Korean Army Base Stew (Budae Jjigae 부대찌개)
Army base stew is one of those dishes that tells you exactly where it came from the second you look into the pot. It is loud, messy, deeply comforting, and rooted in a very specific moment in history when people had to make something out of almost nothing. After the Korean War, food was scarce, and cooks started combining surplus American ingredients like SPAM, hot dogs, and canned beans with Korean pantry staples like kimchi, gochujang, garlic, and anchovy stock. What came out of that collision was not some novelty mashup but a real, enduring comfort food that families still gather around today, often cooking it right at the table and adding whatever feels right in the moment.
This is the kind of dish that doesn’t pretend to be elegant, but it is incredibly intentional. Every ingredient has a job, from the funky depth of kimchi and fermented chile paste to the unapologetic salt and fat of processed meat. It is communal food, meant to be shared, tweaked, argued over, and eaten while it is still bubbling. The recipe below is my take on army base stew, grounded in tradition but flexible on purpose, because that is the whole point. This stew has always been about resourcefulness, comfort, and feeding people well with what you have, and that is something worth celebrating.
Stuff I Use...
Army Base Stew (Budae Jjigae)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add dashima to cold water and soak 30 minutes. This gently extracts flavor and improves depth. Do not discard soaking water.
- Bring the water and dashima up to a gentle simmer. Just before boiling, remove and discard the dashima to prevent cloudiness or a slimy texture.
- Add anchovies, garlic, scallions, onion, ginger, and dried shiitake mushrooms.
- Gently simmer for 25–30 minutes. Skim foam from the surface if desired for a cleaner broth.
- Strain through a fine-mesh strainer or chinois. Cool slightly before using, or portion and freeze for later.
- Mix everything in a bowl. Cover and use as needed.
- In a heat-proof shallow pan, add 3/4 of the spice paste in the center.
- Organize the stew ingredients in the pan then pour in about 4 cups of stock, or until the stock reaches the "shoulders" of the ingredients.
- Bring the stew to a rolling boil then reduce to a simmer. Ensure the spice paste has dispersed into the stew then serve with personal bowls of rice.
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