BUDAE JJIGAE

When I was thinking about what to write to accompany this recipe, I naturally gravitated towards writing about being Korean-American. There’s a lot of weight in that hyphen—never feeling fully accepted on either side, but somehow forming a semblance of an identity in the middle that ebbs and flows as one adapts to different settings and experiences. It took me a while to figure out how to compromise the two cultures that seem so contradicting at times and it continues to challenge me to this day. Even within the hyphenated spectrum, the range is wide and where you fall can vary. Can you still speak your mother tongue? Are you first generation? Where did you grow up? I still remember the first time I was made fun of at lunch by an American classmate for having a meal that “smelled” and being embarrassed, despite knowing that I liked the food and that it was packed lovingly by my mom. I also remember the first time a Korean sunbae judged me for not being able to type in Korean, something I never had to do growing up in the States, and feeling unwarranted shame. Even more recently, I was laughed at and told “of course you do” by an old co-worker for having two kinds of soy sauce in my kitchen, when they actually do serve different purposes when cooking.

Food is the way I reclaim a bit of my heritage and culture, despite all the differences inbetween. It’s passed down through my parents and something I cling onto to feel connected to my roots and to find shared familiarity despite how foreign I can feel among my own people. I’m sure many other dual culture people feel the same. In short, Budae jjigae is a dish that I think encapsulates a lot of my feelings of being Korean-American. It teaches me history (it’s also known as “army base stew” and was created shortly after the armistice that ended the Korean War using surplus foods from the U. S. army bases), runs the fine line of looking and smelling disgusting to some but delicious to others, is a word I have trouble pronouncing without a heavy American accent that I can either be criticized or understood for, and ultimately embodies comfort in a dish. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Edit: Relevant, related opinion article sent to me by a friend on the case for dropping the hyphen for anyone interested.

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Budae Jjigae
Adapted from Food Network
Makes 4-6 servings

For Sauce

• 1/2 cup gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes)

• 1/4 cup soy sauce

• 1/4 cup fish sauce

• 3 tbsp minced garlic

• 2 tbsp mirin

• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 tsp sugar

• Salt

• Black pepper

For Broth

• 1/2 cup dried anchovies

• 5 cloves garlic

• 1 2-inch piece daikon radish

• 1 2-inch piece kombu

• 1/2 onion

Toppings

• 6 oz sliced Spam

• 8 oz firm tofu, sliced

• 8 oz tteok (Korean cylindrical rice cakes)

• 1 cup kimchi

• 1/2 onion, sliced

• 1 4.5-oz package dried ramen noodles

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella

• 4 scallions, thinly sliced

• Steamed rice, for serving

To make: For sauce, put gochugaru, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, mirin, sesame oil, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, cover with plastic wrap and set aside. For broth, put the dried anchovies, garlic, daikon, kombu, onion and 2 quarts water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Strain into a bowl or saucepan and discard the solids. For toppings, arrange the Spam, tofu, tteok, kimchi and sliced onion in a large, low-sided skillet. Add the sauce to the middle of the pot; don't stir. Heat on high heat for 5 minutes. Add enough broth to cover all the ingredients (you may not use all the broth), bring to a boil and boil on high heat for 5 minutes. Mix the sauce gently into the broth so it is well incorporated. Lower to medium heat and add the remaining broth. Simmer for 10 more minutes, then add the ramen and cook until the noodles are just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and top with mozzarella and scallions. Serve with steamed rice.

Notes: The point of this dish is that it can be a catch all for a variety of items at once. You can make this even more substantial by adding more items like beans, bacon, sausage, greens and more. I only used about 3/4 of the sauce considering the amount of toppings and amount of broth that could fit in my skillet. To make the broth easier, you can find pre-made dashi packs at the Asian mart that has anchovies, daikon, and kombu pre-packaged in tea bags for individual use. To make the toppings a little bit '“cleaner,” boil the spam in a pot of water before putting into the skillet to get rid of some of the oils. You can do this with the ramen too.