Jan 28, 2013

Spicy Korean Chicken with Rice Cakes


I just came back from Korea not too long ago and the best part of the trip would have to be the food!! It was incredible the amount of great food we encountered wherever we went! On the street, at little hole in the walls, and even at big restaurants. Koreans must have a passion for food. One of the great dishes we had was Dak Galbi, which is a spicy chicken with rice cake.

I wanted to attempt to duplicate that at home. When researching, I came across a food blog called Beyond Kimchee. I think I must have pinned every single recipe on this blog!! Everything looks so mouthwatering. I found a recipe for Dak Galbi and I knew I had to try it.

The results? This is AMAZING!!! I knew it was going to be good as the smell of gochuchang (Korean chili paste) fills my apartment!! You really need to try this dish!!! It's that good!! With this recipe, I discovered this herb called perilla leaves. It has such an interesting taste and brings a lot to the dish, I want to put it on everything! Here's the recipe.

Spicy Korean Chicken with Rice Cakes
from Beyond Kimchee

1 lb (450g) boneless, skinless chicken thigh, diced
1/2 lb (250g) Korean rice cake sticks
1/4-1/2 cabbage, diced
8-10 perilla leaves, sliced
1/2 large onion, sliced
1 medium sweet potato, sliced into 1/4" thick wedges
2 tablespoon grape seed or canola oil
2-4 tablespoon water
more perilla leaves and toasted sesame seeds to garnish

For the sauce:
3 tablespoon Korean chili paste
2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoon Korean chili flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
2 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
dashes of pepper

1. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Toss the chicken pieces with 1/2 the sauce and mix. Set aside.

2. Soak rice cakes in hot water until ready to use and drain (if using fresh rice cakes, you don't need to soak it).

3. Drizzle oil in a cast iron skillet, spread the chicken and top with vegetables (only 1/2 the amount of perilla leaves) and rice cakes. Drizzle the remaining sauce over and bring the skillet over med-high heat.

4. When you hear the loud sizzling noise from the skillet, toss to coat everything with the sauce. Continue to cook for about 2 minutes. Add the water to create steam to cook and reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook, about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. When chickens are cooked through and potatoes are tender, add the rest of the perilla leaves and heat through. Everything should be slightly browned at this stage.Toss gently so that you don't break the potatoes.

6. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and garnish with more perilla leaves. Serve hot.

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