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Budae Jjigae is a Korean Army Stew that’s spicy, savory, and delicious. A comfort food of many that provides a warm and satisfying meal, made from ingredients like spam, sausages, instant noodles, and cheese.
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Delicious Hot Pot: Budae Jjigae
Budae jjigae is a well-loved Korean army base stew that’s a popular option to have in restaurants. It’s also a fairly easy recipe to put together at home, making it a great dish to enjoy for family dinners, casual meet-ups, or even for when you go camping!
The stew features a spicy broth base made from gochujang (Korean chili paste) and gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), and is infused with the savory flavors of kimchi, garlic, and onions.
You can add any assortment of ingredients that you want into the stew. Some of the things I normally include are instant noodles, Spam (or in my case, chicken canned luncheon meat), sausages, tofu, mushrooms, and cheese.
Once you’ve prepped all your ingredients, it’s simmered together in the spicy broth until everything is cooked, and voila! It’s that simple.
Budae Jjigae History
Budae jjigae originated from after the Korean War era in the early 1950s. Budae literally translates to “army” or “army base”, and jjigae means “stew”. It reflects the period of when food was scarce, and Koreans would try to obtain surplus ingredients from American army bases, such as Spam, sausages, and canned beans, then transform them into a flavorful and satisfying meal.
ingredients you’ll need
(For full ingredient measurements, please proceed to the recipe card below.)
- Firm tofu
- Canned meat or spam: I use either chicken or turkey canned meat.
- Sausages
- Onion
- Green onions
- Mushrooms: I useseafood mushroomswhich can be substituted with enoki mushrooms. You can also add other types of mushrooms like shiitake or oyster.
- American/cheddar cheese
- Kimchi
- Kimchi juice
- Instant noodle
- Chicken broth or water
- Sesame seeds:For garnishing.
Sauce
- Gochujang: Korean chili paste.
- Light soy sauce
- Sugar: Sugar helps in rounding out the flavors.
- Gochugaru: Korean chili flakes.
- Garlic
how to make budae jjigae (korean army stew)
- In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the sauce and mix well.
- To a shallow pot, arrange the ingredients side by side in a circle. Add the kimchi, kimchi juice and green onions in the middle.
- Add the sauce in the middle and pour in chicken broth into the pot. Over medium heat, bring the pot to a simmer then cover with a lid. Let it simmer for 6-8 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to medium low heat and add instant noodles to the center. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes or until noodles are cooked to your liking. Gently swirl the instant noodles to make sure it gets cooked.
- Add a slice of cheese and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve while hot and enjoy!
notes for budae jjigae (korean army stew)
- Add or substitute ingredients for this dish with whatever you have on hand or to your liking. Here are some added suggestions: eggs, cabbage, dumplings, and seafood.
- You can also try out these recipes for Jammy Ramen Eggs Without Mirin or Mayak Eggs (Korean Marinated Eggs).
More Korean Recipes
- Meat-Free Kimchi Jjigae (Kimchi Stew)
- Soondubu Ramyeon (Instant Ramyeon With Soft Tofu)
- Spicy Noodles With Korean Corn Cheese
- Spicy Rabokki (Ramen and Tteokbokki)
- Korean Fire Chicken with Cheese (Cheese Buldak)
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Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Stew)
Budae Jjigae is a Korean Army Stew that's spicy, savory, and delicious. A comfort food of many that provides a warm and satisfying meal, made from ingredients like spam, sausages, instant noodles, and cheese.
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 25 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Korean
Servings 2
Ingredients
- 1/2 block firm tofu sliced
- 1/2 can canned meat/spam sliced
- 3 sausages sliced
- 1/2 medium onion sliced
- 2 stalk green onions cut into thirds and set aside a little bit for garnishing
- 1/2 packet seafood mushrooms or 1 packet enoki mushrooms
- 1 slice American/cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup kimchi
- 1/4 cup kimchi juice
- 1 instant noodle
- 3.5 cups chicken broth/water
- sesame seeds for garnishing
Sauce
- 1 tbsp gochujang
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1.5 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp gochugaru adjust to your heat preference
- 4 cloves garlic minced, grated or crushed
Instructions
In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the sauce and mix well.
To a shallow pot, arrange the ingredients side by side in a circle. Add the kimchi, kimchi juice and green onions in the middle.
Add the sauce in the middle and pour in chicken broth into the pot. Over medium heat, bring the pot to a simmer then cover with a lid. Let it simmer for 6-8 minutes.
Turn the heat down to medium low heat and add instant noodles to the center. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes or until noodles are cooked to your liking. Gently swirl the instant noodles to make sure it gets cooked.
Add a slice of cheese and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve while hot and enjoy!
Notes
*Add or substitute ingredients for this dish with whatever you have on hand or to your liking.
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