Soup!

My friend Dan and I went out for some soup tonight. He convinced me to try something new, called Budae Jjigae.. Not only does it taste yummy and have a double "J" in it (so cool) it also has a story behind it. After the Korean war, when meat was scarce in Seoul, some people made use of surplus foods from US army bases around, such as hot dogs and canned ham. They incorporated it into a traditional, spicy gochujang soup and its called Budae Jjigae (aka Army Base Stew). It's a very popular dish served at restaurants or made at home. The version I ate tonight had at least 2 types of ham, noodles, beans, green onions, tofu, mushroom, and some other things I couldn't identify. The broth is red and spicy since its made from the Korean staple, gochujang (red pepper paste). It was very good. In fact, my favorite foods here so far have been soups.

Here are some of my favorite Korean soups:
-Shabu Shabu (technically a Japanese dish but its served a lot here)
-Sujebi
-Galbit'ang
-Doenjang Jjigae (soybean paste soup)
-and now, Budae Jjigae (pictured below)