Budae Jjigae (Army Stew)

I wasn’t going to make a recipe out of this, but since it was simple enough to make and is something that I usually whip up when I don’t know what to cook, I thought some people would be curious in how to make it. Basically, budae jjigae is a type of Korean stew where you can add pretty much whatever you want to it, but usually you’ll find meat like sausage, spam, along with instant ramen noodles sometimes, baked beans, and kimchi. Another name for it was Army stew, where it started to appear shortly after the end of the Korean War, and people were using the foods that they found from the U. S. army bases.

You don’t have to use the exact ingredients that I used, because of it’s versatility, just use whatever you have in your fridge or add ingredients that you like when it comes to the meat and vegetables.

INGREDIENTS

1-2 slices of spam
1/4 onion, sliced
1-2 inch piece zucchini/squash, sliced and halved
kimchi
1/2 can spicy tuna in kimchi sauce
1/2 package soft tofu, sliced and cut in half if it’s too large
1 egg
1 stalk scallion, chopped
chicken broth

SPICY PASTE

1 tbsp gochuchang (Korean chili pepper paste)
1 tsp gochugaru (Korean chili pepper flakes)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp chicken broth powder

DIRECTIONS

Assemble your ingredients into your pot, except for the egg and scallions. Pour enough chicken broth to leave about 1 inch from the top (this is to prevent it from overflowing when it is cooking). Add the spicy paste on top.

Cover and bring it to a boil and bring it down to medium-high to medium heat and cook for about 8 mins. Taste for additional seasoning. With the last minute remaining, crack in the egg and the scallions, and cover the lid to allow it to cook for the remaining minute. Sprinkle some black sesame seeds on top, and serve with a bowl of rice.

NOTES

This is the spicy tuna in kimchi sauce I used, don’t know if it says spicy on it, but it definitely had a good kick to it. You can find this at 88 Mart in Winnipeg.

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