Nau speak: Korea: 부대찌개 Budae Jjigae, aka Army Base Stew

With October now firmly upon us (holy crap), it seems especially fitting to bring bubbling hot cauldrons of brightly colored potions to the blog! For any witchy-woman or magical-maiden in training, few things can bring comfort like the percolations of bubbles through your own personal little pot of goodness, stewed to perfection over the long, steamy hours. Korean stone pot dishes, called 돌솥 or dolsot, make this dream a reality, though not everything served in them need be toiled over for hours. The stoneware bowls allow you to cook your food in the same dish you serve it in, so long as you remember to watch your hands (they get hot) when it's time to move things from stovetop to slurping station. If, like me, you're not about to go out and load up on all the ingredients necessary to make budaejjigae, or Army Base Stew, don't worry! Whether you're in South Korea or somewhere Stateside, chances are you'll be able to find a restaurant offering what has become a prodigious comfort food for Koreans, ex-pats or even visitors. It's an odd dish for this when you break down its constituent parts- typically there's some form of spam or processed tubular meat stuff, and along with the familiar (to Korean palates) kimchi there's often the addition of sweet and savory baked beans to liven things up and add an unexpected texture to the medley. Other ingredients, familiar to Koreans but not so much to outsiders, make their appearance too- sweet and spicy chili paste in the form of gochujang often lends the familiar smokey depth and gentle heat, while tofu and hearty vegetables often join the pot for a hint of texture or color. It has a warming, soothing sweet and savory, sometimes fiery (depends on the cook and the variant you're trying) flavor that's both familiar and homey while being uniquely Korean- and there's a very good reason for this! The dish originated out of necessity when the Korean war had slowed and the slaughter began to recoil from the land, but many Koreans were still left in incredible poverty and unfortunately, starvation was not uncommon. A lot of native Koreans did what they had to in order to survive, whether it was black market trading for American food rations from the soldiers or worse... the presence of many American soldiers lingered on after the war, meaning that their food rations often stuck around, too. Hence, we find the introduction of foreign foods (in the form of hot dogs, spam, baked beans and/or slices of processed cheese) into a traditional Korean means of cooking- 찌개, chigae. It's a bit of a kitchen sink food stuff, with ingredients from both Korea and America, and it's good, guys.

It's really good!

It was difficult to dine out and not be subjected to news reports on the drama hitting the nation, what with the president being found to have ties to a cult and all. Crazy stuff. But from here out, it's just good old fashioned food porn, guys. Enjoy!