Dak Galbi, my way.

Dak Galbi became my and hubby's favourite Korean dish during our holiday in South Korea last April. Don't get me wrong, we loved everything we ate during our 9 -day stay in Seoul and Busan. From the barbecues,  the stews, the kimchi, the bread and pastries, the Fried Chickens and even the street foods. However,  there's something about this cooked- on- the- table , spicy chicken dish that simply made crave us for more.

So when we landed back in Germany , I did what I do best, scourge the Internet for recipes of my newest food obsession and went online shopping for ingredients .

 I was so obsessed that I even made korean rice cakes (  Gareatteok ) from scratch since I can't find it in my place.

Unfortunately Sesame/ Perilla leaves is also not available in our area, I even bought sesame seeds for planting out of sheer frustration of missing an important ingredient . However,  I  can not   wait for months for these seeds to grow and give me a handful of its leaves.Patience is clearly NOT my virtue when it comes to food and cooking ,so I simply replace it with home grown herbs. I tried perilla leaves and it has its distinct taste. I used fresh sages, sweet thai basil and few mint leaves, it tasted pretty delish to me, FF and I had it twice since coming back home and we want to have it again next week!!

I also did not find Korean Curry powder so I ordered this Japanese Curry Roux from Amazon. I used my  cheese grater to turn it into powder like consistency.

Ingredients:

Serves 2-3 people

400 g chicken, cut into strips, bone and skin remove.  

I used chicken breast

2 cups cabbage

1 small carrot

1 cup korean rice cake

1 cup sweet potato

1 medium sized potato

2 stalks spring onion

a handful of perilla leaves 

( I replaced it with sage, sweet thai basil and 4 mint leaves)

1 cup mozzarella cheese

2 cups cooked korean rice

( short grain rice/sushi rice)

3 tbsp. korean dried seaweeds

1-2 tbsp. oil for frying

Marinade:

1 cube. Japanese curry roux or

 if you got korean curry powder, the better

1 tsp. grated ginger

6 cloves garlic, finely minced

3 tbsp. Korean chili paste ,Gochujang

1 tbs. Korean chilis powder, Gochugaru

use more if you like it really spicy!

2 tbsp. light soy sauce

1 tbsp. honey

1 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. rice vinegar

1 tbsp. roasted sesame oil

1. Mix all marinade ingredients together . Take about 1/3 of it and use it to marinate chicken strips for at least 1 hour. Keep the rest.

2. Add oil in the pan.Add you cabbage, then put sweet potato, carrot , chopped spring onion, perilla leaves ( hope you got some).

Scatter sliced potato and rice cake over vegetables.

 Put marinated chicken strips on top of the vegetable. Add the rest of the marinade. Turn on the heat.

Cook under medium high heat. The water from the vegetable will keep the dish from drying. Stir once in a while to avoid the ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the vegetables and chicken are cooked, add mozzarella cheese.  

If you want to eat Dak Galbi like the Koreans do, start eating while it bubbling and straight from the pan.  Enjoy it with lots of banchans /side dishes such as kimchi or lettuce leaves for wrapping. Eating is communal thing in Korea so sharing is the way to go. You can naturally scoop your portion into you plate/bowl if double dipping is not your thing but where's the fun in there?!😜

When there's almost nothing left on the pan but sauce and bits of pieces or veggies and meat. Dump the cold rice, add the seaweeds. Stir, stir, stir.

This is my favourite part of  Dak Galbi. I especially  enjoyed  scrapping off crusty rice at the bottom of  the pan!

Do try this dish and fall in love with Korean cuisine. If you're already at it , I wish you ', Bon Appetit! ''