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Dak-bokkeumtang (Spicy Braised Chicken)

Dak-bokkeumtang (Spicy Braised Chicken)

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Bone-in chicken, potatoes, and carrots braised in a deep red sauce until the meat is tender and the potatoes drink enough seasoning to deserve the rice beside them.

Main Dishes
Korean
Weeknight
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield4 servings

Dak-bokkeumtang lives or dies before the lid ever goes on. If you stir raw gochujang straight into water and hope the pot will forgive you, the heat stays sharp and flat. Bloom the gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) and gochujang (chili paste) in a little oil first. That one minute makes the sauce deeper, rounder, and less like it came from the tub in a hurry.

This is weeknight comfort food, not banquet food, and that is exactly why it deserves careful measuring. A chicken cut through the bone, two potatoes, one carrot, onion, scallion, and enough sauce to stain the rice red at the bottom of the bowl. The potatoes should hold their edges while turning creamy inside. The chicken should pull cleanly from the bone. The sauce should cling, not flood.

Notebook 38 says the sugar is the first place people lose their way. Use just enough to soften the chili and soy, not enough to make the chicken taste candied. Let it taste like itself. When times change, food must change too, so use a heavy pot, a Dutch oven, or an electric pressure cooker if that is the evening you have. But cut the vegetables large, bloom the chili, and reduce the sauce at the end. Those corners are not for cutting.

Dak-bokkeumtang is a modern Korean home and restaurant braise, closely tied to the wider spread of gochugaru and gochujang-based everyday cooking and to the availability of factory-cut chicken in the twentieth century. Many older menus and home cooks still call it dakdoritang, a name that became controversial because some argued dori came from Japanese; the National Institute of Korean Language encouraged dak-bokkeumtang, though food historians and cooks still debate the word's origin. Whatever name is used, the dish belongs to the practical Korean table: one pot, enough sauce for rice, and vegetables that make a modest chicken feed more people.

The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.

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Ingredients

bone-in chicken pieces

Quantity

1.2kg

cut through the bone, excess fat trimmed

kosher salt

Quantity

1 teaspoon, divided

black pepper

Quantity

1/2 teaspoon

freshly ground

neutral oil

Quantity

1 tablespoon

gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)

Quantity

2 tablespoons

medium-coarse

gochujang (Korean chili paste)

Quantity

2 tablespoons

soy sauce

Quantity

4 tablespoons

soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang) (optional)

Quantity

1 tablespoon

rice wine or mirin

Quantity

2 tablespoons

rice syrup or sugar

Quantity

1 tablespoon

garlic

Quantity

5 cloves

minced

fresh ginger

Quantity

1 teaspoon

grated

water or unsalted chicken stock

Quantity

2 cups

waxy potatoes

Quantity

2 medium (about 450g)

peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

carrot

Quantity

1 large (about 180g)

cut into 1-inch chunks

onion

Quantity

1 medium

cut into thick wedges

scallions

Quantity

2

cut into 2-inch lengths

green chili (optional)

Quantity

1

sliced on the diagonal

red chili (optional)

Quantity

1

sliced on the diagonal

toasted sesame oil

Quantity

1 teaspoon

toasted sesame seeds

Quantity

1 teaspoon

Equipment Needed

  • •Wide 5 to 6 quart heavy pot or Dutch oven with lid
  • •Tongs
  • •Instant-read thermometer
  • •Small bowl for mixing sauce

Instructions

  1. 1

    Trim the chicken

    Trim away loose fat and any sharp bone fragments from the chicken. Pat it dry, then season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the black pepper. Dry chicken browns and braises cleanly; wet chicken throws off liquid before the sauce has a chance to build.

  2. 2

    Mix the sauce

    In a small bowl, stir together the gochujang, soy sauce, soup soy sauce, rice wine, rice syrup, garlic, ginger, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Keep the gochugaru separate for now. It blooms better in oil before the wet sauce goes in, and that is the difference between deep heat and raw heat.

    Soup soy sauce is saltier and more aromatic than regular soy sauce. If you do not have it, use one more tablespoon regular soy sauce and do not add extra salt until the end.
  3. 3

    Brown the chicken

    Heat the oil in a wide heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken skin-side down where there is skin, and brown it in one layer for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Work in batches if needed. You are not cooking it through yet; you are giving the sauce browned edges to hold onto.

  4. 4

    Bloom the chili

    Lower the heat to medium. Push the chicken to one side or lift it briefly to a plate if the pot is crowded. Add the gochugaru to the oil left in the pot and stir for 30 to 45 seconds, just until the oil turns red and the chili smells rounded. Do not let it blacken. Stir in the prepared sauce and cook 1 minute more, scraping the bottom of the pot.

  5. 5

    Start the braise

    Return all the chicken to the pot and turn it through the sauce. Add the water or stock, then bring it to a steady simmer. Cover and cook 15 minutes. The liquid will look too loose at first. Leave it alone; the reduction comes later, after the chicken has had time to become tender.

  6. 6

    Add root vegetables

    Add the potatoes, carrot, and onion, tucking them between the chicken pieces so they sit partly in the sauce. Cover again and simmer 18 to 22 minutes, turning the pieces once halfway through. The potatoes are ready when a chopstick slides in without cracking them apart.

  7. 7

    Reduce the sauce

    Uncover the pot and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, spooning sauce over the chicken and vegetables. This is where dak-bokkeumtang becomes itself. The sauce should thicken enough to gloss the chicken and cling to the potatoes, with some liquid left for rice. Check that the thickest chicken piece reaches 74C or 165F at the bone.

  8. 8

    Finish and serve

    Stir in the scallions and sliced chilies, then cook 1 minute so they soften but keep their color. Turn off the heat and add the sesame oil. Scatter sesame seeds over the top. Rest the pot 5 minutes before serving; the sauce settles, the potatoes firm slightly, and the table has time to get rice into bowls.

Chef Tips

  • •Buy chicken cut through the bone if you can. The bone gives the braise body, and the small pieces cook evenly. Boneless thighs work for a faster pot, but reduce the covered cooking time by about 10 minutes and use only 1 1/2 cups liquid.
  • •Use waxy potatoes, not floury baking potatoes. They hold their corners through the braise and turn creamy inside instead of collapsing into the sauce.
  • •Do not solve weak sauce by adding more gochujang at the end. Reduce the liquid first. Gochujang added late tastes raw and salty, while reduction makes the sauce taste like one pot.
  • •For a pressure cooker, brown and bloom as written, then cook the chicken with the sauce and liquid on high pressure for 8 minutes. Quick release, add the vegetables, cook 3 minutes more, then reduce uncovered on saute until the sauce clings. The vessel can change. The blooming and reducing still matter.
  • •Serve with plain rice, napa kimchi, and one clean green banchan such as spinach namul or cucumber muchim. This pot is bold, so the side dishes should give it room.

Advance Preparation

  • •The sauce can be mixed up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated, but keep the gochugaru separate if you want the cleanest bloom in oil.
  • •The chicken can be trimmed and salted up to 12 hours ahead. Keep it covered in the refrigerator and pat it dry again before browning.
  • •Leftovers keep 3 days refrigerated. Reheat gently with 2 to 3 tablespoons water so the potatoes warm through without breaking apart.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)

Calories
620 calories
Total Fat
32 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
22 g
Cholesterol
145 mg
Sodium
2200 mg
Total Carbohydrates
42 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
12 g
Protein
41 g

Note: Chef personas and recipes are created with AI assistance. Cook with care: follow safe food-handling practices, check doneness with a thermometer when needed, and adapt for allergies and your kitchen.

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