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A one-pot hearty, flavorful, and spicy Korean chicken stir fry tender and juicy and sauteed with sweet potatoes, tteok (rice cakes), cabbage, and carrots. The vegetables and tteok soak up all the beautiful and fragrant flavors and spices.

Perilla and lettuce leaves are used to wrap the chicken and vegetables and any leftovers can be made into a delicious kimchi fried rice. This one’s best for sharing with a group of friends or fellow spicy food lover.

Dak Galbi, sometimes known as Chuncheon Dak Galbi, was first conceived in the 1960s in the town of Chuncheon as a substitute and more affordable dish to the Dwaeji Galbi, made from grilled pork ribs. Due to the high cost and the accessibility of the meat, they substituted pork or chicken instead. Dak translates to chicken while galbi means ribs. Although no chicken ribs are used in the dish, more commonly used nowadays are chicken thighs.

What is Dak Galbi Made of?

The name of the game is chicken!
I prefer to use chicken thighs as they have this tender and juicy quality when cooked. You’ll find recipes that mix chicken thighs and chicken breast, but personally, I prefer to only use the thigh.

If the breast isn’t cooked properly it tends to dry out.

Make sure that you get boneless thighs, so that they’re fuss-free and can even be skinless.

Although the skin can give the chicken a more succulent flavor, I feel that the cooking method combined with all the spices, the skin doesn’t add much in the way of flavor in this particular dish. But I you like chicken skin then by all means keep it!

Perilla Leaves
Perilla Leaves are also often used in the cooking process of this dish, but I prefer to use them as the wrapper once the dish is complete, as this allows you to get the maximum flavor of the leaves.

Another reason why I’ve let it out of the cooking process is that the perilla leaves are not always easy to find unless you have a Korean grocer near you. I did say this recipe was easy :-)

Lettuce leaves for wrapping
Lettuce leaves are for wrapping the chicken and vegetables once cooked. Since I do have perilla leaves, in this recipe I use both the lettuce and perilla leaves. And of course, don’t worry I you don’t. The lettuce leaves will work just fine!

Rice cakes AKA Teokk
Rice cakes and sweet potatoes: Korean rice cakes also called Teokk and the sweet potatoes, I feel are necessary because it soaks up the seasoning sauce flavors and add a nice texture to the overall dish.

Spice levels and Chilli Flakes
My recipe is simply a guideline, so if you love more spice then feel free to add more gochugaru, the Korean chilli flakes. I only use a 1/4 cup or 25 grams.

If you’re a sucker or spice, then I suggest increasing the gochugaru spice to ¼ cups at a time and see how you like your spiciness levels.

What Cooking Equipment Do You Need?

Finally, the only piece of cookery equipment is a large skillet or large pan that has a lid. I’m using a 28cm pan but you may need a wider pan if you’re planning to cook for more than 3 people.

The Dak Galbi Recipe

The Ingredients

Seasoning Marinade Ingredients:
50 grams of finely chopped garlic (10 cloves of garlic)
6 grams of ginger paste (1tsp)
50 grams of Gochujang (3tbsp)
20 grams chicken stock powder (2 tbsp)
30 grams Gochugaru Korean red chili flakes (1/2 cup)
25 grams soy sauce (2 Tbsp)
25 grams of Korean curry powder (Ottogi brand 1tbsp)
105 grams apple juice (200ml)
40 grams honey (2 tbsp)
2 tablespoons of oil

Chicken
500g skinless chicken thigh cut into bite-sized pieces: Make sure to use boneless chicken pieces

Vegetables and toppings (Measure everything)
200 grams of white onions roughly chopped (roughly 1 whole onion)
100 grams green onions sliced diagonally (4 stalks of green onions)
150 grams sweet potato cut into thick batons
200g white cabbage

Korean Rice cakes
200 grams Toppoki rice cakes

Leaves for Wrapping
1 bunch of perilla leaves for wrapping
1 bunch of lettuce leaves for wrapping

Dak Galbi Cooking Instructions

Step 1. Create the seasoning marinade by mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl
Tip: The marinade can last for 10 days in the fridge

Step 2. Add 1/3 of the seasoning sauce to the chicken. Then cover it with cling film and let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour. If you’d like a more intense flavor then leave it to marinade for 24 hours.

Some people marinate the chicken in soy sauce before adding it to the pan and pouring the seasoning sauce on it.

But to me, this is an unnecessary step since the sauce is already full of flavor and… it cuts out a step making it less hassle for you.

Step 3. Add the 2 oil to the wok on medium heat and place the vegetables in the following order in the pan: onions, cabbage, sweet potatoes, and green onion stems and teokk in the base of the pan and create a little pile.

Step 4. Then add the chicken on top of your little vegetable pile and pour the remaining seasoning marinade on top.

Step 5. Use a spatula to mix everything well. Once thoroughly mixed, place the lid on for 10 minutes and stir once again halfway through the cooking time.

Step 6. Once 10 minutes have passed, remove the lid and reduce to medium-low heat for a further 10 minutes and continue stirring every 2 minutes to remove any of the liquids and intensify the flavors. It's important to cook out the liquid as you do not want a soupy Dak Galbi.

Step 7. To check if the chicken is cooked, simply use a scissor and chop one of the chicken pieces in half to check the doneness of the chicken.

Step 8. You can either serve straight out of the pan or transfer to a large bowl and provide everyone a serving plate to help themselves using the lettuce and perilla leaves to wrap the dak galbi mixture.

Kimchi Fried Rice Recipe

Kimchi Fried Rice (this mini recipe is what you can make with all the leftover dak galbi in your pan)
Use any leftover chicken and vegetables with seasoning marinade in the pan

Kimchi Fried Rice Ingredients

150 grams of chopped kimchi
2 cups of day-old rice
Drizzle of sesame oil
Roasted seaweed sprinkled on top of the rice
2 eggs mixed in a bowl

Kimchee Fried Rice Cooking Instructions

Step 1. Using the leftover chicken and leftover marinade in the pan, bring it back to medium heat and add the chopped kimchee and day-old rice. This is the rule for any fried rice dish. NEVER use freshly cooked rice, unless you want Uncle Roger knocking on your door. Day-old rice works best.

Once the rice is nicely covered in all the left-over marinade in the pan and the kimchee is evenly mixed, mound it into a nice rice mountain and pour the egg on the edges making a little flying saucer shape.

Step 2. Enjoy the kimchee fried rice straight out of the pan!

QUICK TIP: I love to fry a sunny-side-up egg to place on top the rice

Now that's a Hunger Hug!

Common Questions About This Recipe

Do I need to marinade the chicken in milk?
Some people add whole milk to the chicken to get rid of the chicken smell. But as long as you use fresh chicken you should be fine.

Can I substitute the gochujang?
No. If you did, it just wouldn’t be called a Dak Galbi anymore.

Can I add cheese to this dish and turn it into a cheese dakgalbi?
Yes, you can. Many recipes out there serve use shredded mozzarella cheese and they add it on top of the chicken and veg mixture right before putting on the lid. By all means, try it. Personally, I find it too heavy, but if you love cheese then give it a go!

Can I use Japanese curry powder or any other store-bought curry powder?
Yes you can, I’ve used the Japanese curry brand and it tastes just as good. You'll get a slightly different flavor profile, but it still tastes delicious.

Easy Korean Dak Galbi Recipe (Spicy Chicken Stir-Fry)