This is a spicy Korean stir-fried chicken dish. If you have any question about the ingredients, please ask me.
Yield: 2 Servings
Short Korean Lesson
- BalDal (발달) = Development
- SeongJang (성장) = Growth
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- 1 Cup Onion
- 1 Cup Cabbage
- 1 Cup Sweet Potato
- ½ Cup Green Onions
- 16 Rice Cakes for Tteokbokki
- 12 Perilla Leaves
- ½ Cup Water
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 tsp Sesame Seeds
Chicken Ingredients
- 2 Chicken Breasts (1 lb)
- 1 Tbsp Cooking Wine (or Water)
- ½ tsp Minced Garlic
- 2 Pinches Black Pepper
Sauce Ingredients
- ¼ Cup Hot Pepper Paste
- 3 Tbsp Hot Pepper Powder
- 2½ Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Cooking Wine
- 1½ Tbsp Garlic Minced
- 4 tsp Korean Curry Powder
- 1 Tbsp Sugar
- ½ tsp Ginger, Minced
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
Fried Rice Ingredients
- Some Dakgalbi (About ½ Generous Cup)
- 1 Cup Cooked Short Grain Rice
- ½ Cup Seasoned and Roasted Dried Laver
- ¼ Cup Kimchi
- 2 Tbsp Perilla Leaves
- 2 Tbsp Green Onion
- Some Sesame Oil
- Some Sesame Seeds
Directions
In a bowl, add 2 chicken breasts, 1 Tbsp of cooking wine, ½ tsp of minced garlic, and 2 Pinches of black pepper. Set it aside while you are preparing other ingredients.
In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the sauce: ¼ cup of hot pepper paste, 3 Tbsp of hot pepper powder, 4 tsp Korean curry powder, 1½ tsp minced garlic, 2½ Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp of cooking wine, 1 Tbsp of sugar, ½ tsp of minced ginger, and ¼ tsp of black pepper. Mix everything together.
Mix 4 spoons of the sauce into the bowl with the chicken. Leave the rest of the sauce for later. Cut ½ cup of green onions into 1-inch pieces. Cut 1 cup of an onion into ½-inch pieces. Slice half of a sweet potato and then cut the slices in half (1 cup worth). Cut 1 cup of cabbage into 1-inch squares. Fold 12 Perilla leaves in half, remove the stems, and then cut them into ½-inch strips. We will also need about 16 rice cakes for tteokbokki.
In a heated nonstick pan, add 1 Tbsp of olive oil and 1 Tbsp of sesame oil.
Add the cabbage, sweet potatoes, onion, and the rice cakes. Then, put the chicken on top of the vegetables
Pour ½ cup of water in it, so that it does not be too dry. Occasionally stir.
When it starts to boil, add all of the leftover sauce into it. Fry it for about 8 minutes on medium-highk or until the chicken is almost cooked.
After 8 minutes, add the green onions and perilla leaves. Fry for 2 more minutes and then turn off the heat.
Lastly, sprinkle 1 tsp of sesame seeds on top before serving.
If you want to enjoy fried rice using leftover dakgalbi, this is how to do it. Leave some of the dakgalbi in the pan and add 1 cup of cooked short grain rice. Mix it little bit. Then, add ¼ cup of finely chopped kimchi. Fry it for about 3 minutes on medium. After 3 minutes, add 2 Tbsp of seasoned and roasted dried laver. Fry for another 2 minutes and then turn off the heat. For the final touch, add some sesame seeds. If you want, you can also drizzle some sesame oil on top. Dakgalbi is a popular food in Korean restaurants. Just the dakgalbi alone is very delicious, but you haven’t lived until you try this stir-fried rice style. I highly recommend that you try this someday. 🙂
looks so yummy. i’ve never had this. how about 불닭? i want to try that so bad.
Hi, James !!!
Oh, do you want to try 불닭? Okay, I will add it to my list. I think the taste of 불닭 will be similar with 닭갈비. anyway..hehe Someday, I will make it for you. Thanks for comment !!!!
really? what kind of pepper do i add to make 닭갈비 taste like 불닭?
Hi, James
It sounds like you’ve already tried 불닭 before..right ^^ You need hot pepper. and hot pepper powder.. If you want to know about it right now, I will send you a recipe..I have to translate it in English first..hehe Thanks !!! aha.. you know 불닭 is ve~~~~ry spicy.. 😛
어머! ㅋㅋ 점심에 이것 만들었어요. 닭갈비가 너무 매워요! ㅠ.ㅠ <–땀으로 젖은 얼굴
I forgot to put the URL:
http://yakap.org/2008/09/dak-kalbi.html
Oh..boy~~~~ You made me laugh ..haha it was that spicy?? Actually, I thought it’s a little spicy… haha..then you will not want to try 불닭 since it will be even spicier..kkk So did you enjoy eating this spicy food or never want to try again..hehe =P Thanks for comment.
Can I add your picture to my commentary?? 감사합니다^^
I used ‘hot curry.’ By themselves I don’t think the ingredients are that spicy but when you combine them it’s very hot. I enjoyed it. I still want to try 불닭! If you want to use the picture it’s OK with me.
Hehe,, James..
I just posted your dakgalbi picture. Thanks… I love to post your Korean food pictures here. Give me more ..more..more..GREEDY Aeri.=P
be careful what you wish for, I just went grocery shopping this week…
hi..James..
oops @,@ hehe I wonder what you bought… !!!!!
+1 for buldak video
Hi ^^ Max..
Thanks for your comment.
I’m planning to make buldak video someday. 🙂
I recently subscribed to your YouTube channel and found this site. Is this recipe the same as Chunchon chicken? It looks familiar. I ate it often in Seoul and even found a restaurant that called itself “Chunchon Chicken”.
Hi, John
Aha, yes… it’s considered same as chunchon chicken..but I’m not sure what you will think of it.. since you tried it ..chucnchon chicken restuarnt hehe.. 😉 If you have chance to try it, please let me know if it’s similar with the one you tried in Korea. thank !!
Hi Aeri!
I made this last week and it turned out great! I didn’t have curry powder so I just added more soy sauce, some red pepper powder and mirin to the sauce. Is the flavor slightly different with curry powder?
Hi, patty
wow.. thanks..another happy news..hehe
curry powder gives a little spicy flavor and unique curry powder in it. and maybe help to reduce the chicken flavor a little too. since you added.. a little more mirin and peper powder.. you got the function for curry from them instead.. you said it turned out great..so it worked..right ?? Good job !! 🙂
Thank you for posting this recipe! I’ve been looking for a way to make this since I left Chuncheon 3 years ago!
Hi, jairus
Nice to meet you!! Oh~~~ you’ve lived in chuncheon, Korea ?? So actually you know what the original chuncheon dakgalbi tastes like..hehe I hope you had many good memories in Korea. Thanks !!! try this someday. 😉
Hi Aeri!
Thanks so much for this recipe, it was a hit the other night with my friends! Only thing I added was a carrot 🙂 I looove dak galbi! I will post photos on my blog soon.
Hope you are doing well!
PS: I was only visiting Japan and Korea… I live in NY 🙂
Hi, chicky*bits
I’m SOOOOOOOOOO happy to hear that your friends liked your dak galbi.. Good job !!! hehe.. When you post it on your blog..please let me know..I want to see your yummy picture. Wow.. you live in NY.. I want to visit NY someday..hehe anyway..thanks..
Hi, Aeri… Look so good.. I’ll print it out and have my wife cook this for me.. thank you so much for posting..
Hi, Nui
Nice to meet you !!!
haha.. hey~~~ why don’t you cook it for your wife. 😉 joke~~~ Yep. I hope you and your wife will like this. thanks !!
감사합니다 고등학교 영어수행평가로 자신이좋아하는 요리 레시피를 영어로써오기였는데요 좋은정보 얻고갑니다 Thanks ! 🙂
Hi, Korean
반갑습니다. 웁스..그런데… 수행평가 하면서 영작 실력도 늘리기 위해서 내주신 과제같은데… 고대로 카피하신건 아니시겠죵 ?? 히~ 저도 한국에 있을때 교단에 잠시 선적이 있어서 선생님 입장에서 생각하게 되네요.. 암튼 도움이 조금이라도 되었다니 기쁘구요.. 공부 열심히 하세요. 가끔 놀러오시구요 🙂 화이팅 ~~~
Aeri, I have made this recipe a few times and it’s lovely. It’s hard to find the sesame leaves here in Canada (I don’t live in Toronto or Vancouver, hehe), but everything else I’ve been lucky to be able to find.
It makes me miss Korea! I went to Chuncheon JUST for dalkgalbi when I lived in Korea. Korean food is the best, and I love to *try* to cook it! I can do that thanks to you and your recipes. You’re awesome!
Hi, Tiffany
Oh.. you’ve been in Chuncheon. You will know the good flavor of chuncheon dakgalbi then. 🙂 I’m happy you like this recipe. Thank you for your sweet message. Don’t worry about sesame leaves.. you can still have delicious dakgalbi. right ?? hehe..
When I lived in Chuncheon, it was just a “small” provincial capital with very few tourists. When I came back to the states from Korea, most people had never heard of it. Even some Koreans had never heard of Chuncheon’s version of dakkalbi. I was SO happy to see you make this video because people can start to appreciate Chuncheon for something besides Winter Sonata.
Hi, Tammy
As I mentioned before, I’ve never tried chuncheon dakgalbi in chuncheon. (In that point, you will know better the original chuncheon dakgalbi than me..;)) anyway.. I hoped that this is even closer to the original one.. hehe thanks !!!
what kind of frying pan do you have, like the one in the video?
Hi Pak,
you mean the pan I used for this dakgalbi video ? That’s pan made with stone. We brought it from Korea. Thanks
I made this last night and my friends said it was better than the local dak galbi restaurant we go to here in Jeju. Thank you for making me look like a real chef, they were amazed!!! Sincerely, Justin
Hi justin,
wow..it was that good ? Very happy to hear that.. thanks 🙂
Hi Aeri, please never drop your website, the recipes are marvellous. I was desperately looking for one for Dakgalbi, since I have eaten it in Korea so much and really miss it now. I wanna cook it by myself soon !!
Hi Stefan,
hehe..I will not drop my website.. thank you for your kind comment.. it makes me happy.. 🙂
Hi Aeri,
I love Dak Ghalbi and have tried your recipe and love it but it’s impossible to get rice cakes in England. Can you recommend any replacements for them? And you know when you have the rice after the dak ghalbi in restaurants in korea- What would you put in to the rice for after the dak ghalbi?
hi Una,
Nice to meet you. aha.. you can’t get rice cakes… but can you get rice flour anywhere ??? because..I’m planning to post how to make rice cake at home someday for people who cant’ buy it at store. They serve… cooked rice with seasoned dried seaweed pieces.. some vegetables such as chopped lettuce.. sesame leaves.. and kimchi.. they fry all with the left over sauce from dakgalbi.. thanks
Hi Aeri this is Truc-mai i just added u on facebk 🙂
I will try soon to make Dakgalbi it looks so yummy 🙂 but can I serve it with thick noodles (the same used for jajangmyeon) ? or with rice?
Thanks ^^
hi Petitnem,
hehe.. happy to see you here too. 🙂
hmmm… personal opinion.. I prefer dakgalbi with rice than noodles.. but it’s up to you. thanks 🙂
Okay ! I’ll follow you and try dakgalbi with rice 😉 !
thanks 🙂
hi Petitnem,
I hope you like this recipe. Good luck and enjoy !!! 🙂
Hi Aeri !!
I finally made dakgalbi yesterday and it was awesome my parents loved it as me hehe 🙂 but it was still too spicy for me although I reduced the amount of red pepper powder/paste maybe it’s because i’m not used to eat that spicy yet :p
Thanks a lot for this recipe next time i’ll make it for my friends haha:)
Hi Aeri,
Thank you so much!! Myself & my husband are a great fan of Dakgalbi ever since we visited Korea. You will be surprised to know we used to eat it almost everyday in a week stay of ours. Will definitely try out your recipe this weekend and get back to you with the result. Iam very sure it will taste yummy!! slurp… 🙂
hi Divya,
I know… you must be tried really delicious dakgalbi in Korea.. I hope that my recipe is good enough to satisfy you. thanks 🙂
Hi Aeri.. your recipy fas fantastic. I made it twice & both times it was yummy & now my hubby asks me almost every weekend 🙂 thank you so much!
hi Divya,
wow.. that’s really good news for me. hehe very happy to hear that. Thanks 😀 haha.. everyweekend.. I want to see how long it will take until your hubby says..”no more for sometime..~~~” like this.. hehe 😀
My son *loves* dak galbi and every time we go to Korea, he insists on us finding a restaurant in Seoul. I made this today and it was given a two thumbs up by him and my Korean husband. (My daughter ate it, but she prefers less spicy food. 😀 ) Thanks, Aeri! 감사합니다!
hi hanaxela,
wow.. that’s great that your son liked this recipe. Thanks 😀
Yes, he loved it so much I had to make it again the next day. Dak galbi two days in a row is too much for me! LOL My son enjoyed it, though and is happy to have an opportunity to eat it at home in the States. 🙂
Hi hanaxela,
haha.. It’s great that your son liked this dish that much. Even if it was too much work, I’m sure that you were happy to cook for your son. 😉 Thanks.
Actually, it’s not that difficult to make. It was the spiciness that was too much to handle! 😀
Do you have a gomtang recipe or will you be posting one anytime soon?
Hi hanaxela,
haha.. I got it ^^
Gomtang.. I will post it someday.. maybe in the fall or winter.. I have to make it first to write down the recipe while I’m cooking.. that way I can give you good recipe. 😀 Please wait for it.. thanks 😀
Mmm sounds awesome. Maybe my friends and I can make it next weekend.
Thanks so much for this recipe. I have gotten this bug to eat Korean food lately after making some kimchi. This meal really hit the spot, although I am still unsure about the rice cakes, they had a different texture than I thought they would. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes, these sites are better than any Korean cookbooks I have seen. Thanks again.
Wow! This kind of food is what we love to eat especially during cold weather. Since Korean store is just nearby of place, it is no problem to buy the ingresdients. Thank you for your column. I will be on watch to your next recipe. Good luck
Hi, Aeri! I have been looking for a good recipe for dak galbi and I can’t wait to try this out. Is the curry powder just the usual one you can buy at the American grocery store spice section or do I need to go to a Korean grocery store to buy it? Thanks!
hi Jonathan’s mom,
Korean curry powder taste totally different from the one at the American grocery store.. so please try Korean one for this recipe. thanks 🙂
hi aeri, can i skip the curry here as i can’t see any of korean curry here in hk? will it affect the taste? pls reply ~ kamsahamnida~
hi jobeth,
I think… that the korean curry is a secret ingredient for this food. You can still enjoy this without curry..but the authentic flavor has curry taste in it. thanks
been using your recipe everytime I cook dakgalbi.. easy to follow and definitely tasty…^^ better than any of what I’ve tried before..^^
Dear Aeri,
I absolutely love your website! I’ve pinned some of your recipes on Pinterest and I’m going to try out a lot of your recipes. Thank you so much! 😀
I love your website soooooooooooooo much. It really help me developed an interest in making Korean food. When I visited Korea, I have the above dish with noodles. My friend told me that is 쫄면 but it looks like instant noodles to me… What kind of noodles I should use if I make this?
hi Sana,
Sorry… I can’t guess well what kind of noodles you tried… usually dakgalbi doesn’t have noodles that I know of… hmm.. sorry..
Hi Aeri!
I just made this for dinner and everyone loved it! Perfect for those who really like their food spicy!
Thank you!
Hi Aeri!
I haven been watching for recipes. It helped me a lot to satisfied me when I can not go out to eat.
Thanks a lot for your all precious recipes. 😉
Today I’m trying to make this recipe. But I can’t find sesame leaves. Can I make it without sesame leaves because I couldnt find them in Korean groceries.
hi Thuy Tran,
Sorry for late reply. About your question..if you don’t have sesame leaves .. you have to skip them..hehe it gives good flavor to this dish..but it will be still delicious without it. thanks
Hi Arie!
Finally I found some sesame leaves and I’ve done this spicy chicken dish. It’s taste a lot different with sesame leave. Thanks to your wonderful recipe. I love this dish so muchhhhh… 🙂
Hi~~ thanks for the recipe I got to know bout ur web page thru a blog.. It’s really tasty n nice my family loves it so much..in the same time I also make the kimchi fried rice..it’s awesome!!!! Ur recipe really tasted good… Thanks again 😆
Hello,
I love your recipe, it tastes very authentic for Chuncheon Dakgal-bi (I went to Kangwon National University for School). Just one point, you do not need to add water to the recipe, water comes from the cabbage. No Chuncehon (or Wonju) restaurant adds water to the dakgal-bi when it is cooked.
My wife and made the recipe without water and it worked wonderfully. Thank you for making the recipe available. Far better than the recipes I found on Naver!
I made this today but veganised it by using mock duck instead of chicken & swapped the water with dashima shiitake mushroom broth, with helps to replace the flavour of the meat. It was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
hi Georgie,
Wow, interesting..and great job. 🙂 I’m very happy to hear that you enjoyed it. Thanks. 🙂
This recipe is amazing! My husband and I lived in Cheong-ju, South Korea and since being home we have been unable to find a more authentic version of Dak Galbi….until now! I replaced the white sugar with honey and it was so delicious (maybe even too delicious!). Thanks for the recipe!
hi WaitingforBaby Teeter,
Hurray ~~ 🙂 hehe.. I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed my recipe. Especially you lived in Korea, so you know the authentic flavor of Korean food. Thanks for your comment.