Around the World in Foodventures (South Korea: BUDAE JJIGAE)

It's been over a month since my last post, but I have a good excuse: I went to Burning Man (again; it was my 4th time)! .... where, incidentally, my newfound method of rice cooking was proven to be successful even in very large quantities (i.e. being the Chef/Kitchen Manager of Lamplighter Village, I had written a new recipe for Brown Rice Salad to feed 175 people plus seconds -- and not only did it cook well and easily, but it was quite popular 🧡).  Anyhoo, now I'm back and re-settled into the default world, and here to present my next Around the World foodventure:

Budae jjigae (translated: "Army base stew") may not be traditional or an official national dish anywhere, but it's certainly iconic.  Created shortly after the end of the Korean war primarily from army ration surpluses combined with dumpster diving because, frankly, there weren't many ingredients available and people were harshly struggling -- this meal on its face looks to be....well, unappetizing.   But being that my hero Tony Bourdain experienced it on his Parts Unknown trip to South Korea, and since that time always wanting to give it a morbid curiosity try, there was no way it wasn't going to be my pick for this installment.  So, without further ado, this one gets two photos:

First, in the pan before it got all mixed together.

And then, the final plated stew.

There are a lot of recipes out there for this dish, varying slightly in ingredients as you would expect due to what was  -- and is -- available to people also varying.  Some even call for a slice of American cheese (processed, of course) to be thrown on top of each serving.  I didn't choose one that includes cheese, but instead went straight-up with Tony's: https://explorepartsunknown.com/korea/military-stew/.

And you know what?  It's really kinda frickin' delicious!  I mean, sure the meats are unusual, but the broth is as good as any spicy ramen I've ever had.  Bottom line, it's super spicy (probably intended as such to "balance" out the...less than ideal meats) and those four little dried anchovies absolutely come through to give some cooked-all-day flavor.

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as we'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

“If I’m an advocate of anything, it’s to move…Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food.” --Tony Bourdain