ARMY STEW (BUDAE JJIGAE)

Like I mentioned I had a recent craze for all things Korean (food-related, that is). Maybe make-up too..hmm there might be a trend here.. ANYWAYS, my next Korean-related food that I wanted to conquer was the budae jjigae, or the army stew, in English.

It was simple enough; toss all ingredients in a pot and add gochujang (Korean chili paste) and tada, we have a soup!

It WAS simple enough, in fact it turned out stunningly amazing.

Recipe

Ingredients:

Main

4 cups water

4-5 frozen hotdogs

200g luncheon meat

300g tofu

300g enoki mushrooms

250g king oyster mushrooms

250 shiitake mushrooms

50g Korean rice cakes

1 pack Korean instant ramen noodles

30g green onions

1 slice cheese

Sauce (from My Korean Kitchen)

2 tbsp Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)

2 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp Gochujang (Korean chili paste)

Prep

Defrost hotdogs

Slice hotdogs, luncheon meat, and tofu into bite-sized pieces

Remove the soil from enoki mushrooms, wash it, and separate it into manageable portions

Wash king oyster mushrooms

Directions:

1. Assemble all ingredients (except for instant ramen noodles, rice cakes, green onion and cheese) in a pot. Add the sauce in the middle. Pour the stock from the corner of the pot. Close the lid and boil for about 8 minutes.

2. Add the instant ramen noodles and rice cakes on top of the pot and boil uncovered until the noodles are cooked (about 2 to 3 mins).

3. Add the cheese and let it melt for another 2-3 minutes. (esp if you like your noodles more cooked like me)

4. Slice and add the green onions.

5. Spoon into bowls.

6. Enjoy! :)

I was contemplating whether to get Korean rice cakes as I was already slightly over budget. But they turned out to be one of the best parts of this dish - so I recommend you not to skip it. Add the knife cut one and not the long ones usually used for tteokbokki, as these are normally more used for soups :)

I used ordinary english chili flakes instead of gochugaru, and it turned out fine :) the next time I go to a Korean mart, I'll prolly be buying gochugaru though <3

Recipe inspired by:

My Korean Kitchen https://mykoreankitchen.com/army-stew-budae-jjigae/