Army Stew (Budae Jjigae/부대찌개) - Serves 6
Half a quarter of savoy cabbage, 1 medium onion, 1 cup of kimchi, 3 shiitake mushrooms, 1 medium size cleaned octopus, 5 mini Frankfurt, 1 pack of tofu, 2 packets of Korean instant noodles and green chilli.
6 garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon of Korean hot pepper paste, 1 tablespoon of Korean hot pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of water.
Soak shiitake mushrooms in cold water at least 1 hour prior to preparation. Later on, thinly slice the shiitake mushrooms and save the mushroom water for the stock base.
Wash and soak octopus with a pinch of salt in cold water.
Cut cabbage, onion and kimchi into bite size pieces.
Thinly slice frankfurts and tofu into 1 inch pieces.
Mix minced garlic, Korean hot pepper paste, Korean hot pepper flakes, soy sauce, sugar and water together to make the seasoning paste.
Place cabbage and onion at the bottom of the pan. Then, follow by shiitake mushrooms, octopus, kimchi, frankfurts and tofu above. Also, add the well-mixed seasoning paste on top.
For the stock, mix the 2 cup of warm water, mushroom water and 1 teaspoon of salt and stir well. After that, pour the stock into the pan to let boil over medium high heat for about 10 minutes.
When it boils, turn and stir the ingredients evenly and put Korean instant noodles onto it and continue to boil for another 3 minutes.
Add thinly sliced green chilli for garnish.
Serve right away when the noodles soften.
Source: My Korean Kitchen