Naval chow in Korean waters in 1900s

Modern budae jjigae, a popular dish ― especially when drinking soju ― in Korea / Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

"An army marches on its stomach," is an old saying that has been attributed to Napoleon ― or, depending on your source, Frederick the Great ― emphasizing how important food is to the military. Anyone who has served in the military is more than aware of the impact the quality of food has on morale and discipline. For the American sailors and marines serving in the Far East in the early 20th century, military chow tended to be less than desirable.

On Oct. 23, 1901, Paul Weston, a sailor aboard the U.S.S. Helena gunboat, as it cruised along the Korean Peninsula, described the joy of having his first "sea pie" (a layered meat pie popular with British and American sailors) after several months at sea:

"Everybody was hungry as a sealer, and we couldn't wait for that sea pie to come. The bottom sides and top were hard tack. The inside or part of it, was as follows: salt horse, salt pork, canned woolie, cheese, onions, spuds, cabbage, a jack knife or, canned ham, top of a salt shaker, piece of rope yarn, some dried apples, some peas, some Lima beans, two pieces of a gun lock, molasses, salt and a can opener. That is only a partial list. There were many other ingredients which we could not recognize."

The port of Busan circa 1910-20s / Robert Neff Collection

According to Weston (who tended to exaggerate obviously), "the cook said he didn't put anything but meat, spuds and hard tack in it. Where the other things came from no one knew." Yet, despite the strange ingredients, the man found the "sea pie" to be very good even though some of his fellow shipmates ― especially those suffering from seasickness ― heaved up their meals after witnessing a jackknife or can opener come out of the pie.

Not all pies served were of questionable edibility. One morning ― when the sea was rather rough ― the cooks baked a special treat for that night's dessert. In a letter home, Weston informed his family that the dessert was a "real lemon pie an inch and a half thick." It was a rare treat and the men were looking forward to it but as the day progressed the sea grew choppier and this particular warship had a very bad reputation for rolling. Weston was a true storyteller:

"At supper time she rolled more than ever and we all watched the pie. Suddenly she gave a list and the pies moved off toward a pot of beans but a hungry few caught them on a fly and put them on the deck once more. Finally I tried getting outside of a piece. I took one bite and as she rolled I put up my hands to save myself and in doing so smashed a fellow full in the face with the pie. I still had the crust and began on that when some other joker spilled a cup of hot tea down my neck. But I wasn't to go without pie so I got hold of another piece, put it in a deep bowl, hung myself under the arms to a hammock hook and proceeded to devour the pie while dangling from the hook."

The American gunboat U.S.S. Machias in Japan circa 1894 / Robert Neff Collection

He ended his account by noting, "Pie is a scarce article in this outfit and when a fellow gets hold of one he usually hangs on to it at the risk of his neck."

The ship's tendency to roll cost the crew their pies on several occasions. A little over a month later, at Chefoo (Yantai), China, the crew was informed that Thanksgiving dinner would consist of "salt horse, spuds, peas, beans, fresh bread [and] fruit." Perhaps the only thing they had to look forward to was custard pies for dessert. Throughout the night, the cooks prepared the pies and in the morning, as the gunboat shifted its anchorage to a spot near a Chinese flagship and a French battleship, it was rocked suddenly by waves.

"When the Chinese flagship and French battleship saw us they lowered their life boats and were coming to us to save what few of us they could. They thought she was going to capsize, as a great part of the bottom and one propeller were clean out of the water."

Members of the American gunboat U.S.S. Palos in Japan in 1870 / Robert Neff Collection

The pies that had been baked the previous night were ruined when they "were mashed and soaked with salt water" and all of the eggs aboard the ship were smashed.

Many times sailors returning from shore leave supplemented their diets with food they managed to smuggle aboard ship. Weston confessed that he "smuggled beef steaks aboard [ship] wrapped around [his] legs." He implied that it was when the boats were "sent ashore armed to get grub off Corea" and that he had "paid a big premium for a slice of bread."

Sometimes this smuggled food caused trouble amongst the crew. When some sailors smuggled aboard limburger cheese, their shipmates ― unhappy with the cheese's strong smell ― doused the smugglers with ice-cold water, pelted them with snowballs and generally harassed them until the offending cheese was gone.

One of the favorite ports for American sailors was Yokohama, seen here circa 1900s, where they could get good food, plenty of drink and, occasionally, companionship. / Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection

Weston was discovered with some of the cheese and suffered the same fate but he got his revenge ― at night, while his tormentors were asleep, he "smeared some in each of their shoes, some on the wrist bands of their shirts, some in their pockets [and] some in their hats." In his letter home he wrote: "What a commotion when they turned out next morning. Too bad, I can't eat cheese anywhere. I've near eaten a piece of limburger in peace in my life and don't believe I ever will."

While the food aboard ship may have been less-than-appealing, the food served to the American legation guard in Seoul was apparently pretty good.

British sailors in Japan circa 1920s / Robert Neff Collection

In 1894, Mr. Ek Hioki, the secretary of the Japanese legation, befriended the American legation guard's officers and let it slip that he enjoyed Western food ― especially waffles. The officers immediately invited him to dine with them at the legation the following afternoon. The next day, the officers were mortified to discover their (Chinese or Korean) cook had never made a waffle before:

"The first course was one little triangle for each. [The cook] served them on frozen plates and ice would be hot beside the triangles themselves. So [the officers] kicked up a fine row and ordered him to throw them away and immediately bring some hot ones on hot plates. They waited about half an hour and then one of them [went out], to find out why [the waffles] didn't come. It turned out that one triangle apiece was all he had planned for. Another big row and an order to move p.d.q. (pretty damn quick)."

After nearly an hour, another triangle ― which "no knife could make any impression on" ― was provided to each man. "Hioki allowed that he was mistaken and that he didn't like waffles" and promptly left.

An American soldier stops for ice cream during the Korean War, circa 1953. / Robert Neff Collection

Ten years later, things were much different. Horace N. Allen, the American minister to Korea, wrote:

The legation guard "were a source of great interest to the [Koreans], particularly at the hours of their meals. There were always numbers of hungry native boys on hand to eat up the scraps, and the American guard was most popular on such occasions because of the extensive and generous menu they enjoyed. The Russians lived largely on rich vegetable soup and black bread, while the French also consumed much soup. The Americans however had plenty of meat with puddings and other dishes containing sugar. The [Koreans] declared that the American guard lived like yangban (aristocratic officials), while the others were the sangnom, or common people.

The popularity of American military food remains. Budae jjigae, a very popular Korean food, traces its origin to the 1950s when leftover food ― especially meat ― was smuggled off American military bases and sold to small restaurants where it was all boiled in a stew.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books including, Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.