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Best Budae-jjigae in Chicago

“A stew born from Korean War poverty that became a national comfort food and drinking companion.”

Budae-jjigae

What the real thing tastes like

Budae-jjigae (Korean: 부대찌개; lit. 'army base stew') 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 shared by a group of 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 (꿀꿀이죽; lit. 'piggy porridge') 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 econom

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Budae-jjigae is a spicy Korean stew born from scarcity—a dish that emerged during the Korean War when families stretched what little they had into something warm and shared. Ham, Spam, sausage, instant noodles, and kimchi tumble together in a communal pot, a combination that sounds like salvage but tastes like belonging. What began as poverty food has refused to fade, instead becoming a standard anju (drinking companion) and comfort staple that crowds gather around, its low cost and adaptability proving more durable than prosperity alone.

Order it here when it has

  • historically resilient
  • low-cost & accessible
  • simple to prepare
  • flexible ingredient swaps

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