부대찌개Budae JJigae

#Budae-jjigae #부대찌개

- Gettin' jjigae with spam: a US/South Korean fusion

Spam doesn’t exactly conjure up images of culinary delights in most people’s mind, but in South Korea it’s an essential ingredient in budae jjigae, a fusion stew made up of Korean instant noodles, Spam, hotdogs and kimchi. This US-influenced combination might not sound much like a traditional Korean dish, but it’s one that dates back to the Korean war, when people had little to eat and meat was a luxury.

The US army was stationed in Uijeongbu, an hour north of Seoul, and after the war surplus food stocks from the military base began to make their way into the surrounding areas. Creative Koreans concocted budae jjigae by taking unfamiliar American processed meats and boiling them up with Korean instant noodles, garlic, kimchi, gochujang (Korean chilli paste) and anything else they could get hold of (including baked beans and processed cheese) to create a spicy, hearty stew.

Budae-jjigae (부대찌개; literally "army base stew") or spicy sausage stew is a type of Korean jjigae (stew), made with ham, sausage, Spam, baked beans, kimchi, instant noodles, and gochujang.

The dish was created shortly after the armistice that ended the Korean War, using the scrounged or smuggled surplus foods from U.S. military bases. Although the dish was born in the period of post-war impoverishment, it continued to be popular during the period of rapid growth, and is still popular today. There are many restaurants specializing in budae-jjigae, with the most famous ones on the budae-jjigae street in Uijeongbu, where the dish was allegedly first made.

The dish is now a popular anju (accompaniment to alcoholic drinks-ex: 소주! Soju!!!!) and a comfort food cooked on the table in a big pot in front of the diners and enjoyed as it is cooked for many Koreans.

Budae (Korean: 부대; Hanja: 部隊) is a military unit, often a "troop". As a troop's camp is also called budae, the word gun budae (Korean: 군부대; "military camp") is often used to refer to military camps in general, and migun budae (Korean: 미군부대; "U.S. military camp") to the U.S. military bases. Jjigae (Korean: 찌개), often translated as "stew", means a soup thicker than guk (soup).

History

After the Korean War, food was scarce in South Korea. People dwelling around U. S. army bases, in the Uijeongbu, Pyeongtaek, and Munsan areas made use of surplus foods from army bases, commonly processed meat products, collectively known as budae-gogi (부대고기; "army base meat"), such as ham, hot dogs, and Spam, along with canned baked beans. It is said that budae-jjigae begun as a buttery stir-fried meal made of canned pineapples, cabbages, onions, American cheese, and mystery meat called 'ggulgguri-juk’ (꿀꿀이죽 piggy porridge), but later on, anchovy broth flavored with gochujang and kimchi was added to create the stew that is enjoyed today. The ingredients were often scrounged or smuggled through a black market, as American products were not legally accessible to Koreans.

Budae-jjigae is still popular in South Korea. Common ingredients now include baked beans, Vienna sausage, bacon, tofu, pork, ground beef, mandu, instant noodles, macaroni, tteok (rice cake), American cheese, mozzarella, minari, scallions, chili peppers, garlic, mushrooms and other vegetables in season.

The city of Uijeongbu, which is bordered by Seoul to the south and has many army bases, is famous for its budae-jjigae.

Enjoy the different type of Budae JJigae!

Johnsontang

A form of budae-jjigae developed around a U.S. military unit stationed in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, is called Johnsontang (존슨탕; "Johnson soup"). It is named after United States President Lyndon B. Johnson, who is said to have raved about the taste of the dish during his visit to Korea

In the late 20th century, the city of Uijeongbu stipulated that the dish be referred to as Uijeongbu-jjigae to remove the military or war-time connotation in the name, though not many restaurants follow this guideline. Some restaurants have begun calling their product Uijeongbu-budae-jjigae. There is also what locals refer to as "Uijeongbu Budae-jjigae Street" where there is a high concentration of budae-jjigae restaurants.