Budae Jjigae or Army Stew is Korean-American fusion that is rich in history but has evolved into a classic comfort food for many Koreans. It’s a super easy soup recipe that has no rules!
Right off the bat, this soup is called Army Stew because it originated from the city of Uijeongbu in Korea where there used to be an army base for American soldiers. After the Korean War, food was scarce, and it was common to combine food scraps to survive.
Budae Jjigae was created because locals combined surplus American processed meats with typical Korean pantry items thus creating this stew.
This dish evidently has a huge historical and cultural significance of both suffering and survival, triggering both pain and progress. Nevertheless, it has long evolved into a comfort food for many people as well as a popular bar food!
Because this is now typically served hotpot style, it becomes a great communal dish where you can just add any ingredient that you like. From instant ramen, kimchi, processed meats, and the like—there are literally no rules! Today I’ll share to you how to make super easy Broke Boyz Army Stew!
Budae Jjigae Ingredients
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Water
Budae Jjigae allegedly started as a stir-fry and eventually evolved into a stew. It only uses water as the base of the soup then seasoned with common pantry items. Similarly, for this recipe, I’ll be sharing several ways to turn this into a spicy, salty, and tasty stew.
As this dish continued to evolve, more people and establishments used Korean soup stock made from anchovies and dried kelp as a soup base. If you have one at home, you can use that too. This will provide more umami flavor to the dish.
Kimchi
One of the key elements of Budae Jjigae is kimchi. I recommend using fermented kimchi since it has a deeper flavor of spice, sweetness, tanginess, and savor. The more you boil this, the more flavor comes out of it.
Instant Ramen
Aside from kimchi, we’ll also be using instant ramen to make Army Stew because it already has noodles and a seasoning packet that will also boost the overall taste of the soup.
There are some instant ramen in the market that are specifically flavored as Army Stew, so I recommend you use those.
Seasonings
In the past, when Budae Jjigae was created, instant ramen was not yet common in Korea. The stew was originally made from scratch with water mixed with gochujang, gochugaru, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, and black pepper.
Now since we already have kimchi and instant ramen seasoning—which are already flavorful—we’ll only season with garlic, soy sauce, and gochugaru for a boost in savor and spice. You can optionally add sugar if you want to balance the saltiness and spice.
American Processed Meat
Now the signature ingredients that make Army Stew what it is are the American processed meats like spam, sausage or hotdog, canned beans, American cheese, and the like. When you boil these with the soup, they will also add flavor, while turning plump and soft which makes the stew even more delicious and enjoyable to eat!
I only used spam and sausage but you can literally add anything you like. I also added tofu for aesthetic and a nice vessel that will soak all the flavor of the soup.
Other options you have are pork belly, bacon, dumplings, fish cake, tofu, mushrooms, egg, and rice cakes. You can also add vegetables/aromatics like onion and scallion.
How to Make Budae Jjigae
For this recipe, you will need a big pot for all the ingredients to fit and cook well together.
To begin, bring water to a boil, then add kimchi, dried vegetable packet, and soup seasoning packet from the instant ramen.
Season the soup with garlic, soy sauce, gochugaru, and black pepper, and allow it to boil for 5 more minutes. The flavor of the kimchi should develop further and the additional seasoning should now come together. This now becomes your budae jjigae soup base. Give it a taste, I promise you it’s FIRE!
Now add the spam, sausage, and noodles. Cook the noodles for 4 minutes if you want it al dente or 5 minutes if you want it a bit soft. Midway, top with tofu and continue boiling the stew. The spam and sausage should turn plump, soft, and juicy in the process, while the tofu should soak all that flavor from the soup.
An easier way you can make this is to arrange all the ingredients in the pot, fill it up with broth, and bring it to a boil. Easy peasy!
The only difference the two methods can make is that as you do the step-by-step method, you can control the taste along the way. But in general, as you boil, the stew becomes richer because every element will exude flavor.
How to Eat and What to Serve with Budae Jjigae
Budae Jjigae is often done in hotpot style, so feel free to add more broth, kimchi, noodles, and toppings as you like. This soup literally has no rules, no measurement, just put whatever you want and season it to taste! The more you add, the tastier it gets!
Enjoy this boiling hot on a portable stove, with banchan, rice, and some drinks! It can be a way to finish out any leftovers you have in the fridge, comfort food on a cold day, or simply something you can share together with your loved ones. This is one of those foods that is worth every calorie! Happy eating!
Other soup recipes you might like:
- Egg Soup Recipe
- Fish Cake Soup
- Ginseng Chicken Soup
- Korean Seaweed Soup
- Easy Dumpling Soup
- Korean Beef Short Ribs Soup
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Budae Jjigae (Army Stew)
Equipment
- Big Pot
Ingredients
- 3 cups Water
- 1 cup Kimchi
- 1 packet Instant Ramen
- 1/2 tbsp Garlic
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Gochugaru
- Sausage, Hotdog, Spam, Tofu
Instructions
- In a big pot, bring water to a boil.
- Once boiling, add kimchi, dried veggies, and soup seasoning packet from the instant ramen. Mix it well.
- Season with garlic, soy sauce, gochugaru, and black pepper. Let the soup base come to a boil for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, add the sausage, spam, and instant ramen noodles. Let the noodles cook for 4-5 minutes. 4 minutes for al dente and 5 minutes if you want it a bit soft.
- Midway, add tofu. Continue boiling until the noodles are cooked, the processed meats are plump and soft, and the tofu has soaked in all the flavor.
- Serve bubbling hot with banchan, rice, and drinks, and enjoy!
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