Korean hot pot dish is one of the most frequently requested recipes from my readers. Whether it’s cold weather that’s calling for this type of comfort food or you just want to have your friends and family over for this sharing friendly food, any excuses are acceptable here!
Among the hot pot varieties available, Korean army stew (Budae Jjigae, 부대찌개) is definitely one of the most popular hot pot dishes in Korea. I can vouch for this as I used to eat this army stew at least once a week with my colleagues. It’s reasonably cheap to buy and, even better, it consists of easy to find ingredients if you’re making it yourself.
Some facts about Army Stew (Budae Jjigae)
- Army stew or army base stew (Budae Jjigae) is Korean fusion stew that incorporates American style processed food such as spam, sausages, canned baked beans and sliced cheese.
- Budae (부대) is a general term for a military base in Korean and Jjigae (찌개) is a term for soup/stew. Hence the word army stew or army base stew was born.
- Soon after the Korean war (in the early 1950’s), food was extremely scarce in Korea, so those surplus processed foods from the US military bases were a great supplement for Koreans.
- Among the US military base areas in Korea, Uijeongbu, an hour north of Seoul, is most famous for this stew.
The best part about making this delicious stew is that the preparation is really easy – mostly involving cutting and slicing the ingredients. You can omit/substitute the main ingredients per your preference too.
To fit all the ingredients below, you will need at least a 12 inch shallow pot. I used my favourite pot for this recipe and it was just the perfect size. I cooked it on a portable burner so that my family can gather around the table and serve themselves while the stew gently bubbles down. It was so convenient and keeps the soup still hot even when the heat wasn’t on it. It’s really the perfect pot for Korean style hot pot, so you should check it out.
PS. my friendly warning – As you can imagine from the listed ingredients below, it contains high-calorie food. What’s worse, the stew is very addictive! Extra workout plans are absolutely necessary! 🙂
Ingredients for 4 servings
Main
- 4 cups (1 litre) chicken stock* (see note)
- 200g (7 ounces) SPAM, thinly sliced
- 4 cocktail Frankfurt sausage (150g, 5.3 ounces), thinly & diagonally sliced
- 250g (9 ounces) tofu, sliced (about 1.5cm, 1/2 inch thickness)
- 200g (7 ounces) enoki mushrooms, base stem removed & stems separated
- 200g (7 ounces) king oyster mushrooms, thinly sliced length ways
- 100g (3.5 ounces) shiitake mushroom caps, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup ripened bite sized Kimchi
- 110g (3.9 ounces) instant ramen noodles
- 50g (1.8 ounces) sliced Korean rice cakes, soaked in cold water for 15 mins if it was frozen
- 30g (1 ounces) green onion, thinly & diagonally sliced
- 1 or 2 slices of cheese
Sauce (Mix these in a small bowl)
- 2 Tbsp Korean chili flakes (Gochugaru)
- 2 Tbsp rice wine (mirin)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp Korean chili paste (Gochujang)
- A few sprinkles of ground black pepper
*1 Tbsp = 15ml, 1 Cup = 250ml
** If you want to learn more about Korean cooking ingredients, check my 30 essential Korean cooking ingredients list!
Steps
1.Assemble the main ingredients (except for instant ramen noodles, rice cakes, green onion and cheese) in a shallow pot. Add the sauce in the middle. Pour the stock in the corner of the pot. Close the lid and boil it on medium high heat until the stock starts to boil (about 8 mins).
2. Add the remaining ingredients – instant ramen noodles, rice cakes, green onion and cheese on top of the pot and boil uncovered until the noodles are cooked (about 2 to 3 mins). Reduce the heat to low (if you’re cooking on a portable burner and sharing the food at the dinning table).
3. Start dishing out soup, protein and vegetables onto your own soup bowl. Serve with steamed rice (& with other Korean side dishes).
Notes
- I used store bought chicken stock, which saved at least 30 mins or more of potential cooking time compared to making it from scratch. According to the package, it contains chicken stock 98% (water, chicken, carrots, celery, cabbage, onions, sage extract, parsley), salt, sugar, yeast extract.
- As I can’t guarantee that every chicken stock you buy will give a result the same as mine, if you’re unsure, I suggest you mix with water (e.g. 2 cups water & 2 cups chicken stock) to ensure the chicken stock does not have too much overpowering taste.
- Alternatively, you can use homemade dried kelp & anchovy stock or beef stock. Get the homemade beef stock idea from this recipe. FYI, I didn’t like a store bought beef stock for this recipe as I thought it was a bit too salty.
- Noodles soak up a lot of liquid so it’s best to consume them first. Also, you can replenish with spare stock (if you have any) as it boils down. It should be still delicious. (& this is how Koreans eat this dish at a restaurant.)
- 4 cups chicken stock (1 litre) *see notes above
- 200 g SPAM thinly sliced
- 4 cocktail Frankfurt sausages (150g) thinly & diagonally sliced
- 250 g tofu sliced (about 1.5cm, 1/2 inch thickness)
- 200 g enoki mushrooms base stem removed & stems separated,
- 200 g king oyster mushrooms thinly sliced length ways
- 100 g shiitake mushroom caps thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup Kimchi (ripened bite sized)
- 110 g instant ramen noodles
- 50 g sliced Korean rice cakes soaked in cold water for 15 mins if it was frozen
- 30 g green onion thinly & diagonally sliced
- 1 to 2 slice cheese
- 2 Tbsp Korean chilli flakes (Gochugaru)
- 2 Tbsp rice wine (mirin)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp Korean chilli paste (Gochujang)
- Few sprinkles ground black pepper
-
Assemble the main ingredients (except for instant ramen noodles, rice cakes, green onion and cheese) in a shallow pot. Add the sauce in the middle. Pour the stock in the corner of the pot. Close the lid and boil it on medium high heat until the stock starts to boil (about 8 mins).
-
Add the remaining ingredients – instant ramen noodles, rice cakes, green onion and cheese on top of the pot and boil uncovered until the noodles are cooked (about 2 to 3 mins). Reduce the heat to low (if you’re cooking on a portable burner and sharing the food at the dinning table).
-
Start dishing out soup, protein and vegetables onto your own soup bowl. Serve with steamed rice (& with other Korean side dishes).
*1 Tbsp = 15ml, 1 Cup = 250ml
Hi Sue,
I have always wanted to make this but I was wondering if there was a possible substitute for the mushrooms? I am not particularly fond of them.
Hi LawLis, if you don’t like mushrooms, you can skip them and add more of other listed vegetable and/or (processed) meat ingredients. Alternatively, you can add your favourite vegetables (e.g. zucchini, egg plant etc) that’s not listed here too. Hope this help!
Hi there!
I’m constantly on the hunt for asian soup recipes I can make at home. My favourite food in the world used to be our local chinese restaurant’s bejing soup, but I haven’t had any since I’ve become a vegetarian a year ago.
I’m happy to say, I have a new favourite food in the world! I used brokkoli and peppers instead of the spam and sausage, but the kimchi and the sauce are absolutely delicious.
Even my picky roommate enjoyed it!
Thanks for the amazing recipe!
That’s awesome! Sounds healthy too! 🙂
Hi Sue, can I still make army stew without kimchi? i have all the ingredients for army stew minus the kimchi and kimchi is only available in a store that is an hour drive away…
Hi Jessica, Yes, you can still make this stew without kimchi! Hope you like it. 🙂
I can’t wait to try this thank you so much. I’m going to Germany and going to make it for friends there.
Hope you and your friends enjoy having budae jjigae! 🙂
Hi Sue. Just want to clarify that it’s 2 Tbsp Korean chili flakes (Gochugaru) and 1/2 Tbsp of the paste (Gochujang) and not the other way around?
Hi Kay, Yes, as it is written. Typically chili flakes are used in soup / stew to bring out the spicy flavor. 🙂
I tried it and wow its so delicious and my family loved it also. Thanks for the recipe its easy to follow. Cant wait to try another one of ur recipe.
Thanks, Shirly! Great to hear your family enjoyed it! 🙂
Wow….! My mouth is watering! I used to have Chinese hot pot with friends while I was living in China. So much fun. I never try this Korean style with cheese on top. Very interesting!
I’ve never tried Chinese hot pot, but will have to try it soon. Anyway, I hope you try my Budae Jjigae soon! Definitely fun to do!
Hi Sue!
I am planning on making this stew tomorrow for New Years Eve with friends and I can’t wait!
I recently had my wisdom teeth removed and I’m not supposed to have spicy food. Is there any way to modify or just simply reduce the amount of hot pepper?
Thank you!
Hi Abby, If you want to reduce the spiciness, reduce the chili flakes. But it won’t be the same! 🙂 Enjoy! (Also hope you recover well soon.)
Looks so good. I must try to make it at home.
Thanks Sue.
Hope you enjoy it, Mary!
Would you be able to tell me what camera and editing process you use?
The photography is beautiful!
Thanks, David. I’m using Canon 5D Mark III with Canon 24-70mm. For editing, I use Adobe Lightroom.
Hi Sue…The wife and I will be making this today. She was craving it after watching some other Korean cooking videos and I said “Why don’t we just make that?” and she said “I trust Sue’s recipes!”
I’m sure it’ll be fantastic. I’ll report back with the results.
I should clarify, we were looking at a different website when I asked my wife to use the recipe we were looking at.
🙂 I appreciate your wife’s trust on my recipes! I hope I didn’t disappoint you both!
Well, the answer is…It was great. Exactly how I remember it tasting. The wife ate too much (always a good sign!)
I don’t know how you do it but everything of yours we’ve tried tastes so amazingly authentic and delicious.
That’s awesome! Great to hear! 🙂
My late Korean wife made a similar dish she called Duk ramen. She used the sliced rice cakes, ramen noodles, green onions, and whatever vegetables and meats we had in the house. That was always one of my favorite Korean dishes. After she passed I was never able to replicate it on my own.
I know this recipe might not give you the exact taste you’re looking for but I do hope it gives you a little bit of comfort at least!
wheres the recipe?
Hi Aurii, the recipe is available above now. It wasn’t visible for a few hours for some reasons. Thanks for reporting the issue! I really appreciate this!
Hi Sue,
Last weekend, I made Army Stew, it came out very good, so delicious , my family loved it.i had my nice came over for dinner, she asked me for the recipe and I gave her your My Korean Kitchen side so she can find some more good stuffs in there..
Thank you Sue
Hi Mai, So happy to hear that!! 🙂 Thanks for referring my website as well. I appreciate it!
Aloha Sue:
Looks delicious. Just wondering how is the sauce used? Is it put into the soup pot or as a dipping sauce?
Thanks,
It’s put into the pot and boiled with the stock. (If you look closely on the step 1. photos, it’s partly sitting on tofu. 🙂 ) Enjoy, Esther!
Oh! Thanks Sue. I am making it tonight and didn’t want to make a mistake 🙂
Hope it turns out well!
It did. My family loved it. Thank you.
Great!
Love your soup, yummy ?
Thanks Annie!
Look so good ,mouth watering.
Thanks so much Sue
Thanks Mai! I hope you like it. 🙂
OMG….. This makes my mouth water just READING IT. Thank you .
Thanks! I hope you enjoy making it as well! 🙂