Budae-jjigae

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Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Good article Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "check for unknown parameters". Budae-jjigae (Korean: Script error: No such module "Lang".; lit. army base stewTemplate:Category handler) is a type of spicy jjigae (Korean stew) from South Korea that is made with a variety of ingredients, often canned or processed. Common ingredients include ham, sausage, spam, baked beans, kimchi, instant noodles, gochujang, and American cheese. The dish is now a popular anju (accompaniment to alcoholic drinks) and a comfort food cooked in a large pot for multiple people. It also goes by the English names army stew, army base stew, and spicy sausage stew.

The dish has its origins in a predecessor often called kkulkkuri-juk (Script error: No such module "Lang".; lit. piggy porridgeTemplate:Category handler) that was created around the time of the Korean War, when South Korea was experiencing significant poverty. A prominent ingredient of the dish, Spam, was only made legally available for sale in 1987, around the time that South Korea democratized.

Although the dish came from conditions of poverty, it has remained consistently popular, even during and after South Korea's rapid economic growth. Its low cost, flexibility, and simplicity have been praised. In South Korea, there are many restaurants that specialize in Script error: No such module "lang".. Gyeonggi Province's city of Uijeongbu, which claims to have first made the dish, has a "Template:Ill" with a high concentration of specialty restaurants. Chains like Nolboo have operated over a thousand locations in the country.

Name

The word Script error: No such module "lang". (Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Category handler) refers to military camps.[1] The suffix -jjigae (Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Category handler) refers to a type of stew that has a thicker consistency than guk (soup) and has more ingredients.[2][3] Its name is sometimes translated as "army base stew",[4][5] "army stew",[6][7] "spicy sausage stew",[8] or "sausage stew".[9]

Description

Budae-jjigae is made with a wide variety of ingredients. The soup base can be plain water, although most prefer to make it with a fish, meat, or bone-based broth such as Script error: No such module "lang". (Script error: No such module "Lang".; lit. sagol brothTemplate:Category handler).[10][11][5] Common ingredients include ham,[12][10] sausage,[10][13] lunch meats (e.g. Spam),[13][10] baked beans,[12][10] kimchi (fermented vegetables),[12][13][10] instant ramen noodles,[13] spicy flavoring packs that come with the ramen,[10] cellophane noodles,[14] gochujang (pepper paste),[13][10] Vienna sausages,[10] bacon,[12] tofu,[10] pork,[10] ground beef, mandu (dumplings), macaroni,[12] tteok (rice cakes),[13][10] American cheese,[13] mozzarella,[13] minari (water celery), scallions,[10] chili peppers,[10] garlic, corn,[10] zucchini,[10] mushrooms,[10] and other in-season vegetables.[15] Spam or similar lunch meats are often described as a central part of the dish.[10]

Preparation

File:Budae jjigae before boiling.jpg
Ingredients, seasoning paste, and stock in pot before boiling

The dish is based on a stock or soup base, which can be either vegan or made with animal products.[4][16] Seasoning paste is also used and usually contains Script error: No such module "lang". and other flavorants such as soy sauce and sugar.[4] Chopped ingredients and noodles are then added to the stock, with variability on whether the noodles are added before or after the liquid comes to a boil.[4][17]

File:Budae jjigae (28049375503).jpg
Budae-jjigae being cooked communally in a restaurant (2016)

The dish is often enjoyed communally, with multiple people sharing a pot.[18] In restaurants, the dish comes with a set of base ingredients; more can be added for additional charge.[19][11] The low cost of the ingredients, flexibility of the recipe, and ease of preparation have been praised.[20][21][18]

Variants

File:Pre-sorted Budae-Jjigae at Guoshuhao Supermarket, Yuandalu (20211203182107).jpg
Prepackaged ingredients for making budae-jjigae being sold in China (2021)

Ingredients for the dish are sold and exported from South Korea to other countries in kits.[11] Various restaurants create their own versions of the dish with unorthodox ingredients. For example, it was reported in 2022 that a restaurant in Apgujeong used tomato soup as a base. Another restaurant in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province that was opened in 1973 has a Script error: No such module "lang". ("military base meat") stir-fry that has been described as "Script error: No such module "lang". without soup".[22]

A variant of the dish is named after a U.S. President. A form of Script error: No such module "lang". developed in Yongsan District, Seoul is called Johnson-Script error: No such module "lang". (Script error: No such module "Lang".; Script error: No such module "lang".; lit. Johnson soupTemplate:Category handler), after Lyndon B. Johnson, who is said to have enjoyed the dish during his 1966 visit to South Korea.[10][11][23] The restaurant Johnson ate the dish at, Bada Sikdang (Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Category handler), still serves Johnson-Script error: No such module "lang". as its signature dish.[24][25] In Johnson-Script error: No such module "lang"., kimchi is replaced with plain napa cabbage leaves, and ramen noodles are not added. Cheese is included by default, rather than being a requested addition (as is the case in some restaurants). In addition, while many Script error: No such module "lang". restaurants cook the dish at the table, Johnson-Script error: No such module "lang". is served already cooked.[5]

There are Uijeongbu and Songtan styles of the dish.[5][26] The Uijeongbu style uses barley-based gochujang, and has been described as having a thicker and spicier broth. The Songtan style prominently features napa cabbage.[26]

Some opt to exclude or substitute some of its salty, preserved, or perceived low-quality ingredients.[27][20][28][11] Vegan varieties of the dish exist.[16]

History

Background

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The 20th century was turbulent for the Korean peninsula. In 1945, Korea was liberated from its status as a colony of the Empire of Japan.[29] Koreans had been exploited;[12] for example, from 1939 to 1945, around 700,000–800,000 Koreans were moved to Japan to work in slavery-like conditions.[30] The situation was made worse due to the collapse of the economy that had been run by imperial Japan, and the subsequent division of Korea between the Soviet Civil Administration in the North and the United States Army Military Government in the South.[12][31][32] The difficulties did not stop, and only worsened; around 10% of the population died during the Korean War, which greatly disrupted the economy and society.[33] By the end of the war, South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world.[32] Around that time, many Koreans depended on international aid for survival.[32][14][12]

Many foreign products were not legally available to South Koreans, and some were made artificially expensive due to tariffs even until 1987.[27] During a crackdown on black market trading under the Park Chung Hee administration, smuggling food like Spam was a crime punishable by death.[34] To circumvent this, goods were smuggled off bases.[27][10] Canned goods were particularly prized for their long shelf life and taste.[27] Black markets called "Yankee markets" (Script error: No such module "Lang".; Script error: No such module "lang".Template:Category handler) formed that specialized in the trade of these goods.[27][14] Some of these markets still exist today, including one in Incheon, although they are now regular markets.[35]Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Kkulkkuri-juk

File:1952년 마산 부림시장과 꿀꿀이죽을 끓이는 사람.jpg
A man (right) cooking kkulkkuri-juk in Burim Market, Changwon (1952)

A predecessor to the dish is often called Script error: No such module "lang". (Script error: No such module "Lang".; lit. piggy porridgeTemplate:Category handler),[14][12][36] although it may have additionally gone by "UN Stew" (as in "United Nations"; Script error: No such module "Lang".; Script error: No such module "Lang".; Script error: No such module "lang".Template:Category handler).[7][37] Its ingredients and method of cooking were more inconsistent than its successor's.[36] One variant of the dish is attested to in the Pusan Perimeter.[37] It was made with butter, canned pineapples, cabbages, onions, American cheese, and the occasional piece of meat (these rare pieces of scrap meat were often described as Script error: No such module "Lang".; Script error: No such module "lang".; lit. military base meatTemplate:Category handler).[12][14] The Busan variant of the dish also led to the development of dwaeji gukbap, a pork-based rice dish.[38]

The dish used American sausages, which tend to be greasier and saltier than Korean ones. Modern Script error: No such module "lang". is instead made with milder ingredients, and seasoning is added to the soup.[26] It also lacked instant ramen, as ramen had not yet reached Korea by then.[26][5] Coincidentally, Jeon Jung-yun (Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Category handler) cited the poor quality of Script error: No such module "lang". as an inspiration for why he created the first domestic instant ramen brand Samyang Ramen. Jeon alleges he deliberately set ramen's price as low as possible, in order to make it accessible to people who would otherwise eat Script error: No such module "lang"..[39]

A number of people have recalled that, while the dish was highly sought after and enjoyed when consumed, its actual quality was poor in hindsight, especially because it was sometimes made with food scraps picked out of garbage from the military bases.[36][35] One significant and common issue was the presence of inedible objects. The ends of cigarettes, toothpicks, and tissues could be found in the mix.[12][27][36] In 2010, Lee Si-yeon recalled an incident from his boyhood, when he worked at Camp Henry:Template:Efn

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One day, I mustered up the courage to speak to the military chaplain. He was a major called "Ap" (Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Category handler). In simple English, I asked if they could not throw away food scraps, as Koreans were picking them out of the garbage... He said "Let me see this for myself". [I feared that he would ban Koreans from taking out the food scraps]... He followed me to the market, where he bought a bowl of kkulkkuri-juk and took a bite. Major Ap's eyes welled up with tears. He ate the whole bowl in silence. The next day, [he told me that he had sent] a notice to all U.S. military bases that read "Koreans are eating food scraps from the bases, so be cautious to not let foreign substances enter them."[36]

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Despite the low quality of the dish, many Koreans still could not afford it.[36] According to Jeon, a bowl cost around 5 won in 1963 (Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[".[40]).[39] The dish persisted until the mid-1960s, when the economic situation somewhat improved.[38][39]

Development of budae-jjigae

Since its development, Script error: No such module "lang". has remained consistently popular in South Korea.[13][41][11] However, it is not known with certainty where the dish first arose; a number of restaurants and cities claim to be the origin.[27][14] It even possibly arose independently in multiple places due to shared circumstances across South Korea.[5]

According to sociolinguist Yang Minho, the dish was first made in the northern part of South Korea and later propagated south, following the early trajectory of the Korean War.[5] Possible places of origin include the regions of Uijeongbu,[41][5] Pyeongtaek,[13][5] Munsan,[27][20][14] and Dongducheon.[14][10]

One person who claimed to be the original inventor was Heo Gi-Suk (Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Category handler), a North Korean defector. Heo worked at a fishcake stand in Uijeongbu, and occasionally encountered people who asked her to cook meats they had acquired from the nearby military base. She began by simply stirfrying the meats, but eventually turned the dish into a stew containing kimchi, lard, and wild sesame oil.[19] Heo eventually opened a restaurant in 1960 called Odeng Sikdang (Script error: No such module "Lang".; lit. Fishcake RestaurantTemplate:Category handler),[11][19] which nominally served fishcakes, but was popular for serving Script error: No such module "lang".. This drew the ire of the customs office, which confiscated her ingredients and charged her fines on a number of occasions.[19] The restaurant reportedly had long lines since 2013Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., despite multiple competitors close by.[19][11] Heo died in 2014, but the restaurant was still open since June 2020Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"..[11]

An article in the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture claims that the dish was popular among factory workers in the 1960s and 1970s.[10] However, according to one writer for the JoongAng Ilbo in 2016, the dish was not common in restaurants in the late 1960s.[14] Another writer that published an article for the Cultural Heritage Administration in 2018 claimed that the dish did not reach national popularity until the 1970s.[26]

In 1963, instant ramen entered the South Korean market, and eventually made its way into Script error: No such module "lang"..[5][39] Over time, anchovy broth (flavored with Script error: No such module "lang". and kimchi) began to be used as the base of the soup, a practice that has since persisted in some variations of Script error: No such module "lang"..[15]

Recent history

After the June Democratic Struggle of 1987, South Korea finally democratized after decades of dictatorships. In addition, by then the economy was significantly improved in the wake of the South Korean economic miracle.[29][11] Spam was legalized in that year, after a Korean company purchased the rights to make it locally.[19] According to an article by Hahna Yoon in the BBC, it is around this time that the dish's status changed from survival food to comfort food. That same year, Nolboo (Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Category handler), a restaurant franchise specializing in the dish, opened. since June 2020Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., it operated around 1,000 locations across the country.[11]

Spread

File:Budae jjigae, Hoho Korean Restaurant, Singapore - 20160911.jpg
Script error: No such module "lang". served in a restaurant in Singapore (2016)

The dish now has some international popularity. In a 2015 episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Bourdain described the dish to journalist Anderson Cooper as "a classic example of necessity being the mother of deliciousness".[42][11] Bourdain later featured the dish in his 2016 book Appetites: A Cookbook:

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It's the ultimate dorm food. Just looking at the ingredients might make it sound like a horror, but it very quickly comes together and becomes delicious. It captures the essence of great cooking over the last few centuries: improvisational, born of war and hardship, nostalgic, sentimental, and transformative.[43]

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According to a 2016 survey conducted by the Korea Tourism Organization of 200,000 Chinese tourists to South Korea, Script error: No such module "lang". was most often ranked as their favorite dish that they ate in the country.[14] In 2019, the Michelin Guide included the dish on a list of "Must-Eat Dishes in South Korea".[44][11]

A number of restaurants in the United States have served the dish. This includes the Portland, Oregon, restaurant Han Oak, and the New York City restaurant Danji.[11] The dish is served in some restaurants in Beijing, China; and Tokyo, Japan.[10]

Budae-jjigae was brought by restaurateurs to North Korea in 2017 and became a popular dish there. In 2024, North Korea banned the sale of budae-jjigae, along with tteok-bokki, from sale in restaurants, because the dishes are of South Korean origin.[45]

Cultural legacy

Despite its widespread consumption, the dish has a somewhat mixed legacy. Some have noted that it evokes memories of a painful period in Korean history.[11][27][14] In 2020, Cătălina Stanciu wrote that "[t]he transformation of the Korean people's trauma story is embodied through the bowl of Script error: No such module "lang".".[34] Some older Koreans call the dish "garbage stew" and avoid it,[36] mostly because of its history and also because of its unhealthy ingredients.[28][27][34] In 2014, anthropologist Grace M. Cho wrote of the dish:

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I listened to the oral histories of Korean War survivors living in the United States, who spoke about the days during and after the war when they sought food outside U.S. Army bases. They recalled waiting in long lines outside the mess halls to buy bags of "leftovers", though some of them referred to the bags plainly as "garbage". They'd say things like, "Americans have the best food and throw it away, and then Koreans buy that garbage," their voices filled with humiliation, resentment, and gratitude all at once.[27]

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File:PresidentBushYongsan.JPG
US President George W. Bush speaking at the Yongsan Garrison in 2008

Some note that the dish evokes images of American imperialism, particularly related to controversies surrounding U.S. military bases in South Korea.[27][34] Some Korean Americans, particularly those who were adopted after the Korean War or are mixed-race children of war brides, have noted parallels between the dish's mix of cultures and their own.[27] The inclusion of Spam is a point of contention, as the food has been described as "the furthest thing from refined" and made the subject of jokes in popular culture. This contrasts with the perception of the food in South Korea during the 1990s, where it was seen as somewhat of a luxury.[34] Some of these emotions have been explored through art. A 2005 multimedium art piece entitled BooDaeChiGae displayed a video inside of a C-ration can. The video showed the dish being made, while the audio was of a Korean War survivor talking about living off garbage from military bases.[46]

File:Budaejjigae-Street in Uijeongbu.jpg
Uijeongbu Script error: No such module "lang". Street (2016)

These mixed emotions have led to some attempts to rename the dish. The city of Uijeongbu, which is north of Seoul and has many army bases, is known for its Script error: No such module "lang".. Since 1998,[26] it has had a Template:Ill.[41][47] In 1999, the local government attempted to change the name of the dish to Script error: No such module "lang". ("Uijeongbu Stew"), and the street accordingly. The new name failed to gain traction, and the name of the street was eventually changed back.[41]

The dish has been used as a neutral or positive metaphor for cosmopolitanism. In a 2020 book, researcher of Korean cinema Christina Klein used the term "Script error: No such module "lang". cinema" to describe South Korean films after the Korean War. She compared the invention of the dish to how filmmakers picked and chose various ideas "without asking within profoundly unequal relations of power, and [incorporated] that material into new cultural production".[48] Jeong Dong-hyeon, writing for The Chosun Ilbo, likened the food to the music group BTS, which borrows elements of Western culture but is widely accepted as Korean.[22] In 2017, the mayor of Uijeongbu used the dish as a metaphor for U.S.–South Korea ties.[49] Western interest in the dish has been examined. Nicolyn Woodcock criticized Bourdain's portrayal of the dish, pointing to how Bourdain called the dish a "gift of the G.I.", how he allegedly played into perceptions of Asian exoticism, and how he did not explore the social connotations surrounding it.[50]

Whether Script error: No such module "lang". can be considered Korean cuisine has been called into question.[51][5] According to one 2022 survey, Korean adults tend to view the food as Korean but less so than dishes like kimchi-jjigae.[5] The chef Park Chan-il contended that Korean cuisine had previously accepted new adaptations, and that what mattered was the enjoyment of the dish. She pointed out that kimchi, which Koreans consider quintessentially Korean, only became spicy after the Portuguese brought peppers to Asia in the 16th century.[51]

Others embrace the identity of the dish, while acknowledging its past.[28][5][27] Some see it as a hallmark of South Korea's success via its globalization.[5] In 2020, Chef Hooni Kim, whose restaurant served the dish and was the first Korean restaurant to obtain a Michelin star, observed that younger Koreans tend to have more positive reactions to the dish. He said:

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I don't think Korea's younger generation considers the country having been poor as something to be ashamed of. Budae-jjigae is an honest portrayal of where our country was and how far our country has come.[11]

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See also

  • Pagpag: a dish born from poverty in the Philippines
  • Mulligan stew: an American poverty dish
  • Han (cultural): Korean expression of sorrow related to the events of the 20th century

Notes


References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
    • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ a b c d e f g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ 1906 to 1911: Williamson J. (1999), Nominal Wage, Cost of Living, Real Wage and Land Rent Data for Korea 1906-1939 1912 to 1939: Mizoguchi, T. (1972). Consumer Prices and Real Wages in Taiwan and Korea Under Japanese Rule. Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, 13(1), 40-56. Retrieved May 21, 2021. Afterwards, consumer price index from Statistics Korea. Consumer Price Index by year. Retrieved 3 April 2018
  41. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  45. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  46. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  47. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  48. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  49. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  50. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  51. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

Template:Sister project

  • REFUGEES – footage of refugees living in difficult conditions during the Korean War
  • Template:Replace on YouTubeScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – a 2013 Korean-language documentary covering wartime food in South Korea. It covers kkulkkuri-juk beginning around 10:30
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