DAKGALBI (SPICY STIR FRIED CHICKEN WITH RAMEN & RICE)

Dinner | August 24, 2017 | By Hyeon Jeong

Dakgalbi 닭갈비

Dakgalbi is a very tasty, stir fried spicy chicken dish served with ramen noodles and rice. An excellent dinner to impress your family and friends. The leftovers (if there are any) taste amazing too!

Dakgalbi is a famous dish from Chuncheon, Gangwondo. In 1960s, the owner of a famous grilled pork restaurant ran out of pork, so, he got some chicken and marinated it with his pork sauce and grilled it. The taste was different from pork and he felt the chicken tasted better so he started selling grilled chicken. Chicken was incredibly cheap meat at the time as there were a lot of local chicken farms. Students were quick to embrace this new dish due to the tastiness and the price!

Watch My Easy Dakgalbi Recipe Video (4m 31s)

My husband’s favourite food had been Indian food before he came to Korea. I had no idea that there are loads of Indian restaurants in the UK or that the most popular dish is chicken curry! But, after my husband came to Korea and tried a lot of authentic Korean food, he changed his mind. Dakgalbi is now top of the list.

YANGNYEOM FRIED CHICKEN

In my hometown, Daegu, there are a few Dakgalbi restaurants. We do have a favourite one we always go to when we are in town and we know the owner so well he always gives us a bottle of coke for free. We used to go there twice a week. It is that delicious!

Dakgalbi in Korean means chicken ribs, but, there is hardly any meat on chicken ribs! So, chicken thigh meat is usually used. It is usually marinated chicken with a Gochoojang (Red Pepper Paste) based sauce. Vegetables are added and the whole thing is fried in a big frying pan at your table. I used a paella pan for making this dish. Dakgalbi is delicious with ramen, udon or any type of noodles and after eating about ⅔ of the chicken and all of the noodles we make, fried rice to finish off this super delicious meal. The taste of Dakgalbi is a whole new world for you if you have never tried it. Also, it is super easy to make! Move over chicken curry, your new favourite food has just arrived. Enjoy!

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DAKGALBI (SPICY STIR FRIED CHICKEN WITH NOODLES AND RICE)

Author: Hyeon Jeong

Recipe type: Dinner

Cuisine: Korean

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 4

A very tasty, stir fried spicy chicken dish served with ramen noodles and rice. An excellent dinner to impress your family and friends. The leftovers (if there are any) taste amazing too!

What You'll Need

Dakgalbi
1 Medium Onion (170g)
4 tbsp Korean Red Pepper Powder
2 tbsp Mashed Garlic
½ tbsp Mashed Ginger
3 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp Korean Red Pepper Paste
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
2 tbsp Cola
2 tbsp Mirin
6 tbsp Soy Sauce
A pinch of Black Pepper
1 kg Boneless Chicken Thigh, chopped 2 cm bitesized
1 Sweet Potato (200g), chopped 1 cm thickness
¼ Cabbage, chopped into square shape
30g Spring/Green Onions, chopped 3 cm strips
40g Carrots, chopped in 0.5 cm
A pinch of salt
Ramen Dakgalbi (Optional)
1 Cooked Plain Ramen
1 tbsp Red Pepper Paste
20g Chilies, chopped in small pieces
10g Spring/Green Onions, chopped thinly
1 tbsp Toasted Sesame Seeds
Fried Rice Dakgalbi (Optional)
500g Cooked Rice
1 tbsp Kimchi, chopped
1 tsp Red Pepper Paste

How to Make It

Put the onion in a food processor and whizz it up.
Put the mashed onion, Korean red pepper powder, mashed garlic, mashed ginger, sugar, red pepper paste, sesame oil, cola, mirin, soy sauce and black pepper in a big bowl and mix them completely.
Add the chopped boneless chicken thighs to the above sauce and marinate for 30 minutes.
Pour some vegetable oil into a large frying pan over a high heat.
Add the chopped sweet potatoes and marinated chicken to the pan and stir occasionally.
After the sweet potatoes and the chicken are about half cooked, add the cabbage, spring onions, carrots and chopped chilies (optional) and fry them altogether. You can add perilla leaves, boiled potatoes or rice pasta at this stage if you like. It is difficult for me to find perilla leaves and rice pasta in the UK so I left them out of my recipe. If you can find them, I highly recommend you add them to this dish.
Keep stirring so the sauce does not burn. When cooked, add salt to taste.
Add the cooked plain ramen, red pepper paste, chopped spring onions and chopped chillies to the pan and fry them with the Dakgalbi. I love ramen with Dakgalbi, but, you can add any noodles you like. Udon noodles are a very popular choice in Korean Dakgalbi restaurants.
When you have eaten about ⅔ of the chicken and all of the noodles, add the cooked rice, red pepper paste and chopped kimchi (my easy Kimchi recipe is here) and stir fry them together until mixed. Korean roasted seaweed can be added to taste. Dakgalbi fried rice is done. Bon appetite!