Soups & Stews · 6 of Ladles · Six of Ladles

Budae Jjigae

Budae Jjigae (Army Base Stew) · 부대찌개

Difficulty: Easy
Time to plan: 30–35 min
Serves: 2 servings
Recipe: 5 steps
Listed places: 2

Food notes and context

This budae jjigae arranges ham, sausage, kimchi, tofu and beans in one pot. The processed meats and kimchi are already seasoned, so liquid and additional seasoning need to be considered together.

Before adding noodles, establish whether they are included and how to replenish broth. Compare the processed meats, beans and possible noodles with kimchi jjigae’s different balance of ingredients.

Cook this version

Images are AI-generated illustrations, not records of a kitchen test. Follow the written ingredients and steps. Ingredients and substitutions guide

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 15–20 min
Wait: None
Ready in: 30–35 min

If adding raw ground meat, cook it to 74°C/165°F before adding the ramen.

Ingredients (2 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Substitute abroad
Canned ham (Spam)	1/2 can	Anywhere
Smoked sausages	3	Frankfurters
Ground beef	100 g	Ground pork
Sour kimchi	1 cup	Essential; Korean grocers
Baked beans	2 tbsp	The original-school secret weapon; fine to omit
Tofu, scallion, onion	As needed	Anywhere
Gochujang, gochugaru, garlic	For the seasoning paste	Korean grocers online
Ramen noodles (no soup base)	1 brick	Any instant ramen, noodles only
American cheese slice	1 (optional)	Fine to omit
Broth	4 cups	Anchovy stock, or water plus chicken stock

Step by step

1.Arrange the ingredients
In a wide shallow pot, arrange the ham, sausage, minced meat, kimchi, tofu, onion, and beans in neat sections.
2.Seat the seasoning
Mix the gochujang, chili flakes, garlic, soy sauce, and pepper, and set the paste as a mound in the center.
3.Pour the broth and boil
Pour the broth around the edges and boil over high heat. Once bubbling, stir the seasoning through; if raw ground meat was added, cook it to 74°C/165°F before continuing.
4.Drop the ramen
When the broth is at a full boil, add the ramen brick, and lay on the cheese when the noodles are half done.
5.Share it out, then fried rice
Lift the noodles first and share, then eat down the pot as it reduces. Fry rice in the last of the broth if you still stand.

Measurement, doneness and storage references

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Places to check when planning a meal

Candidates to investigate for this food. Maps use sourced location records; confirm the current menu, opening and booking directly. This list is not a tasting review or an award certification.

Odeng Sikdang

Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi

경기도 의정부시 호국로1309번길 7 (의정부동, 지상1층)Checked 2026.08.09

Public-record location check, not a live opening-hours guarantee. Confirm with the restaurant before visiting.

Location source 1

Directions Naver Map

Uijeongbu Budae-jjigae Street

Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi

Exact current location is not verified here. Confirm the venue through its official information before planning a visit.

The fictional face of this dish

Fire element · a sharp, vivid face

You build new boards out of bare cupboards. The comeback face that gathers things of different birthplaces and nationalities into one pot and boils up a miracle.

Upright: Things of different origins become one inside your pot today. Do not fear the combination that looks wrong on paper. Every flavor that made history was born exactly that way.

Reversed: You threw in everything and lost the center of the flavor. Even fusion needs a broth to answer to, so re-tune your own stock first today.

The K-Roast take: Grandma's roast

Fictional food metaphors inspired by traditional face-reading, not measurements of your face or personality.

That mouth is big and easy as a hot-pot pan: a face of nerve. Budae-jjigae was born of exactly that nerve, taking in ham, sausage, kimchi, even ramen, no questions about anyone's origins. Your wide embrace is that pot. You seem to let everyone in, and yet somehow your broth makes them all one flavor. That is a skill.

Those eye corners rise: a gambler's face. The grandmother of Uijeongbu first commercialized budae-jjigae from a street cart in 1960. The nerve to invent a dish that did not exist and sell it, that is the competitor's eye, and I see it in yours. While others ask whether it could possibly work, you already have the burner lit.

Those cheekbones stand handsome and steer the board. Who decides when the ramen goes into the pot? The real power at the table decides. That seat is yours: noodle-drop timing, plate distribution, refill calls, all in your hands. Since you hold the board, serve everyone fairly. The boss who fishes out only the ham does not last.

A dish born of hard times became a flavor the whole country seeks. The lean seasons of your life will turn into recipes the same way. That pot of yours, unafraid of mixing, is your future.
Grandma's blessing

Table compatibility

Broth-soaked ramen is half your reason for existing, a born match. But set your ham and sausage on the formal heotjesatbap table and both worldviews collapse, so let modern history and Joseon history keep separate tables.