DAK BOKKEUM TANG (KOREAN SPICY CHICKEN STEW)
SOURCE: HOONI KIM AND AKI KAMOZAWA. MY KOREA: TRADITIONAL FLAVORS, MODERN RECIPES.
Rustic chicken recipes live quite a reasonably brief but more contemporary history in Korean cookery because the wild and low-maintenance but sacred pheasant preferably ends up on the dining table until 1900, when Meiji Japan introduced its colonial protectorate Chōsen to the industrial wonders of Westernized poultry breeding, therefore switching the two avians on the Confucian-based Korean idiom, “pheasant instead of chicken”. Even with a new makeover of the expression, Koreans still managed to maximize homey comfort from braising the “second best” bird in a gochujang-spiked broth with potatoes and gochugaru flakes to create, what is perhaps, the reddest and boldest chicken stew known to humankind. Taste the depth of its flavors and a silver medal only makes the consolation prize all the more undeserving!
Ingredients
Gochugaru Sauce Base
1/4 cup/60 mL grape seed oil OR canola oil
3/4 cup/40 grams finely chopped onions
1/2 cup/30 grams finely chopped scallions
1/2 cup/70 grams gochugaru or Korean red chili flakes
2 1/4 pounds/1.1 kg whole chicken legs, separated into thighs and drumsticks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup/60 mL grape seed oil OR canola oil
4 cups/200 grams coarsely chopped onions
1 cup/150 grams seeded and chopped green bell peppers
2 cups/480 mL sake
4 medium-sized potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold, peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons/18 grams finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon/7 grams finely chopped ginger
2 cups/480 mL dashi OR homemade chicken stock
2 tablespoons/34 grams gochujang or Korean red chili paste, preferably artisan brands or slightly hot commercial brands
1/4 cup/60 mL soy sauce, preferably Korean
1/4 cup/50 grams sugar
Thinly sliced scallions for garnish
Specific Equipment
Wok OR medium-sized pot
Small bowl
Dutch oven
Tray
Lighter OR long match
Serves 4 to 6
Instructions
1. Pour the grape seed oil or canola oil into a wok or medium pot set over low heat. Sauté in the onions and scallions for 1 minute or until the mixture is well-blended. Stir in the gochugaru and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly over low heat, or until the mixture becomes a paste. Caution: Do not burn the gochugaru, or else it will get bitter.
2. Remove the wok or medium pot from heat and transfer the sauce to a small bowl. Set the sauce aside.
3. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and set aside for 15 minutes.
4. Pour the grape seed oil or canola oil into a Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. Sauté in 4 chicken pieces for 2 to 3 minutes on one side or until golden-brown. Turn over the other side and sear for another 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the chicken pieces to a tray. Repeat for the remainder of the chicken pieces and set aside.
5. Sauté in the onions and bell peppers for 5 minutes or until they have softened and turned golden brown. Stir in the sake and raise the heat to high to bring to a boil. Light the sake with a light or a long match, occasionally tossing the contents for 2 to 3 minutes or until the flames subside.
6. Stir in the potatoes, garlic, and ginger until well-blended. Pour in the dashi or chicken stock, gochujang, soy sauce, sugar, and half of the gochugaru sauce base. Return the chicken to the Dutch oven, coating all pieces with the liquid. Reduce the heat to low and bring to a simmer. Cover the Dutch oven with its lid and braise for 20 minutes or until the chicken has absorbed the liquid.
7. Stir in the remaining half of the gochugaru sauce base and braise the chicken uncovered for another 20 minutes or until the chicken pieces are tender.
8. Remove the Dutch oven from heat and transfer the chicken and vegetables to a deep-bottomed earthenware bowl. Garnish the chicken stew with thinly sliced scallions before serving.
