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Korean Army Stew (Budae Jjigae) is one of my favorite dishes to make when feeding a large group because it’s so flavorful and simple to prepare. Use pantry ingredients like instant ramen noodles and SPAM to fill up your Korean Army Stew!
Notes
Here’s a bunch of notes I have for this recipe!
- You can use different types of broths, but I opt for chicken broth/chicken bouillon cubes to flavor my Korean Army Stew since that is what’s readily available in my pantry.
- I like to use thicker instant ramen noodles with bounce and chew, like the ones you get in Shin Ramyun, Buldak, Neoguri, etc. I feel like they hold up better in the Korean Army Stew
- The ingredients list I provided is a good starting point, but not mandatory. Get creative with your ingredients! Explore different types of meats, vegetables, mushrooms, starches, noodles, and more in your Korean Army Stew to find which ones are your favorite ingredients. Eventually, you will make your own unique Korean Army Stew.
- I like to use a pot that is wider at the bottom, and that’s not too high, not too low (see “rondeau pan“). This allows for more ingredients without overflowing, and your guests won’t burn their arms vs using a pot with higher walls.
- Feel free to adjust the ingredients to your liking. Other Korean Army Stew recipes are either too spicy, too sweet, or too salty to my liking, so I made this recipe based on how I prefer my Korean Army Stew.
- I typically like to use young radish greens kimchi, but feel free to use any kimchi you prefer.
- The order of ingredients to throw into the Korean Army Stew: start with the thicker ingredients since they will take longer to cook. Ingredients like mushrooms, fish balls, carrots, lotus root (if you choose to use these) go first. Thinly sliced meats only need a few seconds, so use chopsticks or tongs to quickly swish the meat in the pot, and take it out to avoid overcooking.
How to Make Korean Army Stew (Budae Jigae)
For full list of ingredients and detailed steps, check out the bottom of this page.
Korean Army Stew is super easy and straightforward to make. Its a simple hot pot broth filled with your favorite ingredients!
First, make the flavoring paste by combining all the aromatics and flavorings.
Next, add water and chicken bouillon.
Bring this to a boil and then add all the meats and noodles and whatever you like!
Video
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Herbox Chicken Bouillon Cubes (link)
These are the chicken bouillon cubes I use to make chicken broth base for the army stew. It doesn’t hurt my stomach like other brands and its super useful to always have on hand!
The Korean Vegan Cookbook (link)
Joanne is friend of mine and, though I’m not vegan, I often make dishes from her book! My favorite is the doenjang chigae. In her book she recommends TAEKYUNG brand gochugaru.
TAEKYUNG gochugaru (link)
There are many options for gochugaru (red chili flakes) but The Korean Vegan recommends this brand.
Rondeau Pan (link)
If you don’t have an electric hot pot set up, I recommend a short but wide pan that apparently is called a “rondeau”. I don’t endorse any specific brand but it is useful to see for reference.
Recipe
Easy Korean Army Stew Recipe (Budae Jjigae)
Ingredients
Method
- In a small bowl, whisk together crushed garlic, gochugaru, salt, pepper, sugar, gochujang, mirin, and soy sauce to form a paste.
- In the hot pot you plan to use to cook and eat from, pour the paste and add the water. Begin heating. Then mix in the chicken bouillon until fully dissolved. At this point, do a taste test and add more bouillon if you want it saltier or add water to tone it down.
- Once the pot is boiling, start throwing in all the other ingredients. I recommend starting with any vegetables with thick stalks and root vegetables like carrots and daikon. You can also add mushrooms or frozen fish balls now. You can pretty much add anything that isn't thin meats.
- Once the pot reached a boil again, you can cook the thin meats as you eat them
Notes
- Bouillon Cubes: I use Herb-Ox Chicken Bouillon Cubes (link), which are typically 4 grams each. I noticed that other bouillon cubes are larger (6g), so make sure to adjust the amount accordingly!
- Gochujang: I use CJ Foods Gochujang. I’ve used “Very Hot” and “Mild”, and both taste great. Adjust the heat depending on the spice tolerance you prefer.
- Gochugaru: I use “taekyung gochugaru” (link) based on what I’ve seen recommended in The Korean Vegan’s cookbook (link).
- Soy Sauce: the type of soy sauce you use will impact the flavor. Some soy sauce brands may be saltier than others, so adjust to your liking.
- Instant Noodles: I prefer to use Korean ramyun noodles, which are slightly thicker and bouncier. I find that they hold up better in a stew like this. Some noodle brands I’ve use are Shin Ramyun, Buldak, or Neoguri. You may also use Ottogi Ramensari, which has JUST the noodles.
- Mushrooms: I love using shimeji, maitake, enoki, and wood ear mushrooms. Feel free to use mushrooms you enjoy!
- Fish Balls: I love to try different types of fish balls that I find at the Asian grocery stores. I try to always get the ones shaped like a Hershey’s Kiss, or teardrop shape. They typically have fish roe inside.