Da-Hae West 

Gettin’ jjigae with spam: a US/South Korean fusion

Even Terry Jones, as the waitress in Monty Python’s greasy cafe, didn’t offer spam, noodles and hotdogs. But this unlikely dish has been on the menu in South Korea since the US army helped create it
  
  

South Korean fusion stew budae jjigae.
Hey budae … South Korean fusion stew budae jjigae has US roots. Photograph: Alamy

Spam doesn’t exactly conjure up images of culinary delights in most people’s mind, but in South Korea it’s an essential ingredient in budae jjigae, a fusion stew made up of Korean instant noodles, Spam, hotdogs and kimchi. This US-influenced combination might not sound much like a traditional Korean dish, but it’s one that dates back to the Korean war, when people had little to eat and meat was a luxury.

The US army was stationed in Uijeongbu, an hour north of Seoul, and after the war surplus food stocks from the military base began to make their way into the surrounding areas. Creative Koreans concocted budae jjigae by taking unfamiliar American processed meats and boiling them up with Korean instant noodles, garlic, kimchi, gochujang (Korean chilli paste) and anything else they could get hold of (including baked beans and processed cheese) to create a spicy, hearty stew.

Budae jjigae is still loved all over Korea, and is often enjoyed as the perfect partner to a few glasses of soju (Korean rice spirit). One of the best places to try it is the Sim Seun Tang restaurant in the Hongdae area of Seoul. Not only is the budae jjigae here rich and delicious, but they also give you extras of garlic, soy sauce and butter to mix with your rice – an old way of eating rice that was also born in Korea’s poor, post-war past.

Other great places to eat it in are Odeng Sikdang (Uijeongbu), Bada Sikdang (Itaewon, Seoul) and Daewoo Sikdang (Yeoksam, Seoul).

Da-Hae West, co-author of K Food: Korean Home Cooking and Street Food, published by Mitchell Beazley (£20)

 

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