Budae jjigae (부대찌개) actually interprets to military stew, a postwar Korean dish born within the years after the Korean Warfare when house cooks stretched American navy rations like Spam, scorching canines, and immediate noodles into one thing scorching and filling. Consider it as a Korean cousin to my sundubu jjigae, the Korean gentle tofu stew, each made round a spicy gochujang base and each meant to bubble on the desk whereas everybody helps themselves with a ladle. What makes budae jjigae particularly itself is the combo of Korean pantry staples like kimchi and gochujang towards American canned and processed meats, all swimming in the identical broth.
I discovered to prepare dinner this in 2019 the identical week my husband and I moved from Austin to New York, when our tiny Decrease East Aspect condo had no fuel for the range due to an explosion within the restaurant downstairs. We have been cooking every thing off a single electrical pot for weeks, and budae jjigae was the dish that made it straightforward to feed each of us out of 1 pot with minimal prep. I nonetheless prepare dinner it the identical method now, even in a completed kitchen, as a result of the one-pot behavior caught.
In my view, there isn’t any single proper recipe for budae jjigae, which is what made it excellent for that tiny condo kitchen and nonetheless makes it excellent for a weeknight at present. I saute floor beef with gochujang and kimchi, pour in hen inventory and Shaoxing wine to deglaze, then layer in tofu, mushrooms, sausage, Spam, child bok choy, immediate noodles, and eggs so as from longest to shortest prepare dinner time. That’s all there may be to it. Comply with my step-by-step directions under, and also you’ll have a scrumptious do-it-yourself soup very quickly.
Elements
I really like how straightforward it’s to make this Korean Military Stew in simply half-hour with easy elements which can be straightforward to seek out at most grocery shops. Here’s what I exploit:
Aromatics and floor meat: Peanut oil heats up first, then floor beef goes in to brown and char calmly on the backside of the pot. Chopped inexperienced onions and minced garlic comply with, and kimchi joins them so as to add bitter fermented depth earlier than the broth even goes in. Floor turkey or floor hen works the identical method in order for you a leaner pot.
Korean broth base: Gochujang is stirred into the aromatics, then hen inventory pours in to deglaze the pot. Rice wine, soy sauce, and a contact of sugar spherical out the broth.
Tofu and mushrooms: Medium tofu, minimize into cubes, slides into the broth first as a result of it takes the longest to soak up taste. Sliced white mushrooms go in with the tofu too.
Sausage and Spam: Sliced sausage and Spam collectively are what give the dish its army-stew character. Choose no matter sausage you want, smoked kielbasa, scorching canines, andouille, or a spicy Italian sausage all work, and Spam covers the salty cured meat facet.
Greens: Quartered child bok choy is my default inexperienced. Thinly sliced napa cabbage, kale, mustard greens, spinach, or any inexperienced you’ve within the crisper drawer works simply as effectively. Just a few dried shiitake mushrooms tossed in with the cubed tofu is very really useful.
Noodles and egg: On the spot noodles are what make this a one-bowl meal on the finish. I discard the seasoning packets that include the noodles, for the reason that broth has sufficient happening already. Eggs cracked into the pot on the finish and cooked lined till the whites set and the yolks keep runny end the dish.
Make
1. Brown the bottom meat: Warmth a tablespoon of peanut oil in a 4-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high warmth till it shimmers. Add the 1/2 pound of floor beef and break it aside with a picket spatula. Prepare dinner for 3 to 4 minutes till the meat is generally cooked and the floor is calmly charred for further taste.
2. Add aromatics and kimchi: Drop within the chopped inexperienced onions, minced garlic, and cup of kimchi. Stir and prepare dinner for 1 minute.
3. Bloom the gochujang: Spoon in 2 tablespoons of gochujang and stir every thing collectively for about 30 seconds.
4. Construct the broth: Pour in 4 cups of hen inventory and scrape the brown bits off the underside of the pot together with your spatula. Stir within the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and sugar, then add the cubed tofu and sliced mushrooms. Cowl the pot, drop the warmth to medium-low, and simmer for five minutes till the mushrooms are tender.
5. Add the meats: Lay the sliced sausage and Spam throughout the highest of the broth in a fair layer. Cowl and simmer for an additional 5 minutes so the meats warmth by and launch their fats into the broth.
6. End with greens, noodles, and eggs: Add the quartered child bok choy and organize the moment noodles throughout the highest, then crack the two eggs straight onto the floor of the broth in two spots that aren’t lined by noodles. Cowl and prepare dinner for 3 to 4 minutes till the noodles are tender, the bok choy is shiny inexperienced, and the egg whites have set with the yolks nonetheless runny.
7. Serve straight from the pot: Deliver the entire Dutch oven to the desk on a trivet and serve scorching into deep bowls. Every bowl ought to pull a little bit of every thing, the noodles, broth, meats, greens, and a half egg, so the dish stays balanced from first chew to final.
My Cooking Ideas
Bloom the gochujang within the scorching pan earlier than the broth goes in: Stirring gochujang into a chilly pot of broth leaves it tasting one notice salty and skinny. Letting the paste meet the new pan for 30 seconds earlier than the inventory pours in releases the complete savory pink colour and rounds out the warmth.
Use the kimchi liquid too: Once I scoop kimchi out of the jar, I deliver a few of the pink brine with it, as a result of that liquid is what brings the fermented bitter notice into the broth. Drained kimchi can depart the soup tasting much less Korean than it ought to.
Use a Dutch oven if in case you have one: A heavy 4-quart Dutch oven holds the warmth steadier than a thinner pot and retains the simmer even from the primary minute to the final. Additionally it is fairly sufficient to deliver straight to the desk, which is how I serve this dish each time I can.
Deal with the recipe as a base, not a rule: That is the dish I make when the fridge must filter, so I swap in no matter cured meats, greens, and noodles are readily available. The one issues I by no means skip are the gochujang, the kimchi, and the moment noodles, since these three are what make the dish budae jjigae and never simply any stew.
Serve
The second this stew comes off the burner, I transfer the entire Dutch oven onto a trivet on the heart of the desk so the broth retains effervescent between bowls. Every particular person ladles their very own bowl with a deep ladle, scooping a little bit of every thing from the noodles to the egg. My husband and I sit throughout from one another and commerce bites of sausage and Spam, the way in which you eat a scorching pot at a restaurant.
For a fuller Korean dinner when associates come over, I deal with the stew because the centerpiece and add to the desk extra plates. I really like stack of Korean seafood pancake and bowl of summer time vegetable bibimbap on the facet covers anybody who desires steamed rice relatively than noodles.
Regularly Ask Questions
Can I make this vegetarian or vegan?
Sure, this is likely one of the most versatile Korean stews to adapt for a meatless desk. Exchange the bottom beef with minced shiitake mushrooms and the sausage and Spam with cubes of fried tofu, tofu sheets, or bean threads, all of which soak up the broth higher than plain tofu. I additionally swap the hen inventory for vegetable inventory and the dish nonetheless tastes wealthy and satisfying.
Can I make budae jjigae with out Spam?
Sure, and I do that when my pantry is decrease or once I desire a barely much less salty bowl. Sliced kielbasa, scorching canines, andouille, or any cured pork sausage brings the identical character by itself with out the Spam. The dish nonetheless tastes like military stew as a result of the gochujang, kimchi, and immediate noodles are what outline it, not any single piece of meat.
retailer this dish?
I retailer the leftover stew with out the noodles in a sealed container and use it up inside 3 days within the fridge for the most effective texture. The noodles soak up broth in a single day and switch gentle and bloated, so I prepare dinner recent noodles within the reheated broth as an alternative of saving them with the remainder. I don’t freeze this dish, the tofu turns spongy on the thaw and the noodles don’t survive in any respect.
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My Korean Military Stew (Budae jjigae) recipe is a quick one-pot stew that I prepare dinner utilizing a gochujang-and-kimchi broth, layered with floor beef, sausage, Spam, tofu, mushrooms, child bok choy, and immediate noodles, completed with a few runny egg yolks on prime. I really like that the entire pot goes from prep to the desk in half-hour.
Forestall your display from going darkish
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Warmth oil in a 4-quart dutch oven (or heavy pot) over medium-high warmth till scorching. Add the bottom meat. Prepare dinner and break aside the meat together with your spatula, till the meat is generally cooked by and the floor is calmly charred.
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Add the inexperienced onions, garlic, and kimchi. Stir and prepare dinner for 1 minute.
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Add the Gochujang. Stir and prepare dinner to coat every thing effectively, 30 seconds or so.
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Pour within the hen inventory and use your spatula to scrape the brown bits off the underside of the pot. Add the dry sherry, soy sauce, sugar, tofu, and mushrooms. Flip to medium or medium-low warmth. Simmer, lined, till the mushrooms are cooked, 5 minutes or so.
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Add the sausage and Spam. Prepare dinner for an additional 5 minutes.
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Add the infant bok choy, On the spot noodles, and eggs. Prepare dinner lined till the noodles flip tender and the veggies are cooked.
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Serve scorching as a foremost dish.
Ingredient Substitution Information
Serving: 4servings, Energy: 522kcal, Carbohydrates: 26.6g, Protein: 39.1g, Fats: 29.1g, Saturated Fats: 8.3g, Ldl cholesterol: 195mg, Sodium: 1353mg, Potassium: 841mg, Fiber: 2.1g, Sugar: 10.1g, Calcium: 120mg, Iron: 15.3mg
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