Instant Korean Army Soup

Ever since I got to sample budae jjigae or military/ army soup during my trip to Korea in 2011, I have been meaning to recreate such dish at home. 

Just a little bit of history...the origins of army soup can be traced back to the period after the Korean War wherein people had to be resourceful in order to survive amidst food scarcity. It was named as such because surplus food from US forces were combined with traditional Korean spicy soup to create the filling fare. 

Lifted off my previous post about my Seoul experience.
 To read more about it, click here.:)

Moving on...so I have been meaning to cook army soup since 2011 but, lo and behold, it would take me 3 years to finally do so hahaha.^^

Tonight, Hubby and I rummaged through our fridge and found the right ingredients for our instant army soup!^^ And I am more than glad to share with everyone how we did it. 

INSTANT ARMY SOUP

Ingredients:

Fresh corn kernels

Hotdogs (cut into bite-sized pieces)

Fishballs

Boiled eggs

Korean instant noodles (spicy variant)

Directions:

1. Boil eggs. Set aside.

2. Boil corn kernels until tender.

3. Throw in hotdogs and fishballs into the casserole .

4. After 2-3 minutes, add instant noodles.

5. Stir the mixture occasionally, adding water as desired or to adjust the level of spiciness.

6. Once the noodles are cooked, remove from fire.

7. Add the boiled eggs.

8. Serve and enjoy!

Tadaaaaaaaah....our "Korean" dinner!^^

In making army soup, any suitable ingredients such as (fresh or leftover) luncheon meat, ham and other cold cuts, plus vegetables and what have you can actually be utilized. Except chocolates, perhaps? LOL ^^

Needless to say, a little creativity in the kitchen can do wonders for this dish.^^

3 Easy to Cook and Healthy Meals

Admittedly, I am no good cook. I would rather eat, munch, devour than whip out delightful dishes unlike the Hubby who really knows his way in the kitchen. :)

Lately though, out of necessity since I do not want to be branded as a useless wife LOL, I find myself tinkering in the kitchen and experimenting on ingredients to come up with easy to cook and healthy meals to feed the household (and that's just me, the Hubby and our dog, Jiggly ^^) 

Hence, I am pleased to share 3 dishes "conjured" out of my imagination (no cook book, mind you!). Preparation and cooking take about 15 minutes only so these are perfect for busy COOK-WANNABE LIKE ME. With vegetables as main ingredients, these dishes are not only healthy but yummy as well, as attested by the worst critic AKA the Hubby and... ehem... yours truly who is a voracious meat/ junk eater.  

Anybody can add/replace ingredients to further develop these dishes according to preference. 

Enjoy!:D (Excuse me if I misused any cooking term^^)

STIR FRIED STRING BEANS WITH LUNCHEON MEAT

Ingredients: 

(Amount is according to one's discretion)

String Beans

Luncheon Meat, sliced to bite-size pieces (Or Canned Tuna)

Seasoning

Cooking oil

Simple steps:

1. Heat the luncheon meat. (In my case, I fry the luncheon meat until crispy on the outside)

2. Add the string beans and stir fry for a few minutes. Careful not to overcook the beans to retain the crispiness.

3. Sprinkle some seasoning.

4. Done!^^

POTATO AND CHICHARO CURRY

Ingredients:

(Amount is according to one's discretion)

Potatoes 

Chicharo
Squid Balls

Curry Powder

Water

Seasoning

Cooking oil

Simple steps:

1. Fry the potatoes until golden brown. Set aside.
2. Fry squid balls until golden brown. 
3. Add the potatoes to the squid balls.

2. Add chicharo and stir fry for a few minutes. Careful not to overcook the beans to retain the crispiness.

3. Add curry powder.

4. Pour in a little water, enough to make a thick sauce sauce.

5. Sprinkle some seasoning.

6. Let it simmer.

7. Done!^^

POTATO AND MUSHROOM IN OYSTER SAUCE

Ingredients:

(Amount is according to one's discretion)

Potatoes (I like using baby potatoes)

Mushrooms (fresh or canned)

Oyster Sauce

Seasoning

Cooking oil

Simple steps:

1. Fry the potatoes until golden brown.

2. Add mushroom.

3. Add oyster sauce.

5. Sprinkle some seasoning.

6. Stir fry for a few minutes. 

7. Done!^^

BON APPETIT!:D