Budae Jiggae came about during the famine years of the Korean war and post-war period. Koreans managed to use leftover meat discarded or handed-out from the U.S. army bases to make this dish ("Budae" means military base and "Jiggae" means stew in Korean).
It's a recent invention (last 50-70 years) with a thousand variations, but it's mostly a delicious mixture of western meat, ramen noodles, vegetables, and spices.
This recipe is one that I came up with after looking up many versions of this recipe. This was my first time making this recipe, and we absolutely loved it. The sausages we used have a slightly smoky taste, and that made the broth really tasty. The flavor would change with another variety too.
You will need:
150gm Spam (cut into 1/4 inch bite pieces)
3 frankfurter Sausages (cut into diagonally bite size pieces)
1 handful of bean sprouts
150gm Tofu (cut into 1/4 inch bite size cubes) *Optional
1 pack Instant Ramen (don't use the flavor pack) *Optional
1 handful Rice Cakes *Optional
1/2 onion (roughly chopped)
4-6 mushrooms (thinly sliced)
800ml water with Chicken stock (4 stock cubes/2TBSP chicken stock)
1 cup kimchi (old is best for a slight sour taste) [cut into bite size pieces]
Sauce
1TBSP Gochujang (Red pepper paste)
1TBSP Gochugaru (Red pepper powder)
2 cloves of Garlic (crushed)
3TBSP Soy Sauce
1TBSP Sugar
1TBSP Seasame Oil
What to do:
1. Put 800ml water into pot and add chicken stock. Cut spam, sausages, tofu and vegetables accordingly. In a bowl, mix sauce ingredients and then add into the water. Place meats and vegetables into water. Add rice cakes and Kimchi as well.
2. Bring mix to a boil and cook well (approx 15 minutes). Add ramen noodles and cook for 3-5 minutes.'
3. Serve in a bowl and enjoy. It can be served with white rice and side dishes if desired.
*I apologize for no photos this time... I didn't think about taking them before we ate our meal, nor while we were cooking. I will take them next time*
You really should try this. It was really good! If you want it to be more spicy, add more Gochujang, and if you want it to be less spicy, add more sugar. At this recipe strength, the soup was not spicy at all. Give it a try!
