ANDONG JJIMDAK (KOREAN SOY SAUCE BRAISED CHICKEN NOODLE STEW)

Andong Jjimdak (Soy Sauce Braised Chicken) 안동 찜닭

Restaurant Style Andong Jjimdak (Korean Soy Sauce Braised Chicken Noodle Stew). If you’ve never eaten Korean food, then this is great place to start. This lovely warming chicken noodle stew with carrots and potatoes looks and tastes familiar but still manages to be exotic. Makes me hungry every time I think about it!

How to Make Restaurant Style Andong Jjimdak

Andong Jjimdak is originally from a city called, you guessed it, Andong in GyeongsangBuk-do province. It is not far from my hometown, Daegu. It takes around 1 hour by car without traffic. Andong is a famous city with lots of traditional places to visit. The UNESCO listed Hahoe Traditional Folk Village and Dosanseowon Confucian Academy  are  two standouts.  As well as sightseeing, Andong is also famous for food. While you are there you could try Andong Jjimdak (obviously), Andong Mackerel, Andong Beef and Andong Jesabap (Jesabap is the food we eat when we worship our ancestors).

My husband’s best friend in South Korea is American. His wife is Korean and from Andong. She introduced us to Andong Jjimdak on our first trip to the city. There is a whole street of Andong Jjimdak restaurants in Andong city centre. She took us to a restaurant where the locals go. How lucky I was!

That restaurant was always packed with people. The owner never bothered to decorate the restaurant, but, it just makes you feel like home. Famous restaurants used to be like that in South Korea. They never redecorated the design or anything like that and they only had one or two menus. That is changed now though. Younger generations want nice looking and modern surroundings. Who’d have thought!

We eat Jjimdak in my hometown, but, it is slightly different from the Andong one. It is spicier and less sweet. A friend of mine is from Daejeon. It is located in central South Korea, about 2 hours northwest by car from my hometown. She had never heard of Jjimdak. When she moved to Daegu, she could see lots of Jjimdak restaurants. Jjimdak is definitely from Gyeongsangbuk province.

Andong Jjimdak wasn’t that famous nationally when I went to Andong with my husband’s friends. However, a TV show did a report on it and after that, some Andong Jjimdak restaurant owners had some great business ideas and opened Jjimdak franchises all over the country. Andong Jjimdak is now widely known in South Korea. Of course, the restaurants in Andong city centre got much busier and the prices have gone up. Well, we can’t blame them.

My husband and I used to go to that restaurant whenever we passed Andong. It is so difficult to pass Andong without going to that restaurant to eat the delicious Jjimdak. In summer, it is scorching hot in South Korea. The restaurant was air conditioned. It was lovely to have a nice cold beer together with delicious Jjimdak. What a meal! I am drooling now. If there was any restaurant like that in the UK, I would be making excuses to visit every chance I got.

KOREAN BULGOGI

I have tried to make Andong Jjimdak many times. But, I always failed to make the right one. Finally, I have perfected it. Using instant coffee may seem a bit strange but it removes the poultry smell of the chicken. Dried chillies are optional but they give Jjimdak a warm, spicy and comforting flavour. I love dried chilies. As you have noticed, I used quite a lot. This recipe is as close as you can get to that famous street without buying a plane ticket. Enjoy and let me know how you get on.