Let’s make one of the most popular hot pot dishes and one of my personal favorite Korean dishes, Korean Army Stew.
Budae Jjigae, also known as Korean Army Stew, is one of the best comfort food you can make this winter.
Korean Army Stew is the ultimate comfort food, loaded with delicious and comforting ingredients such as sausages, spam, American cheese, rice cakes, and instant noodles.
It is super easy to make Korean Army Stew at home, plus you can customize it with any toppings or noodles of your choice.
Korean Army Stew originated after the Korean War. Many Koreans were hungry from the war, so the locals used American ingredients such as hot dogs, sausages, and spam and Korean local ingredients to create the stew.
The rich history of the origin of Budae-jjigae is what makes this dish so delicious and special. I highly recommend checkout out Asian Inspirations to learn more about the story of Budae Jjigae.
The sauce is what makes Korean Army Stew so delicious, and it is super easy to make at home.
All you need is garlic, Korean red chili paste, Korean red chili powder, black pepper, sugar, soy sauce, and a little bit of fish sauce.
To make this recipe vegetarian, skip the fish sauce and increase the soy sauce by 0.5 tablespoons. The leftover sauce can be stored in the fridge for 3 days.
Therefore you can make individual portions of budae jjigae throughout the week!
Customize your Korean Army Stew with any toppings of your choice.
My go-to are always SPAM, sausages, rice cakes, mushrooms, napa cabbage, enoki mushroom, and instant noodles.
You can also add vermicelli noodles, beans, cheese, and tofu. I recommend eating Budae Jjigae on a portable stove and adding more toppings as you cook.
The broth becomes thicker and tastes delicious when drizzled in a rice bowl.
Do you want more EASY Korean Dishes? Here are some of my favorite recipes!
- 4 Korean Side Dishes (less than 30 minutes)
- Spicy Korean Cucumber Salad (10 Minutes ONLY!)
- Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew – Sundubu Jjigae
- FRESH Korean Strawberry Milk (Korea Cafe Style)
Ingredients
Sauce Mixture:
- 8 cloves of Garlic minced
- 1.5 tbsp of Korean Chilli Paste
- 2 tbsp of Korean Red Pepper Powder
- 1 tbsp of Soy Sauce
- 1.5 tbsp of Fish Sauce
- 1 tbsp of Sugar
- 1/2 tbsp of Black Pepper
TOPPINGS
- ½ cup of Kimchi
- 4-6 cups of Dashi Stock or Chicken Stock
- 3 Sausages sliced
- 1 pack of Spam sliced
- 3 stocks of Green Onion Sliced
- 1 package of Firm Tofu sliced
- 1 slice of American Cheese
- 1 package of Instant Noodles
- 6 Shiitake Mushroom
- 2 Enoki Mushroom
- 1/2 cup of rice cakes
- Mix minced garlic, Korean Chilli Paste, Korean Red pepper Powder, Soy Sauce, Fish sauce, Sugar, and Black Pepper and set aside. If the sauce isn’t fully used, it can last in the fridge for 3 days.
- In a pan, start with Kimchi and layer on all the toppings, such as sausages, mushrooms, spam, rice cakes, and firm tofu.
- Top with the sauce mixture and pour 4-6 cups of stock over the toppings. Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring it to a simmer. Once it is simmering, mix the sauce into the broth.
- Add on instant noodles, American cheese, and green onion. Serve once the noodle is fully cooked, or serve on a portable stove while adding more toppings/carbs.
