Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Stew)

Ingredients

• 300 g kimchi, roughly chopped with its juice
• 4 sausage, sliced diagonally
• 150 g ham, cut into thick strips
• 200 g tofu, cut into 1 cm slices
• 150 g rice cakes
• 120 g ramen noodles
• 100 g button mushroom, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3 spring onion, sliced
• 3 garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp gochujang
• 1 tbsp gochugaru
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 8 dl chicken stock
• 2 cheddar

Method

1. 1.

   Mix the chilli paste — Put the rice cakes in cold water to soften while you get everything else ready. Mash the gochujang, gochugaru, garlic, soy sauce and sugar together with 2 tbsp of the stock to a loose, brick-red paste.

2. 2.

   Arrange the pot — Arrange the kimchi, sausage, ham, tofu, mushrooms, onion and drained rice cakes in tight wedges around a wide shallow pot, like the spokes of a wheel, and spoon the chilli paste into the centre.

3. 3.

   Simmer the broth — Pour the remaining stock down the side of the pot so the arrangement stays put, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer for 10 minutes, until the kimchi has softened and the broth is deep red and savoury.

4. 4.

   Drop in the noodles — Taste the broth and adjust with a splash more soy sauce if it needs salt, then push the noodles down into the middle and cook for 3 minutes, teasing them apart with chopsticks as they loosen.

5. 5.

   Melt the cheese on top — Lay the cheddar slices over the noodles, scatter the spring onions on top and cover for 1 minute so the cheese slumps into the broth. Serve straight from the pot, stirring the melted cheese through as you ladle it out.