Yummy Korean Army Stew

Yummy Korean Army Kimchi Stew

Dear Good Food editor:

Enclosed, please find my entry for your good food magazine. One of the joys of Korean food is all the great soups. Unfortunately, most Korean restaurants serve BBQ meats and fried chicken. And other popular K foods, but they eat soups at home.

One of the most popular Korean stews is called “pudaejijae (army stew)”. The dish started U.S. Army Korean War. Restaurants near U.S. Army bases concocted the recipe from black market meats, adding tofu, kimchi, and sometimes black market cheese on top. The dish was cheap and seen as a working-class dish, but now has become comfort food.
Here's how to make it

Put in a big pot

4 cups chicken stock
Water
Spam sliced thinly
Hot dogs sliced up
Tofu sliced thinly
Enoki mushrooms
Shikaoi mushrooms
Kimchi sliced up
green onions

Make a sauce consisting of

2 tablespoons gochugaru Korean red chili pepper flakes
1 tablespoon gochujang Korean chili paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Minced garlic

Add to stew

Some people add Korean noodles and even cheese.

At home, they throw in leftovers as well.

Simmer for about a half hour to an hour. Serve with rice, kimchi, and a few vegetable side dishes. And with beer or soju (Korean vodka made out of sweet potatoes).. Soju is a potent cheap drink, drunk in straight shots Russian style, but you never pour your own drink, rather you pour a drink for your companion.

A variation is kimchijijae (kimchi stew)

It is essentially the same thing but substituting chicken, or pork for spam and hot dogs, and adding more tofu and kimchi, but no cheese, sometimes they add noodles at the end..
These jijae (stews) are very popular in the winter but are enjoyed year-round as a “hangover” soup first thing in the morning. Koreans are good drinkers and they have perfected the hangover soup cure.

Thank you

Dear jake:

Thank you so much for your recipe. We gave it a five-star rating. It will be our feature recipe for this month.

We went to our favorite Korean restaurant, and the owner was delighted to make a special dish for us. He took your recipe, laughed, and said he did it his way and it was very good. The owner said that his version was a secret variation of the classic pudae jijae recipe.



" Winner and New Prompt, due June 10 -2024" 23 hours 19 minutes 2 seconds
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