The History of Budae Jjigae

Koreans have eaten jjigae (very thick stew) perhaps since time immemorial, but with the coming of the Korean War when food was scarce, a new kind of jjigae was born - budae jjigae, almost literally "military stew". With the advent of the US soldiers, who were considered rich next to the impoverished Koreans who lived a hand-to-mouth subsistence, Koreans were first introduced to what it was like to have a surplus of meat. They themselves didn't have the surplus but the Americans did, and around the US military camps some of the US army supplies of canned meats like hot dogs, spam and other packaged meats sometimes found their way into the Korean economy. With the meats that were given to them, exchanged for work, or gleaned from the garbage, Koreans made jjigae by adding the meat to boiling water and whatever else they might have along their their ubiquitous red pepper paste and kimchi.

Although the jjigae was "born" in the Korean War, it ironically came to be called Johnson tang - tang is another kind of soup, not quite so thick or hearty as jjigae. The stew was named after US President Lyndon B. Johnson, and here's the irony, Johnson became president (1963-1969) a decade after the Korean War, the circumstance that actually "created" the thick soup. Therefore, it appears that calling the stew-gumbo Johnson tang was due to the stew's gaining popularity around Korea as Korea had more access to military supplies because many US soldiers continued to be employed in South Korea and pass through South Korea on their way to fight in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam war, the time era when Johnson tang became more widely known, was a time of economic development for the Koreans, particularly as many South Koreans fought in the war as hired soldiers, earning valuable income for their homeland. Thus, with the exposure to the US military goods, namely canned meats, a new food tradition was started in South Korea and has continued to grow in popularity since. 

Budae jjigae, "military stew", is linguistically tainted however with a shadowy military past and connotations of impoverishment, particularly around US military camps. Therefore, in the late 1990s Uijeongbu, a city bordering the north of Seoul and where a large number of military personnel reside, tried to remove the military connotations from the now-popular food by stipulating that henceforth the jjigae was to be referred to as Uijeongbu jjigae. Not many restaurants complied, but other restaurants picked up on the new nomenclature and began calling their stew Uijeongbu budae jjigae. In Uijeongbu and in other spots around Korea, there are budae jjigae streets where a high concentration of budae jjigae restaurants offer variations to the stew: curry budae jjigae, stir-fried budae jjigae, among others. With budae jjigae, about anything is possible for the pot, examples being ddeok, cheese, beans.

The popular Korean dish that was born of adversity is still popular today, and now is called a "fusion food", a new term applied to foods which are a combining of homeland Korean chow mixed with some foreign element, e.g. cheese kimbap is another fusion example and the first time I had it, I just about gagged! In Korea (not surprisingly) there is even a Budae Jjigae Festival with thoughts that it will help "revitalize the economy" and "make us remember the meaning of the Korean War"; it is also said to "unify the local community" although no one has explained to me how this will be a result of eating the stew.

Budae jjigae has even been spread to Japan and from Japan it has been brought back with other "fusion food" changes. I think budae jjigae is a good example of how Korea has changed over the past century - it has gone from being a proud homogeneous society to one that accepts the blurring of cultural lines as long as something Korean still shines through the cultural borrowing.

Credit in outlining this information and particularly for the pictures

goes to my students Lee Cherin and Choi Yeonhee.

Tasting Korean Culture

March 1991 was when I first came to Korea. I lived in Kwangju, a city in a remote area, and because of its remoteness, I learned more traditional culture than my friends who were teaching in Seoul (capital), Incheon (western port city), Daejeon (central city), Daegu (eastern central city), and Pusan (thriving southeastern port city). Because Kwangju wasn’t a port city and there were 35 foreigners registered in the city of over 1 million at that time and because the American air base being retained there since the Korean War was being shut down, there was hardly any access to western food via any black market or even western culture or even much English for that matter. During that first year way down south my five colleagues and I were forced to go somewhat Korean, and I loved it! We certainly learned a lot! These slides via food show some of the cultural contrasts that have occured in South Korea within the last two decades. 

 

 



Bibimbop: Origins and Brief History

Soju and the Provinces



Chuseok at Emart
Seolnal: Lunar New Year's Day

March 14, White Day

Pepero Day

Pica Foods and Diversity



 

Red Peppers Introduced to Korea

The Birth of Ramen Noodles

 

 

Kimchi ... Gimchi, Korea's National Dish
Japan Korea Kimchi Dispute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

RAS 2013 Garden Party

Every year the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch holds a huge book sale event at alternating locations - the British embassy and the American embassy. This year it was hosted at the British embassy in its beautifully landscaped gardens with awnings set up to shelter the books, food and guests in this annual leisure event.

As a member of the RAS for several years now, I offered to help set up the book tables along with a number of other volunteer members. Only members, no member spouses or family members, are invited to this exclusive event. The purpose is to have a book selling event with food nibbles, some traditional entertainment and a mixing of scholars for networking and broadening friendships ... and of course for marketing the written treasures.

The tables were laden with books organized into topics - history, culture change and development, politics, the colonial period, the Korean War, shamanism, religion, poetry, traditions, and the list goes on ... as did the tables. Members are given a sizable membership discount price in this single annual event, and the scholars do look and do purchase.

An event could never be held without food, and caterers are brought in to prepare luncheon tidbits and have platters ready for the guest-members when they arrive.

And then of course entertainment! This year there were two kinds of entertainment: first the traditional singers sometimes accompanied by the gayageum and piri and the traditional cowhide drum - not pictured. Following that were some phenomenal 풍물 dancers, also called 농각 or literally "farmer's music" dancers. The dancers drummed and beat on their cymbals while twirling the ribbons and tufts around on their brimmed hats. These guys were exceptionally good, leaping high in the air as they twirled their bodies while further twirling their beribboned hats.

And then the star performer came out with an extraordinarily long ribbon. The longer the ribbon, the more skilled the dancer! With the long ribbon he twirled it perpendicularly to the ground then got it in the vertical swirl ... to jump over the ribbon on its descent as if it were a jump rope ... He was able to sit down and twirl ... He was able to lay down and twirl (some talent!) ... and most adroitly, he was able to do a handstand and twirl. And I didn't understand how this was physically possible as he had to be particularly nimble in inverting himself otherwise the circular motion would be disturbed by interference with the ground and then his hands, which he had to constantly move as the ribbon came around in rapid revolutions. He made the rapid spin of ribbon look easy. Amazingly nimble!

The RAS was well-pleased with membership attendance, the setting, and their book sales. And so now members can start saving up for next year's book extravaganza.