• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
    • Copyright Policy
    • Privacy Policy
  • Surprise Me
  • Recipes
    • By Categories
    • Cake Pan Conversions Calculator
    • Cup – Gram Conversion
    • F.A.Q.
  • Travelogues
    • Travel Map
    • Asia
      • 2014 Ho Chi Minh & Mui Ne, Vietnam (5 days)
      • 2014 East Java, Indonesia (5 days)
      • 2013 Cambodia (7 days)
      • 2012 Taiwan (22 days)
    • Europe
      • 2016 Balkans (25 days)
      • 2016 Switzerland (9 days)
      • 2015 Iceland (22 days)
      • 2015 Denmark (8 days)
      • 2015 Naples and Amalfi Coast, Italy (7 days)
      • 2011 Europe (42 days, 13 countries)
  • Contact

Foodie Baker

Home » Recipes » Savoury » Soups & Stews » Luxurious Budae-Kimchi Jjigae (Army-Kimchi Stew)

March 12, 2015 Korean

Luxurious Budae-Kimchi Jjigae (Army-Kimchi Stew)

Luxurious Budae Jjigae

I’ve often seen restaurants in Singapore offering Budae Jjigae in their menu and often wondered what it is about – it seemed so popular and many people like to order it. Upon Googling, I found that Budae Jjigae translates to Army Stew and is a type of jjigae (which means “stew” in Korean), made with lots of unhealthy ingredients like hot dog, Spam, ham, baked beans and instant noodles etc. in a spicy soup base. I do enjoy an occasional hot dog, Spam, ham, baked beans and even instant noodles, but to combine them together and serve as a meal? It’s just too horrifying for me.

So I embarked on a hunt for a healthier and even more yummy jjigae. And I decided to combine Budae Jjigae and Kimchi Jjigae together, swapping out the unhealthy ingredients with more healthy ones.

1) Soup base

The soup base I used is a dried anchovy soup base, made with our local Singapore ikan bilis. Ikan bilis are full of nutrients and a little goes a long way – a small handful packs a very powerful punch of flavour. You can use the Korean varieties if you prefer. The soup base will then be flavoured with kimchi and gochujang. Gochujang is a Korean hot pepper paste which is needed to bring out the flavours and heat of this dish. It’s very hard to find a substitute for this, but I’ve managed to find a blog which tells how to make it from scratch, just in case you need it!

2) Vegetables

The vegetables I used are onion, garlic, mushrooms, kimchi and tofu. You can add spring onions, chili, carrot and all sorts of vegetables!

Onion and garlic are the usual suspects in most cooking, as they give flavour to the dish. Mushrooms are added for some chewiness and you can use any kind of mushrooms – I highly recommend fresh shiitake, shimeji and enokitake as these Asian mushroom flavours will blend well with the overall dish.

Since it is a Budae-Kimchi fusion, kimchi is a must! I used Napa cabbage kimchi as it’s the most common here in Singapore. If you can’t find any, use fresh Napa cabbage, but be prepared to add more gochujang and a longer cooking time to soften the cabbage.

Can’t really say tofu is a vegetable, but I don’t have anywhere to lump it, so here it goes! I used silken tofu as I really love its texture. Add the tofu only towards the end so you won’t break them up as much as you stir the dish.

I garnished the dish with radish sprout the first time – but the radish sprouts have a hint of bitterness in them, so if you don’t like them, omit it!

Luxurious Budae Jjigae

3) Noodles

Instead of ramyeon (instant noodles in Korean), I used sweet potato noodles, which is known as dangmyeon in Korean. It is often used in Jjapchae, a stir-fried noodle dish with meat slices and vegetables. I love the texture of this noodle and it soaks up the flavours wonderfully. You can use lesser noodles or omit them and serve the jjigae with rice, or add more noodles and omit the rice – but be prepared to add more stock as the noodles will absorb the soup.

4) Meat

I threw out the idea of using ham, Spam, sausages, bacon and any other kind of salty, processed meat. In Korea, they like to use a strip of pork belly in their jjigae but because additional time will be needed to cook the pork belly, I decided against it as well. I ended up using thinly sliced pork collar, the kind we usually use for steamboat. It’s nice and thin, and cooks really fast. The first time I made this fusion jjigae, I seasoned the meat and sauté the meat first, before arranging it on top of the jjigae. For the second attempt, I simply added the raw pork slices into the stew, and they tasted the same – so I skipped this step in my final recipe below.

Now are you convinced that my fusion of Budae-Kimchi jjigae is better than those sold in restaurants out there? Try it yourself and let me know!

Step-by-step Photos

dried anchoviessimmer into a stock
1) Grab a small handful of anchovies and rinse under water to get rid of excess salt.2) Add into a pot of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes then strain and discard the anchovies.
add water to potato noodlesdice the onion
3) Add water to sweet potato noodles to soften them.4) Dice an onion (I only had 1/2 an onion when I cook mine).
mince the garlicseparate the mushrooms
5) Mince the garlic.6) Remove the roots and separate the mushrooms into small bunches.
slice the tofuradish sprouts
7) Slice the tofu.8) Rinse the radish sprouts. And now you are ready to cook!
sauté the onionsauté the garlic
9) Sauté the onion in a little oil until onion is translucent.10) Add in the garlic and sauté until garlic is fragrant.
add in the mushroomssauté the mushrooms
11) Add in the mushrooms.12) Stir-fry until the mushrooms have shrunk in size.
stir-fry the kimchiadd in stock
13) Add in the kimchi and stir-fry for a few minutes.14) Pour in most of the anchovy stock.
add in gochujangsimmer
15) And add in the gochujang.16) Bring to a boil and lower the heat down to a simmer.
add in potato noodlestofu
17) Stir in the potato noodles and the pork slices.18) Arrange the tofu and heat through.

Luxurious Budae Jjigae
Garnish with radish sprouts and serve!

 



Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Luxurious Budae-Kimchi Jjigae

By Jasline N.
Prep Time20 minutes mins
Cook Time40 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr
Servings: 0 Serves 3 to 4

INGREDIENTS
 

  • 1/4 cup dried anchovies / ikan bilis
  • 5 cups water
  • 200 grams sweet potato noodles
  • 2 tablespoon oil
  • 1 onion, peeled and diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 100 grams shimeji mushrooms, stalks removed and separated into huge bunches
  • 300 grams cabbage kimchi and the kimchi juices
  • 2 tablespoons gochujang
  • 250 grams thinly sliced pork, shabu shabu pork
  • 300 grams tofu, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • Handful radish sprouts, optional

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Rinse the dried ikan bilis with cold water and place it in a pot. Pour in the 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and cover the pot with a lid. Simmer, covered, for 20 to 30 minutes. Strain the stock and discard the ikan bilis. Set the stock aside.
  • Place the potato noodles in a large bowl and add in enough water to cover the noodles (I used tap water at room temperature). Set aside for at least 30 minutes until softened. Drain and set the noodles aside.
  • Heat oil in a large frying pan or a large pot over medium heat. Add in the onion and sauté until translucent. Add in the garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add in the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms have browned and shrunk in size. Add in the kimchi and stir-fry for several minutes.
  • Add in the kimchi juices (if any), 3 1/2 cups of stock and gochujang. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
  • Add in the drained potato noodles and pork slices and stir them in. Arrange the tofu on top and simmer for 5 minutes until the pork is cooked and the tofu is heated through. Add in more stock if needed and drizzle in the sesame oil. Arrange the radish sprouts on top and serve with rice.
Tried this recipe?Mention @foodiebaker or tag #foodiebaker!

Share the love!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories: Korean Tags: garlic, gochujang, ikan bilis, kimchi, mushroom, onion, pork slices, potato noodles, sesame oil, tofu

Previous Post: « Phnom Penh City Tour, Cambodia
Next Post: Genocide in Cambodia – Choeung Ek Genocidal Center and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kim says

    June 1, 2020 at 8:37 am

    I appreciate how you’re trying to make this dish healthy, and the way you’ve created this dish is perfect. However it is not budae jjigae. The whole point of army stew was to use the canned foods – spam, baked beans – processed foods and kim chi that were available during the war because they had a long shelf life. Once you take that away, it just becomes a kimchi jjigae.

    Reply
    • Jasline N. says

      June 3, 2020 at 1:46 am

      Hi Kim! Thank you so much for pointing this out. I still can’t bring myself to add the canned foods to create an authentic army stew though… hopefully I can update this recipe soon and rename it!

      Reply
  2. Kate says

    November 5, 2015 at 10:32 pm

    Thank God for your recipe. The reason I have never tried to make this dish at home is indeed the “horrifying” combination of spam, hot dog and instant noodles in one single meal, which will undoubtedly bust an entire year worth of my self-imposed quota of unhealthy food. I might just keep the noodles though. :p Can’t wait to try it!

    Reply
    • Jasline N. says

      November 6, 2015 at 1:58 am

      You are most welcome Kate! Yes… just having the spam-hotdog-ramen combo as one meal is simply too unhealthy, but having only one of them in it sounds like a much better idea! Let me know how it goes!

      Reply
  3. Zoe (@bake4happykids) says

    March 24, 2015 at 3:02 am

    Wow, Jasline!

    You have make cooking this luxurious dish looking so easy like magic!

    Zoe

    Reply
    • Jasline N. says

      March 24, 2015 at 5:06 pm

      Thanks for the compliment Zoe!

      Reply
  4. safifer says

    March 16, 2015 at 1:09 am

    Looks like comfort food!

    Reply
  5. Bam's Kitchen says

    March 14, 2015 at 2:14 pm

    This is the first time I have heard of this dish. I really like your healthy adaptations and I love radish sprouts! Looks so cozy and warm during this strange hot one day and cold the next day weather we are having here in HK. Are you unpacked?

    Reply
  6. Veronica Ng says

    March 13, 2015 at 11:18 am

    Awesome dish! Looks very appetising and beautiful presentation too.

    Reply
    • Jasline N. says

      March 13, 2015 at 4:56 pm

      Thanks Veronica! Hope you get to try this dish soon!

      Reply
  7. marin says

    March 13, 2015 at 6:48 am

    halo,,
    thank u so much for sharing these woderful step by step recipe,,
    btw,,may i know is dat tanghoon u r using,,cos i never come
    across sweet potato noodle,,by all mean where can i buy
    hope to hear from u,,mica—sg

    Reply
    • Jasline N. says

      March 13, 2015 at 7:53 am

      Hi Marin! I got these noodles from NTUC XTRA, but you can definitely find them in Korean specialty marts too, which is located in quite a lot of places in Singapore. I know there’s one at Tanjong Pagar, Newton, Buona Vista etc. Try Googling for Korean marts in Singapore 🙂

      Reply
  8. apuginthekitchen says

    March 12, 2015 at 2:48 pm

    Thats an incredible dish, I like yours much better than the traditional Jjigae. Have to admit it does sound interesting though.

    Reply

What are you thinking?Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

logo
Food Advertisements by

Popular on Foodie Baker

My Grandparents' Hokkien Bak Chang (福建咸肉粽 / Glutinous Rice Dumplings)
Stove-Top BBQ Pulled Pork [Bonus Recipe: KFC Coleslaw]
Red Date Longan Tea with Goji Berries
Mom's Chinese Potato and Minced Pork Stew
3-Minute Easy Chocolate Sauce
Stove-Top BBQ Pork Ribs
15-Minutes Mushroom Sauce (for Steaks and Mashed Potatoes)
2-Ingredient Sour Cream Biscuits
ABC Soup
Julia Child's Basic Crêpes Recipe (For Both Savoury and Sweet)

Footer

About Foodie Baker

Hi there! I am Foodie Baker - the baker, the cook, the author, the part-time photographer (my husband X takes most of the travel photos), and pretty much the slave behind Foodie Baker. Welcome and I hope you managed to find something you like. :)

stay connected

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Menu

  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Cake Pan Conversions Calculator
  • Travelogues

Subscribe via email

Copyright © 2025 Foodie Baker on the Cookd Pro Theme

Scroll Up
%d