Dakgalbi is a spicy chicken from Korea that I hope you will love!

In 2011, I studied in Korea during the summer (another recipe inspired by that stay here). I stayed at Hallym University, which is in Chuncheon. Chuncheon is famous for their spicy chicken, called dakgalbi. They had many dakgalbi restaurants where that was all they served. You walked in, sat down, they counted everyone and brought enough food. This spicy chicken was pretty serious on level of spicy and we might have let a tear slip out a time or two. It’s definitely one of those “hurts so good” feelings. We ordered a lot of soda, and the bubbles on our tongues helped soothe the spice a little bit. Leaving with a full belly and tingly lips was how you knew you had a good time.

Even though I’m not usually a spicy food person, there’s something about the deep curry and sweet flavors in this chicken that I can’t stay away from. I think my recipe was adapted originally from Beyond Kimchee. I had posted it on my old blog, but after reviewing it and saw what kind of recipe I left there (not a very great one), I thought I’d re-up it here.

One thing they often did in Korea, was add rice, nori (toasted seaweed) and sesame seeds at the end, and boom! You had fried rice. Some even used ramen!
Local Spotlight: I went to Nam Hai International Market to get my sweet potatoes and gochujang!
xxHillary


Dakgalbi
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 2 lbs. skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1/2 head of green cabbage or 1/4 head Napa cabbage
- 1 1/2 C. rice cake sticks
- 1 C. sweet potato white or orange
- 2 T. canola oil
- 2 T. water
Sauce:
- 3 T. gochujang
- 2 T. soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 t. curry powder
- 1 t. ginger powder
- 2 T. white wine optional
- 1 T. white sugar
- 1 T. sesame oil
- 1/4 t. black pepper
Instructions
- Soak rice cake sticks in water, if frozen while you prepare sauce.
- Combine all sauce ingredients.
- Dice chicken into cubes and toss with half of the sauce. Set aside.
- Slice sweet potatoes into strips about 1/4 in thick and 3/5 in wide.
- Slice cabbage into 1 inch strips.
In a large skillet, heat canola oil on medium-high heat and then add in chicken and sweet potatoes, stirring frequently.
When chicken is cooked, add in cabbage and rice cakes, stir and then cover for 3-5 minutes.
- Serve with rice and #enJOY!
This sounds soooo good! Thank you for sharing. I am going to have to pin this for later and make it for dinner soon.
Hope you like it!!
I am a gochujang junkie so this is right up my alley. I’ve never tried mixing curry powder with gochujang before. Thanks for the recipe!
I know you are! I hope you love it! The curry is such a nice touch in this recipe!
This sounds so delicious! My husband loves trying to new spicy foods and I think this is one we will both enjoy! Pinning for reference ♥️
Hope he likes it!