Processed Meat

This post is inspired by being in Korea again and eating a national delicacy called Budae Jjigae (Buda Chigay). From my “Seoul Food” post last May, some of you will recall that we roughly translate the name of this delightful dish as “Army Stew.” It is a spicy sausage stew made with canned baked beans, kimchi, ramen noodles, and gochujang, which features Spam, Vienna sausages, hotdogs, and several yet-to-be-identified cold cuts. It is a cornucopia of processed meats, a food type that critics have recently treated harshly. As I was sitting and enjoying the wonder of Korea’s tribute to the American G.I., I was motivated to make a defense on behalf of the delicatessen wonder of meat that comes in cans and tubes.