Dak Galbi: A Fiery Korean Chicken Stir-Fry

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces, or more as needed
• ¼ cup gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes)
• 1 tablespoon mirin (Japanese sweet wine)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cups Korean-style glutinous rice cakes (tteok)
• ¼ large head cabbage, sliced into strips
• 1 sweet potato, sliced into rounds
• ½ onion, chopped
• 3 scallions, sliced into 1-inch pieces, divided
• 4 leaves perilla leaves, sliced, or to taste
• ½ cup water
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Step 1

Gently heat some oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Toss in the chicken pieces and cook them, stirring often, until they’re mostly cooked through and no longer pink—this usually takes about 4 to 7 minutes.

Step 2

While the chicken is cooking, mix together the gochujang, soy sauce, gochugaru, mirin, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, black pepper, and ginger in a small bowl. Once the chicken is ready, pour this sauce over it and keep stirring until the chicken is nicely browned and coated, which should take another 3 to 5 minutes.

Step 3

Add the rice cakes, cabbage, sweet potato, and onion to the pan. Stir everything together and let it cook until the sweet potatoes start to soften and change color, about 10 minutes. If the sauce starts to dry out, feel free to splash in a little water to keep things saucy.

Step 4

Finally, throw in most of the scallions and the perilla leaves, cooking just long enough for them to wilt—around 3 minutes. When you’re ready to serve, sprinkle the rest of the scallions and some sesame seeds on top for a little extra flavor and crunch.