It was a bit of a porkfest tonight, with me getting rid of a good part of my store of various meats as I made a truncated budae-jjigae without some of my usual ingredients (e.g., soybean sprouts). I was able to use up all of my leftover green onion, regular onion, chili peppers, mushrooms, and tofu. I bought and used a package of ground pork because I was feeling too lazy to buy and grind my own beef. I also added some pepperoni, a block of spam, a kielbasa, and some el-cheapo hot dogs (it's probably no longer PC to say "el cheapo," and I don't care).
Budae-jjigae would be awesomely keto were it not for the gochujang, the red-pepper paste that's often made with rice flour—extremely carby. Some people even add a bit of sugar to the paste, giving the spice a slightly sweet aspect. The stew can be made carbier still by adding ingredients like ramen, ddeok (sliced rice cake), rice, and soy sauce (I saw Anthony Bourdain do that back when he was proclaiming budae-jjigae to be one of his absolute favorite soups). I also added a touch of sesame oil, some chicken bouillon, and some chili flakes (gochugaru). My budae never tastes quite like restaurant budae; I'll have to look over some recipes and figure out why. (Oh, yeah: some people will also add baked beans and cheese to their stew. Hell, why not, right?) Here's a set of photos taking you from prep to final product.
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| the initial ingredients, dumped in: ground pork, white onion, green onion, and spicy chili peppers |
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| mushroom and tofu added |
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| spam, pepperoni, kielbasa, hot dog (not really visible for some reason), and ssukgat (leafy green) |
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| kimchi, bouillon (not really visible), and gochujang added (+ soy sauce and sesame oil)... oh, and water |
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| the final product |
I've got enough to last me a few days.
It's probably the beans as far as restaurant stuff goes. That or a crap ton of sugar and/or MSG. Who knows.
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