Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Stew)
Although I’ve seen those huge pots of Budae Jjigae served in many Korean restaurants, I had never actually tried it. After taking a look at what it entailed, it seemed easy enough to try at home sans the theatrics! In Korean, Budae (부대) is a term used for a army bases, and Jjigae (찌개) for stews. So, Korean army stew! Named for its beginnings, this dish originated at the end of the Korean War using surplus food from the US Army base stores (spam, cocktail sausages, etc.), spiced up with Korean staples (kimchi, gojuchang, etc.). Naturally lots of things we might have in our pantry these days, so you could probably make this tonight without even having to pop out to the stores. Of course, we decided to include our fair share of fresh ingredients like mushrooms, cabbage and tofu to try and make it a little healthier!
That being said, it was still plenty full of some of my childhood treats like Kraft singles, cocktail sausages, egg tofu & instant noodles! Definitely not things I was allowed everyday.
After trying it, I must agree this hearty dish is perfect for a rainy day. It’s so easy to throw together with what you have on hand and flexible enough to use up any vegetables you might have lurking! It all comes together with a flavourful sauce of gochuchang, soya sauce, sugar, mirin, garlic and chilli flakes.
On that note. I’ve used gojuchang in so many Korean recipes, so I decided to take a look at what it is – a thick paste made from red chilli pepper flakes, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, and salt. But get this – in 2010, the Korean government and food industry agreed to institute a scale of hotness for gojuchang to promote exports1. It’s called the gochujang hot-taste unit (abbreviated GHU), and is graded from zero to 100 GHU and split into 5 broader buckets – mildly hot, slightly hot, medium hot, very hot and extremely hot. This entertained me!
I actually found the GHU rating on the tub I have, mine is ‘medium hot’. Dial up the spice as you like, and enjoy!
Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Stew)
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 200 g Mini cocktail sausages Sliced thinly lengthwise
- 170 g Spam 1/2 regular tin, sliced thinly
- 150 g Egg tofu 1 tube, sliced into 2cm thick rounds
- 200 g Enoki mushrooms
- 200 g Mini King Oyster mushrooms sliced thinly, lengthwise
- 200 g Cabbage roughly torn into small pieces
- ¾ cup Kimchi
- 1-2 packets Instant ramen noodles depending whether you are having rice or rice cakes separately
- 1 liter soup / stock I either use 2 stock cubes, or the ramen packet seasoning and 1 stock cube
Sauce
- 2 tbs Chilli Flakes
- 2 tbs Mirin
- 1 tbs Soya sauce
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbs Gochujang
Toppings
- 1 slice Kraft singles cheese
- 3 stalks spring onions finely chopped
Instructions
- Arrange the sausage, spam, tofu, mushrooms, cabbage and kimchi as you wish in the bottom of your pot. Make sure it is large enough to hold all the ingredients, soup and noodles in the end!
- Separately, mix all sauce ingredients together in a bowl while your stock heats up.
- When ready, pour the sauce into the middle of the arranged ingredients.
- Follow up with the hot stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add instant ramen and cook according to package (another 3-5 minutes). Turn off heat.
- Add a slice of kraft cheese on top (it will melt immediately) and garnish with spring onions.
Notes
Source:
1) Korea sets ‘hotness’ index for red-pepper paste, The Korean Herald, http://www.koreaherald.com/common/newsprint.php?ud=20100401000518
