Budae Jigae

I finally got around to trying this Budae Jigae recipe. I will disclose that it is more time consuming than I thought it would be, but the end result was well worth the effort. I highly suggest taking the time to do the prep work before like making the beef stock and cutting up the ingredients. If you're organized, it's way easier. I just tried to wing it, which caused some havoc in the kitchen.

Budae Jigae (Military Stew)

beef stock

5 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon of whole peppercorn

about 6 to 10 cups of water*

1 pound of brisket

white tops of 6 green onions

* I use the leftover brisket to make jangjorim so I used more water to begin and used the remaining stock for the jangjorim

marinated beef & pork

1/2 pound of any combination of sliced beef and pork

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil

ground black pepper

spicy paste mixture

1 clove of garlic

2 tablespoons of red pepper paste

2 tablespoons of Korean red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce for soup

spoonfuls of beef broth to thin out paste

stew

about 6 cups of beef broth

spicy paste mixture

marinated beef and pork

1/4 of block of tofu

1/2 can of Spam

1 hot dog

1 cup of rice cakes

1 bunch of ssukgat (쑥갓) otherwise known as garland chrysanthemum leaves

1/2 onion, sliced

1 cup of ripe kimchi

green part of 3 green onions

1 package of ramen noodles

boiling hot water to rinse spam and hot dog

You can prepare the stock in advance. Cut the brisket into big square pieces and set aside. Boil 6 to 10 cups of water, put in 1 tablespoon of whole peppercorns, 5 cloves of garlic, the tops of 6 green onions and bring to a boil with the lid open.

Once it starts boiling, put in the beef and then close the lid, lower heat to low and let it simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Skim off foam as necessary. Remove the brisket and strain the other ingredients and set aside the clear beef broth for the stew.

Prep the ingredients. Peel and slice the onions. Cut tofu into small pieces. Wash the rice cakes in water so they don't stick to each other.

Cut the spam and hot dog into small pieces.

Bring some water to boil and pour the hot water over the spam and hot dog to drain some excess fat and oil.

You will also need some kimchi.

A package of ramen and some ssukgat (쑥갓).

I just took 1/2 pound of pork and beef that I had in the freezer and marinated it. I'm sure any combination of the two is fine. Add the soy sauce, vegetable oil, minced garlic and ground black pepper to pork and beef and let is marinate for 10 to 15 minutes.

To prepare the spicy paste mixture, mix together the red pepper paste, red chili flakes, minced garlic, garlic powder and soy sauce. Put a couple spoonfuls of the beef stock to thin out the mixture. Set aside.

In a wide saute pan or flat wok, add about 6 cups of beef broth. Add the spam and hot dog and bring to a boil. Next, add the beef and pork mixture, sliced onions, kimchi, tofu and spicy paste mixture. Let it cook for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the ramen and rice cake pieces.

Once the ramen and rice cake pieces have cooked through and the stew has thickened, add some green onions and ssukgat.

Here's the masterpiece. Papa Choi stared at this for quite some time before eating it. He was like, why are you feeding me ramen for dinner? Can you believe he's never had Budae Jigae before? Sometimes I wonder if he really grew up in Korea. Even though he gave it a disapproving look when he first saw it, he ended up eating the whole thing. Oh, yes he did! The coveted seal of approval from Papa Choi. Eating this is like digging through a treasure chest; you never know what you will find. Maybe a spam here, a piece of rice cake there, nestled amongst the tangled web of chewy ramen noodles. It's like finding a surprise in every bite.

I didn't know making budae jigae would take so much work because when you have it at a restaurant, they just throw the pot in front of you and you just watch it cook. The prep work takes a bit of time, but the actual cooking time is less than 20 minutes. I think next time I'll just make an extra batch of the broth and freeze it and make some extra spicy paste mixture and just have it on hand so I can throw together whatever ingredients I have in the fridge and make it.

Kangnung Yetnal Jip - Seoul, Korea (Nonhyung-Dong)

This has been a favorite of our family's for years. It's called Kangnung Yetnal Jip (old house in Kangnung, which is a city in the northeastern province of South Korea). Each province is known for its regional specialties and distinctive styles.

Here's the front entrance. They specialize in han jung shik meals here.

You walk into a big foyer where you will most likely see several tables set up. You go inside to one of several rooms and sit on the floor. You will see that you do not have a table in front of you. But fear not, once they have all the side dishes prepared, they put it on the table outside and two people will carry it over and put it in front of you. There's something so satisfying about seeing a table full of side dishes magically appear before you.

We ordered the 20,000 won per person meal, which suits us just fine. There are different price ranges and you get nicer entrees the more you spend per person. If you come here for dinner, certain courses come with bossam kimchi, which is really hard to find apparently. It has chestnuts, pine nuts, jujubes, oysters and other ingredients in it and the cabbage leaves are wrapped up like a tight flower bud.

Our lunch included a plate of bossam of the porky kind not kimchi, which is boiled pork that you eat with napa cabbage and spicy radish. They also make their own tofu.

A multitude of side dishes featuring jap chae (glass noodles with vegetables) and other seasoned vegetables.

Some sashimi.

Homemade rice cake with some red beans.

Some sort of seasoned fish.

This plate of fish jun (battered in egg and flour and lightly fried), kimchi pancakes and fried zucchini came later.

Why is the rice yellow you ask? It's because they cook it with mineral water that they bring directly from Suraksan Mountain. I don't know if it has magical powers, but the rice is really chewy and nutty and the aroma is really addicting.

Grilled fish and doengjang jjigae (soy bean stew) also came out as well. Doengjang jjigae here is really dark and a bit on the salty side. I guess that's what it tastes like in Kangnung.

You scoop out the rice from the dolsot (stone pot) and you are left with a thin crust of

scorched rice. You add some hot water and let it sit for awhile to make nurungji bap (scorched rice), which becomes a watery porridge-like consistency.

This restaurant is on one of Seoul's many little side roads, but the best way to describe it is that it's on a parallel street right behind the Imperial Palace Hotel in Nonhyung-Dong.

Kangnung Yetnal Jip

(02) 516-2002 and 548-3120

Boo Kukgook Jip - Seoul, Korea (City Hall)

The day we arrived in Seoul from Hanoi was Jung's last day before heading back to LA. He left a few days earlier than me. While we were in Hanoi, we both said we needed to go on a fast or something because we just ate way too much and were perfectly fine not eating anything once we got back to Seoul.

My mom, on the other hand, had other plans. Because it was Jung's last day and she's convinced he's not going to be back for another decade, she was on a mission to stuff him silly. So our first meal since being back from Hanoi was one of our usual haunts. Usually the first meal that I have in Seoul after getting off the plane is boo kukgook (dried pollack fish soup) at Boo Kukgook Jip.

I honestly don't like boo kukgook all that much. My grandmother would cook it for us from time to time growing up, but dried pollack fish soup ... it's not really my thing. But there is something about the boo kukgook at this place that is so good and so addicting.

You tend to see an older crowd here with a scattering of some police officers from a police station nearby who are starting off their day with this hot bowl of soup. I've also seen some Japanese tourists with a small book in hand that have managed to find this jewel as well. Who tipped them off? I feel like not that many people know about this place, but I guess the secrets out if random Japanese tourists are lining up outside.

I think it's the combination of the really tasty soup with the side dishes that make this place so special. One without the other would not be as satisfying. First of all, the soup is quite simple, it has soft tofu, egg, dried pollack, green onions and some black pepper. The only thing you add to this soup is some salted shrimp that that they have on each table to season it.

Here's the huge vat where they cook this soup.

They give you a plate for your side dishes, which are conveniently stored in metal canisters on each table. You just take out the amount you want to eat on a separate plate. It saves the hassle of the waitress refilling the side dishes for you. The cucumber pickle kimchi, cabbage kimchi and the chive kimchi are all really good.

The combo of salty and savory kimchi with the mild, soothing taste of the boo kukgook is pretty amazing. Their cold water kimchi is quite good too.

It's kind of hard to give proper directions here because we always drive, but it's near City Hall and the big grass park where they do performances and fairs. It's across from the Kolon building. There's a stretch of open field, you walk towards the other side and you will see a brick wall like this.

It's hard to tell from this picture, but you enter from the two double doors next to the yellow and green awning.

Boo Kukgook Jip
(02) 777-3891

Jirisan - Seoul, Korea (Insadong)

Jirisan specializes in serving Korean traditional foods. The restaurant is also popular for its traditional Korean style, architecture and decor. You walk into what looks like an indoor garden with a bunch of potted trees and there's even a little stream with koi fishes swimming around.

There are small tables scattered throughout various private rooms. It feels like you're eating in someone's home.

You can order a la carte here, but we got the han jung shik meal, which is a several course meal. But unlike Western course meals, which is served one at a time, at a Korean han jung shik restaurant, you get some 15 side dishes (kimchi, pickled vegetables, a salad, a medley of noodles and vegetables, and various cooked herbs and leafy greens) to start. Then the hot food starts to arrive one by one. While we were munching on the side dishes, they brought out kimchi pancakes, grilled fish and two types of stews.

We got the doengjang jjigae (soy bean paste and vegetable stew) and biji jjigae (soy bean stew).Their soy bean paste as well as their tofu and biji are homemade. The white curdled looking thing on the bottom right side of the picture below is crumbled tofu with seaweed. It was really good. I think they squeeze out the excess liquid in the tofu, crumble it up and mix it with little seaweed pieces. It was the first time Jung and I tried this side dish so we really enjoyed the texture and novelty of this dish.

Here is a salad with some sort of dressing (it escapes my mind at the moment what it was), white kimchi, japchae (Korean vermicelli noodles) and nokdumuk (mung bean jelly).

Here's a view of half of our table. All of this for about $12 a person. My mom is also shameless when it comes to asking for more side dishes. She even asked for more biji jjigae, which they happily provided. I love Korean places! Needless to say, we were stuffed by the end. The great thing about eating at places like this is that you end up eating tons of vegetables, so it's pretty healthy. Jung remarked that it's the first time he's had a meatless meal and felt full from eating primarily vegetables. I didn't even realize till he mentioned it that there was no meat in any of the dishes. Well we did have grilled fish, but that was about it. Pretty impressive!

It wouldn't be a proper meal for Jung without some makgeolli, or Korean rice wine, right?

Now how to get here, it gets a bit tricky. I found pretty accurate directions online. From Exit 6 of Anguk Station (Subway Line No. 3), walk about 40 meters to Insadong-daero (street between Crown Bakery and GS 25 Convenience Store). Proceed about 80 meters, and turn left at Insadong-3-gil. You will be walking through small narrow streets that look like this.

Walk to the far end until you reach a T-intersection. Turn left and walk a short distance. The restaurant is opposite to Dimibang restaurant, on your right hand side.