Learn how to cook this easy Korean-American hot pot recipe. Korean Army Stew transforms simple everyday ingredients like noodles, kimchi and veggies into a mouth-watering spicy stew. Budae Jjigae is perfect for sharing and entertaining too – if you have a table top cooker, why not cook it all together with friends!
Why We Love This
This is such an easy recipe to make at home because it’s so flexible! Make use of the ingredients you have, or the ones you love the most, and make it your way! If there’s something you don’t like, or it’s not easy to source, you can leave it out.
This addictive recipe is the perfect remedy on a cold winter’s night, when you just want a fiery, spicy dish to warm you up from the inside out! (That said, we’re so addicted we’ll eat it on a steamy summer’s afternoon. So I guess this one is just about perfect to enjoy all year round.)
All you need are a few tasty ingredients, a hotpot or deep frypan, and some hungry friends to eat it all up!
What is Korean Army Stew?
This spicy Korean army base stew is made with of a range of tasty ingredients cooked in a spicy broth. The simmering blend of gochujang (spicy Korean chilli paste), gochugaru (spicy Korean chilli flakes / hot pepper powder), rice wine, sugar, garlic soy sauce and chicken stock will set your mouth watering before you even take a bite!
A blend of east-meets-west, this spicy Korean hot pot recipe infuses the flavour-packed intensity of Korean cuisine with American processed foods such as spam, sausages and cheese.
This is probably one of our most cooked recipes in our Wandercook’s household. We always have most of the ingredients on hand to whip up a batch for lunch or dinner. Somehow we think the base has a spicy-peppery-tomato flavour, and with the addition of spam, sausages and cheese it tastes like a hotdog stew!
If you’ve eaten everything and just have the soup left, save it and pop in some two minute noodles or veggies the next day, it’s even more delicious.
If you’re looking for a non-spicy hot pot, we’d recommend Japanese Shabu Shabu Hot Pot.
What You’ll Need
For the base stew:
Grab the sugar, soy sauce and garlic then add the key ingredients:
- Stock: You can use powdered, bottled or fresh stock. It’s up to you and how much time you have on your hands. We used chicken stock but we’ve also used dashi / anchovy stock for a more umami base. If you’re making a veggo version, just use vegetable stock or seaweed stock.
- Gochujang: One of the key ingredients to the dish, this Korean hot pepper / chilli paste is where the flavour is at. It has more of a tomato / sweet taste than chilli heat, although you can buy an extra hot version. We’ve found these now at most supermarkets or online.
- Chinese cooking wine: You’ll find this at Asian supermarkets or even online. It adds complexity to the dish, and a dash of sweetness. You can substitute with dry sherry, mirin or sake if you have those in the cupboard instead.
- Korean red chilli flakes: Known as Gochugaru, you’ll be able to find it at Asian grocers and online. It may also be labelled as hot pepper powder. To substitute, halve the amount and use cayenne pepper or regular chilli powder.
For the main hot pot ingredients:
Here are a few signature inclusions, feel free to pick and choose!
- Processed meat: Think spam, frankfurters, little smokies, sausages or ground meat
- Cheese: You can use pre-sliced cheese, but we like spreading generous amounts of grated cheese aaaalllll across the top
- Korean rice cakes (tteok): There are two main shapes often used in Korean dishes like this and Tteokkboki, the sliced disc version and cylinder rice cake. We prefer the cylinder version and usually buy these fresh or frozen from our local Asian supermarket. If you can’t find them, you can substitute with gnocchi in a pinch.
- Instant ramen noodles – just plain ol’ regular instant ramen or udon noodles
- Fresh kimchi – store bought or easily make your own at home.
- Green onion – aka spring onion
- Tofu – soft or firm, both work well. We usually prefer firm tofu which holds its shape better in the hot broth
- Mushrooms – enoki, oyster or shiitake (or all three if you’re a mushroom fiend like us!)
- Boiled eggs – sliced in half
- Baked Beans – Dollop in a couple of spoonfuls or a quarter of a cup – not too much as the sauce is quite sweet.
- Vegetables – If you’re vegan or vegetarian, stock up on more vegetables by popping in carrot, eggplant, zucchini, or even broccoli. While it may not be traditional, it’s just as tasty!
How to make Budae Jjigae:
To prepare the rice cakes:
- If you’re using Korean rice cakes (tteok), place in a bowl and cover with hot water to soften them first while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
To prepare the hot pot:
2. 3. 4.
- Add all the stock ingredients into a large electric fry pan, wok or shallow pot, mix together over low heat.
- Layer your main ingredients in the pan (in artful sections, or mixed in all together – it’s totally up to you!)
- Turn up the heat and layer everything with generous amounts of cheese. Cook on high heat until ingredients such as noodles and frankfurts are cooked through. Serve your Korean Army Stew just how you like it – either hotpot style in the middle of the table and allow everyone to help themselves, or dish out into individual bowls.
Wandercook’s Tips
- If you have a shallow pot, fondue pot, or an electric fry pan like us, this dish is fun and easy to cook on the table, which makes it perfect for friends to enjoy delicious food and fun conversation! But you can also just as easily cook it on the stove and dish out into small individual bowls.
- We keep the rice cakes and frankfurts in the freezer so we’re never too far away from our next army stew fix!
- In the below recipe we’ve included quantities for stock ingredients, but not for the main ingredients. This is because it really depends on how much you want to cook (and/or how hungry your friends are). You can easily prepare as much or as little as you like, and add more ingredients to cook as you go if your friends are still hungry or completely, totally, hopelessly addicted.
FAQs
Yes! You can make the stock base and store in the fridge for up to a couple of weeks, until you’re ready to cook it. I’d just leave out the stock and water, then add that in with the main ingredients. As a bonus, once all the main ingredients are eaten, we often reserve any remaining stew base and reheat it along with adding fresh ingredients again to enjoy as leftovers the next day.
This fusion-style recipe became popular after the end of the Korean War, when food was scarce and American army surplus supplies were easier to come by.
Leave out the Korean hot pepper flakes / gochugaru as these pack the most heat. The gochujang chilli paste is less spicy so you could try halving the amount first before completely omitting as it does give the hot pot that classic budae jjigae flavour.
Variations & Substitutes
- If you can’t source gochujang, you can make a paste out of regular red chilli flakes mixed with sugar and a dash of soy. (Use 1 tablespoon of chilli flakes for every tablespoon of gochujang required).
- You can swap the chicken stock for dashi powder (1 tsp for every cup).
Cook up these Korean favourites next:
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Equipment
Ingredients
For the Stock:
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 tbsp Korean hot pepper paste / gochujang or substitute with 2 tbsp chilli flakes blended with a pinch of sugar and a dash of soy sauce
- 1 tbsp garlic or fresh if you prefer, we just like the convenience
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
- 2 tsp Korean hot pepper flakes / gochugaru or regular chilli flakes
- 2 tsp sugar
For the Main Ingredients
- instant noodles 1 – 2 packets
- spam or frankfurts sliced into 2-3cm pieces
- Korean rice cakes (ttkeok) sliced or cylinder version
- fresh kimchi
- cabbage roughly chopped
- enoki mushrooms base removed, separated into small bunches
- tofu sliced into small cubes
- cheese sliced or shredded
Instructions
- If you’re using Korean rice cakes (tteok), place in a bowl and cover with hot water to soften them first while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
For the stock:
- Add all the stock ingredients into a large electric fry pan, wok or shallow pot, mix together over low heat.
To assemble:
- Layer your main ingredients in the pan (in artful sections, or mixed in all together – it’s totally up to you!)
- Turn up the heat and layer everything with generous amounts of cheese. Cook on high heat until ingredients such as noodles and frankfurts are cooked through.
- Serve your Korean Army Stew just how you like it – either hot pot style in the middle of the table and allow everyone to help themselves, or dish out into individual bowls.
Video
Recipe Notes
- If you have a hot pot, fondue pot, or an electric fry pan like us, this dish is fun and easy to cook on the table, which makes it perfect for friends to enjoy delicious food and fun conversation! But you can also just as easily cook it on the stove and dish out into small individual bowls.
- In the below recipe we’ve included quantities for stock ingredients, but not for the main ingredients. This is because it really depends on how much you want to cook (and/or how hungry your friends are). You can easily prepare as much or as little as you like, and add more ingredients to cook as you go if your friends are still hungry or completely, totally, hopelessly addicted.
- Can I prepare Korean Army Stew ahead of time? It’s possible to prepare the stock separately and heat it up when you’re ready to eat. But we think this stew is best when prepared fresh and cooked immediately. That said, once all the main ingredients are eaten, we often reserve any remaining stock and reheat it along with extra noodles and other fresh ingredients to enjoy as leftovers the next day.
- If you can’t source gochujang, you can make a paste out of regular red chilli flakes mixed with sugar and a dash of soy. (Use 1 tablespoon of chilli flakes for every tablespoon of gochujang required).
24 Comments
Chelsey
12/11/2019 at 3:33 pmWow I love love all of the wonderful flavors you have going on in this Korean stew! Definitely a perfect soup on a chilly winter night!
Wandercooks
19/11/2019 at 2:06 pmSO good when it’s cold. 😀
Anita
12/11/2019 at 3:15 pmI love making a hot pot when having friends over. No need to cook and everyone always has such a wonderful time cooking and joking around. 🙂
Wandercooks
19/11/2019 at 2:06 pmExactly! We’re similar. It’s also great when you share it, as it’s usually a good topic of conversation with those trying new flavours or ingredients for the first time.
Beth
12/11/2019 at 3:13 pmI am all about the spicy foods right now and am always looking for new recipes to try! This looks incredibly good! Trying this ASAP!
Wandercooks
19/11/2019 at 2:05 pmThat’s awesome Beth – for a spicier version, just up the chilli flakes and gochujang paste in the base sauce. 🙂
Candice
12/11/2019 at 3:03 pmI love a dish that can feed an army… and this one has so much incredible flavor! I had never heard of it before, but it was so easy to make, and we all loved it. Thanks for sharing!
Wandercooks
19/11/2019 at 2:05 pmThis is great Candice, so glad you enjoyed it. I love that you can mix and match with the veg or meat in it too. Let us know if you try any variations!
Elaine
12/11/2019 at 2:42 pmI really like those ingredient shots – they look sooo goood! And I guess it’s time for me to explore a bit more of the Korean cuisine – this stew looks unbelievable!
Wandercooks
19/11/2019 at 2:04 pmCheers Elaine! This one is a great dish into the entry of Korean flavours – I tried it out with my family, and they loved it! The sauce base tastes like a slightly spicy tomato sauce, and with the cheese on top, my brother thought it tasted like hot dogs when eating the sausages haha!
Lucya
04/05/2019 at 7:56 pmI have some friends coming over this week, and I think I will make this! Delicious!
Wandercooks
07/05/2019 at 11:35 amOh fun! You’ll have to let us know how it goes. Love sharing this with friends. Enjoy!
Molly
10/04/2019 at 3:24 pmI made this tonight for the family and it was seriously delicious! Everyone loved it.
Wandercooks
07/05/2019 at 11:37 amAmazing! Thanks for the feedback. It’s a cracker to have with a group, and there’s always plenty for everyone to eat. 🙂
Jane
06/02/2019 at 11:13 pmOh boy, that looks SO good! And the photos are just perfect, I want to dip my chopsticks right in!
Wandercooks
15/03/2019 at 4:01 pmThanks Jane! That cheeeeese am I right? ????????????
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
06/02/2019 at 10:29 pmThis looks so delicious and so flavourful! I definitely need to give this recipe a try.
Wandercooks
15/03/2019 at 4:01 pmThanks Bintu, hope you enjoy!
Danielle Wolter
06/02/2019 at 10:22 pmthis is just one of my favorite things ever. I absolutely love making this at home – it’s so comforting and perfect for winter and it has tons of flavor!! Spam is my favorite meat to use 🙂
Wandercooks
15/03/2019 at 4:02 pmI know right, so warming and spicy, it’s like the ultimate comfort food – especially with all those chewy rice cakes (my faaaaaaav).
Jacqueline Debono
06/02/2019 at 10:19 pmThis is such an interesting and unique recipe! Love the idea of cooking it at the table. Have to try that!
Wandercooks
15/03/2019 at 4:02 pmHope you do Jacqueline! It’s surprisingly easy to pull together and especially fun to cook on the table with everyone.
Cliona Keane
06/02/2019 at 9:19 pmI’m always looking for new and exciting Asian recipes to try and this looks right up my street! I love how many flavours and ingredients you’ve included, whilst keeping it simple and delicious!
Wandercooks
15/03/2019 at 4:03 pmThanks Cliona, this one ticks all the boxes for us too!