Enjoy a unique South Korean spicy stew with family and friends: Budae Jjigae, also called Korean Army Base Stew! The combination of American ingredients and Korean pantry items creates a memorable, delicious meal. Spam, hot dogs, ramen noodles, and American cheese slices are combined with anchovy stock, rice cakes, tofu, and a spicy Korean paste. Serve in the center of the table with white rice and beer. YUM!
What is Budae Jjigae?
Budae Jjigae, also known as Korean Army Base Stew, is a delicious and popular stew filled with ingredients that came from US army bases stationed in South Korea after the Korean War: spam, hot dogs, ramen noodles, and American cheese. The combination of American ingredients with common Korean ingredients is so delicious!
This spicy Korean stew was born out of necessity when there was nothing to eat. Koreans cleverly combined ingredients from American military bases with traditional Korean ingredients.
- American ingredients: Spam, hot dogs, baked beans, instant noodles, and processed American sliced cheese.
- Korean ingredients: Gochujang (hot pepper paste), Gochukaru (red pepper flakes), anchovy broth, rice cakes, tofu, and sweet potato noodles. Add a big handful of aromatic crown daisy (called ssuk in Korean) for the perfect finishing touch!
As a bonus, Budae Jjigae is a great meal and hearty stew to enjoy with friends. A one-pot meal that’s festive, fun, and easy to assemble beforehand. The different components cook together into a bubbling, absolutely delicious meal.
Serve Korean Army Base Stew like hot pot — in a shallow pot in the center of the table. Use a portable burner so that everyone can enjoy it. As it cooks, people can help themselves to the bubbling and jiggling stew. That’s the way it’s served in Korean restaurants, too.
I’m obsessed with Budae Jjigae! I think you will be, too! The tantalizing flavors, the savory broth, the combination of unexpected canned meats with spicy broth– they work together to create such a delicious and unique meal.
Ingredients:
For a 4-person Korean Budae Jjigae recipe with that “wow” factor, I recommend a variety of ingredients.
- Anchovy Stock. The essential soup base. Use anchovy tablets from the Korean market or buy seafood stock at the regular grocery store. Swap with chicken broth or vegetable stock, if you prefer.
- Spicy Seasoning Paste: Gochujang (Korean chili paste), Gochukaru (Korean chili flakes), sugar, soy sauce, Mirin (sweet cooking wine), and garlic. Can be made in advance.
- Spam. Canned Spam is rich, fatty, and delicious.
- Hot Dogs and/or Sausages. Choose one or both. Hot dogs are classic. Italian-style sausages are more meaty and thick. Canned Vienna sausages are also good.
- Kimchi. A little bit adds lots of flavor. Old, well-fermented kimchi tastes best for this recipe.
- Tofu. Soaks up all that spicy goodness! I recommend soft tofu for that silky smoothness. But firm tofu won’t fall apart and is good, too.
- Rice cakes (tteok). Chewy rice cakes. Use either sliced rice cakes or tube-shaped rice cakes.
- Ramen Noodles. Instant ramen noodles are a classic. They cook quickly. Add last, right before serving, so they don’t overcook. Do not add the flavor packets.
- Dangmyeon. Korean sweet potato noodles. They are the same kind of noodle used in Jap Chae. They will take longer to cook than ramen noodles.
- Cheese Slices. Processed American cheese is a must! Look for the kind wrapped individually in plastic. I like Kraft or Black Diamond.
- Vegetables: Crown daisy or chrysanthemum greens are very good. Otherwise, add 1-2 handfuls of mixed salad greens. Also, enoki mushrooms or sliced shiitake mushrooms are nice additions.
How to make Korean Army Base Stew :
- Assemble everything in a shallow cooking pot or braiser. Add items, one at a time: sliced spam, old kimchi, hot dogs, sliced tofu, rice cakes, and dangmyeon (Korean sweet potato noodle).
2. On a separate plate, add food items to be cooked at the table: crown daisy, enoki mushrooms, instant noodles, and cheese slices.
3. Bring the cooking pot to the table. Add the spicy paste on top. Add the anchovy stock or seafood stock and bring to a boil.
4. Cook. As the Budae Jjigae cooks, gently mix together. When the sweet potato noodles are soft and pliable (about 5-6 minutes), add the vegetables and instant noodles. Cook for 2 more minutes.
5. Turn off the heat and add the cheese slices on top. Enjoy!
PRO Tips:
- Add more stock. While the Army Base Stew cooks, the stock will thicken. Feel free to add more stock and/or water, as needed, up to 1 Litre (4 cups) more.
- Adjust heat while cooking. The communal cooking is a fun element of Korean Army Base Stew! While everyone sits and eats from the communal pot in the middle, feel free to adjust the heat. After bringing it to a boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer gently or turn off the heat altogether. If it gets too cold, turn up the heat.
- Provide individual bowls + serving utensils for each person. That way, people can ladle food items to their own bowls. After they are finished, they can continue to eat and serve themselves.
How to serve:
There are 3 ways to serve Korean Army Base Stew:
- Portable induction or gas burner. Most Korean households own an induction (affilate) or gas burner (affiliate) that can be brought to the table for tabletop cooking. Use a shallow braiser or cooking pot that fits easily on top.
- Electric plug-in cooking pot. Not as popular or easy to find as portable burners. Simply plug in and cook at the table. Currently, I use a stainless steel plug-in skillet handed down from family members (pictured) but sadly, it’s no longer available. I also like the Zojirushi Electric Hot Pot Skillet (affiliate) for a modern update. FYI, the cord is short so you’ll need a longer extension cord to connect to an outlet.
- Stovetop. Cook on the stovetop in an enameled cast iron shallow braiser (affiliate) or stainless steel shallow braiser (affiliate) until everything bubbles. Then, bring it to the table. Don’t forget the trivet! Dig in and enjoy. You may need to transfer back to the stovetop to reheat.
As you eat, the communal cooking pot will sit in the middle. People can chat and drink while the stew cooks and more food items are added.
FAQ
For a mild Budae Jjigae, adjust the sauce ingredients. Notes are included in the recipe card below.
Kimchi Jjigae and Budae Jjigae are both Korean stews but they are very different.
Kimchi Jjigae is all about the kimchi. The flavor highlights old, well fermented, mature kimchi.
Budae Jjigae or Army Stew is a hot pot that combines US army canned food supplies with a spicy broth and Korean ingredients. The addition of Spam and hot dogs makes it unique!
More Korean Stews and Soups:
- Gamjatang (Korean Porkbone Soup)
- Korean Rice Cake Soup with Dumplings (Tteok Mandu Guk)
- Soybean Paste Stew (Doenjang Jjigae)
- Spicy Seafood Soondubu Jjigae
- Korean Oxtail Soup (Kkori Gomtang)
- Tuna Kimchi Jjigae
Easy Budae Jjigae Recipe (Korean Army Base Stew)
Equipment
- Portable Induction or Gas burner
- Large shallow braiser
Ingredients
Pre-soak:
- 4 ounces Dang Myeon or a large handful
Spicy Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Gochujang Korean chile paste
- 1 Tbsp Gochukaru Korean chile flakes
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp Mirin or rice wine
- 3 cloves ground garlic
Assemble in pot:
- 1 can Spam halved then cut in 1/2-inch slices
- 8 links Hot dogs and/or Sausages, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup Kimchi with juice, preferably old and mature kimchi
- 1 package Soft or Silken Tofu drained and cubed
- 1 cup rice cakes
Assemble on plate:
- 1 cup Crown Daisy or Spinach or Mixed Salad greens optional
- 1 bunch Enoki Mushrooms optional
- 1 package Instant Noodle noodles only, do not use soup base
- 4 slices processed cheese
Additional ingredients:
- 4 cups/1 Litre Anchovy or Seafood Stock (chicken stock also works) more if necessary **see notes below
Instructions
Prep ingredients:
- In a large bowl, add Dang Myeon (sweet potato noodles) and cover with cold water. Set aside and soak for 10 minutes, while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
- In a small bowl, add ingredients for spicy sauce. Mix well and set aside.
- On a serving platter, arrange the crown daisy and/or spinach, enoki mushrooms, instant noodles, and cheese slices. Bring to the table.
Assemble :
- In a large, shallow braiser, begin assembly by adding each component one at a time.
- Slice and shingle Spam. Lay down the middle of the braiser.
- Add kimchi and kimchi juice.
- Add hot dogs and/or sausages.
- Add diced tofu. I prefer soft/silken tofu, but you can use any kind you like.
- Add the Korean rice cakes and sprinkle evenly on top.
- Drain the Korean Sweet Potato noodles or Dang Myeon and add on top of everything.
- Add spicy sauce directly on top of the noodles.
To serve:
- Bring the shallow braiser to the table and place on top of the portable gas burner. Add 4 cups/1 L stock and bring to a boil.
- If you don't own a portable burner, cook on the stovetop. When everything's hot and bubbling, bring it to the table. You may have to transfer back to the stovetop to reheat.
- When the sausage is cooked through and the noodles are clear and pliable, add the instant noodles and cook for 2 more minutes. The Budae Jjigae is ready to eat. Use tongs to mix around the spicy sauce into the bubbling stew.
- While the jjigae cooks in the middle of the table, guests can help themselves from the communal pot.Add crown daisy/spinach and enoki mushrooms while it bubbles away, if using. You can also serve with additional instant noodle and cheese slices.Optional: serve with rice. Eat immediately.
Tried this dish tonight and the family loved it! It was very easy to assemble given the short amount of time we had between kids’ activities and dinner. Everything just hit the spot. Thanks for the recipe!
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Yum! I love ordering this dish when I go out for Korean food. I can’t wait to try this dish out! Thanks for sharing!