eat your bap

Sorry there was no recipe last week, folks! I was visiting Sweden with my sweetie O for midsummer — it was great seeing his friends and family, and getting to eat all that wonderful Swedish (and Korean!) food. Now I’m back and even more committed to cooking at home and trying to save some money in the process. ;) 

Before I left for vacay, I had some friends over for dak galbi, or Korean spiced chicken. I can’t even begin to tell you just how much I ADORE this dish — basically a mix of marinated chicken, assorted veggies and rice cake. The best part comes at the end when you mix in some rice and create that heavenly layer of crispy nooroongji (much like paella’s soccarat) that forms from the residual heat of the pan. Ahhh, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it! 

Dak galbi joints are usually peppered around busy university areas, as it’s a popular and affordable student food. It’s also very convivial, as you eat ’round a large tabletop skillet, taking turns mixing everything up. Cold beer and even colder soju are often good friends of this dish. :) I love dak galbi so much that I finally decided to give it a go at home. And you know what? It was really easy and REALLY good! 

I love any opportunity to use my tabletop electric skillet. My mom got it more than 10-15(?) years ago at some expensive Japanese supermarket; and to this day she will try to get me to cook something in it to make it worth her purchase. Silly umma! 

I modified a great recipe from one of my favorite Korean blogs, Aeri’s Kitchen (what a sweet girl!), to serve a larger group. I scaled back a bit on the curry her recipe calls for, made some other measurement alterations, and used a mix of chicken breast and thigh for variety. Oh, my rice cakes are not the ones normally used in dak galbi joints — usually you see the longer, cylindrical logs; but I wanted to get rid of my smaller sliced stash. Whatever works!

Dak Galbi (serves 4 well) – adapted from Aeri’s Kitchen (thanks!)
Ingredients:
For the chicken:
- 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts & 3-4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 TB cooking wine or sake
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- pinch of pepper

For the sauce:
- 2 TB gochugaru, or Korean red pepper flakes
- 4 TB gochujang, or Korean red pepper paste
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 TB garlic
- 2.5 TB soy sauce
- 1 TB sugar
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 TB cooking wine or sake
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Other ingredients:
- 3 scallions, chopped into 1″ pieces
- 1 onion, sliced into thin half moons 
- 1/4 large cabbage, cut into small chunks
- 1 sweet potato or yam, sliced into thin half moons
- 1/2 c. water
- 1 TB canola or vegetable oil
- 1 TB sesame oil (+ more for the rice later)
- sprinkling of sesame seeds
- 2 bowls of rice, room temperature or warm (you can also use cooked plain ramen noodles if you prefer)
- optional: handful of shredded mozzarella (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it! It’s all the rage in Korea.)
- optional: fried egg to put on top of rice
- optional: shredded unseasoned gim, or dried laver seaweed

Directions:
1. Combine the cut-up chicken with its ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Prepare the sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl.
3. Add 3 TB of sauce to the chicken; stir to combine. Save the rest of the sauce for later. 
4. Prep your veggies. 
5. In a heated pan or electric skillet on medium, add both oils. Add the cabbage, sweet potato/yam, onion and rice cakes.
6. Top the veggie pile with the marinated chicken. Add the 1/2 cup water to the pan so as not to get dry.
7. When water starts to boil, add the rest of the sauce to the pan, saving 1 spoonful for the rice later.* Stir, stir, stir. You might want to lower the heat a bit at this point to low. Don’t worry if you see some parts sticking — that’s a good sign! :D
8. When the chicken is almost done, add the scallions and sesame seeds. Start eating!
*9. The fun rice (or noodle) part: when there’s just a handful of chicken and veggies left, turn the heat back to medium, adding a bit more oil if necessary. Add 2 bowlfuls of rice , the gim, some more sesame oil and the final bit of sauce. Mix around with a wooden spoon or rice paddle, creating a single layer in the pan. I chose to fry an egg on the side and put it on top of the rice on one half; on the other half, I added some shredded mozzarella cheese to melt into the rice. (in this case, cover the pan to let it steam/melt). Turn off the heat and let the crust on the bottom form. Enjoy the rice with spoons (much easier than chopsticks)!