Dakgalbi

This Korean dish has been one of my favorites since first trying it several years ago. I regularly would make it for myself and friends in Montreal.  I’ll describe it and then follow it up with the official description afterward. Dakgalbi is pieces of deboned chicken thrown into a large pan to which you add things such as bean sprouts, cabbage, tteok (piece of soft rice cake), onions, garlic, ginger, mushrooms and sesame seeds.  Finally a large amount of red pepper paste called gochujang is always included.  I’ll be doing a whole post on gochujang paste as it’s starting to make inroads to other cultures and dishes.

Like any famous dish the variations of ingredients can change slightly between restaurants to make it “their own”.

When I got into Seoul this was one of the first dishes I wanted to eat; however it’s usually only served for two or more individuals in restaurants.  This is the case for several Korean dishes; if you’re by yourself you won’t be able to order it, unless of course you have a monster appetite and can eat for two.

I had to wait a week or so before I got my first chance to have this dish with friends.  I had it once with my Korean friend, once with my good German friend and finally a third time with a group of Canadians, my Korean and German friends.  The pictures will be a mix of these nights.

Below you see the previously mentioned ingredients as they go into the large pan.  The whole thing is cooked by a gas burner located in the middle of the table or brought to the table shortly before hand.    This was the first time I had this dish with a ‘splash guard’ and it completely makes sense.  I think the guard depends on how fancy the restaurant you’re in wants to be.  As the chicken and vegetables heat up and mix with the paste it tends to get watery and messy while it cooks.

The smell this generates while cooking is absolutely mouth watering. I particularly enjoy the crunch of the cabbage while biting into the chicken and tteok.

If you look closely at the pictures below you can see some sweet potatoes and the famous tteok (it’s the finger sized pasta looking thing).  The first time I tried this was in Montreal and I really didn’t like it.   The consistency was too stiff and bland for my taste;  I suspect this was because it wasn’t as fresh as it is here in Korea.

However after having had it here i’m completely hooked.  The consistency is like a large piece of over cooked pasta but slightly more chewy.  It’s hard to describe but it’s filling and comes in a multitude of dishes.  So far it’s been in dakgalbi, a steamed mussel dish, as a street food mixed into watered down gochujang paste and in soups.

You’ll also notice the addition of Ramen noodles in one of the pictures.  Those were added after the rest of the chicken and vegetables had cooked and the noodles themselves we’re also covered in the spicy gochujang paste.  This added a significant “kick” (spiciness) to the already hot dish.

Once you’ve eaten the majority of the dakgalbi mix it’s customary to fire up the grill again and add some rice (often with small pieces of chopped seaweed).  The rice is then mixed into any remaining sauce and dakgalbi forming a crispy coating.  It reminds me a little bit of ‘rice crust/pizza crust’ while the bottom is crispy the top of the rice is just as you would expect.

It gets between the teeth but is definitely delicious and fills the stomach so that you step away from the table feeling nice and full.  I didn’t capture this with any pictures but you can see the leftovers (barely any left overs with this dish!). I’ve also included a close up of what a cooked plate of dakgalbi looks like.  It might not look like the most appealing thing you’ve seen but I assure you it’s amazingly delicious (and healthy!)

I’ve had this dish four times since I’ve been in Seoul (four times in 4 weeks).  I know it says three above but I’ve had it once more between the time I started writing the article and finishing it :-)  If it wasn’t for the fact that you have to be at least two people to order this dish I would probably had eaten it much more often.

I’ll leave you with two quick pictures of how busy this galbi restaurant was when we sat down to enjoy the dish between friends.  It was already a hot day so imagine yourself eating a hot dish, in an already hot restaurant with a gas burner at each table ;-)  It’s night like these that make soju such a refreshing drink!

Here’s the “official” description courtesy of wikipedia:

“Dak galbi, also romanized dalk galbi, is a popular South Koreanstir-frying marinated diced chicken in a dish generally made by gochujang (chili pepper paste) based sauce, and sliced cabbage, sweet potato, scallions, onions and tteok (rice cake) together on a hot plate. It is a local specialty food for the city of Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, where dak galbi originates. Because of its origin, the dish is also called Chuncheon dalk galbi.^[1]

It is said that dak galbi appeared after the late 1960s as an inexpensive anju (food that is eaten while drinking) in small taverns, on the outskirts of the city to replace the rather expensive gui (Korean grilled dishes) which are dishes cooked over charcoal.“

Dak is the Korean word for Chicken. This dish also comes in different variations of meat (sometimes seafood namely large squid and sometimes pork).

If you ever get a chance to try it, don’t say no!