Tales of Korea #4 : Recipe of Budae Jjigae

I first heard of Budae Jjigae a few months ago while watching my favourite TV program, Running Man.

National Treasure Kim Jong Kook (ㅋㅋㅋㅋ ^^ ) was on a mission with other team mates to buy the ingredients and cook this dish.
The list of ingredients was pretty long and quite strange compared to other Korean dishes I knew :

• kimchi, gochuchang, tteok : OK
• knacki style sausage, Spam, instant noodles, processed sliced cheese : ??? What ?

Not really my type of cuisine.

Then they explained this dish is also called the Korean Soldier Stew. It makes a bit more sense.


I had the opportunity to try it last week and I have to admit, it's pretty good! Strangely tasty. But that might be the power of the MSG contained in all the ingredients combined together.

So here's a picture I took at the restaurant and a recipe I translated from a on a korean website and tweaked a bit :

•  200g of Spam
• 3 Knacki style sausages
• 1 handful of Beansprouts
• 150g of Tofu
• 1 Ramen noodle (don't use the flavor packet as the dish is already seasoned)
• handful of Tteok (Rice cakes)
• 1/2 Onion
• 2 Mushrooms
• 2 spring onions
• 1 small tin of baked beans
• 800ml Water
• 2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
• 1 Tablespoon of Gochujang
• 2 Tablespoon of Red Pepper Powder
• 2 Cloves of crushed garlic
• 3 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon of Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil

1. Slice the Spam and sausages.
2. Put all the ingredients apart from the instant noodles in a big pan and bring to a boil.
3. Serve on a portable gas stove on the table to maintain a small boil.
4. Add the instant noodles and then the cheese
5. Enjoy!

If needed, add hot water to make more soup.

Now one of my new comfort food favourites !