Korean Army Stew with Spam and Cheese
Korean Army Stew is the Korean-American classic that combines a rich & spicy broth with salty spam, sour kimchi, earthy mushrooms, bouncy noodles, chewy rice cakes, and more.
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 1 ½ tbsp gochugaru
- 1 ½ tbsp rice wine
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 ½ tsp gochujang
- 10-12 grinds black pepper
For the stew
- 1 tbsp dashi powder
- 2 oz spam
- 6 miniature hot dogs
- 1 strip bacon
- ¼ cup kimchi
- 1 handful shimeji mushrooms about 10-15 mushrooms
- 1 package instant ramen noodles
- 1/2 cup Korean rice cakes
- 2 slices American cheese
- 2 scallions sliced on a bias, to garnish
Instructions
Prepare the stew toppings
- Slice the spam into 1 ½” pieces.
- Chop the bacon crosswise into 1" pieces.
- Chop the miniature hot dogs in half.
- Slice the tofu into 1 ½” pieces.
- Roughly chop the kimchi.
- Chop the rice cakes in half.
- Chop off the root ends of the shimeji mushrooms and discard.
Make the sauce
- Mix the gochugaru, rice wine, soy sauce, minced garlic, sugar, gochujang, and black pepper in a small bowl until combined.
Make the dashi
- Combine the dashi powder with 3 cups water in a medium bowl, and stir until dissolved.
Cook the stew
- Add all ingredients except for the sauce, dashi, rice cakes, noodles, cheese, and scallions to the pot.
- Add the sauce to the middle of the pot.
- Add the dashi to the side of the pot, without disturbing the sauce.
- Cover the pot and cook on the stove for 8 minutes over medium heat. The stew will begin to boil.
- Add the instant ramen noodles and rice cakes to the pot. Lay the American cheese slices directly on top of the noodles.
- Cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes.
Garnish and serve
- Garnish the stew with the sliced scallions and serve right away.