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Korean Army Stew in tan bowl with green chopsticks and napkin on side

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.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 2 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients Method

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

Method
 

Prepare the stew toppings
  1. Slice the spam into 1 ½” pieces. 
  2. Chop the bacon crosswise into 1" pieces.
  3. Chop the miniature hot dogs in half.
  4. Slice the tofu into 1 ½” pieces. 
  5. Roughly chop the kimchi.
  6. Chop the rice cakes in half.
  7. Chop off the root ends of the shimeji mushrooms and discard.
Make the sauce
  1. Mix the gochugaru, rice wine, soy sauce, minced garlic, sugar, gochujang, and black pepper in a small bowl until combined.
Make the dashi
  1. Combine the dashi powder with 3 cups water in a medium bowl, and stir until dissolved.
Cook the stew
  1. Add all ingredients except for the sauce, dashi, rice cakes, noodles, cheese, and scallions to the pot. 
  2. Add the sauce to the middle of the pot.
  3. Add the dashi to the side of the pot, without disturbing the sauce.
  4. Cover the pot and cook on the stove for 8 minutes over medium heat. The stew will begin to boil.
  5. Add the instant ramen noodles and rice cakes to the pot.  Lay the American cheese slices directly on top of the noodles. 
  6. Cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes.
Garnish and serve
  1. Garnish the stew with the sliced scallions and serve right away.