked beans - I put more than the usual few tablespoons in as we love the sweetness it brings to the stew.
- Kimchi*
- Shiitake mushrooms - these already sliced ones from Amazon Fresh are super handy.
- Ramen noodles - instead of the regular fried instant noodle, I used dried non-fried yam instant noodles that were more chewy and healthier! You see that I put that in the pot in the beginning. You don't have to. You can put it in whenever you want to have them.
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese - you can put any kind of cheese you prefer but cheddar works super well with the spice. You can also skip it if you're not a big fan of cheese.
- Salt* - few shakes
Now you're done. All you need to do then is to put the pot on a stove, bring the soup base to boil. Once all the raw meat is cooked, you can dig in.
These are the equipment I used:
- Le Creuset Cast Iron Braiser 5 Qt.
- Portable Gas Stove - use it if you want to keep the food hot throughout the dinner, just like having a hot pot.
- Butane Fuel Refill - you'll need about 1-2 cans to last the whole dinner
Now it's your turn. Show us your creation. Don't forget to tag us @thehongkongfoodies.
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