What is Budae Jjigae?

Imagine you’re Korean and it’s the 50s. Your city (Seoul) was destroyed when it was lost and reclaimed three times during the war, so there isn’t much food to go around, let alone fresh meat. To whom do you turn in hungry times, then?

Who else? The U.S. Army. 

Koreans took whatever surplus canned meats they could find from army facilities and threw ‘em in a pot with kimchi, chili sauce and other staples to make a greasy soup that’s still so popular today that there are several chain restaurants specializing in it. In this one, I found bologna, pepperoni, spam, hot dog slices, and ham. Koreans really love spam, but that deserves a whole separate post.

The name Budae Jjigae literally translates to “army base stew” or “troop stew.” 

It tastes like you’re drinking a pizza, which is great when you’re hung over.