1. Ingredients for Dak-bokkeum-tang
-Primary ingredients: Chicken
-Secondary ingredients: Seasoning (Gochujang paste, soy sauce, sugar, spring onion and garlic) and vegetables (potato, carrot and onion)
2.Taste evaluation
-Spicy:★★★★☆
-Salty:★★★☆☆
-Sweet:★★☆☆☆
-Sour:☆☆☆☆☆
3. Introduction to Dak-bokkeum-tang (braised spicy chicken)
Dak-bokkeum-tang is a stew of chopped chicken seasoned with spicy Gochujang paste and braised with various vegetables. It’s one of the most popular dishes Korean people enjoy in any season.
It’s a popular dish but it has a short history with little records. There used to be a dish called Dori-tang made with similar recipe to Dak-bokkeum-tang in Pyeongyang in the beginning of the 1990s so it’s assumed that Dak-bokkeum-tang was originated from there.
But why is Dori-tang similar to Dak-bokkeum-tang? In the 1920s when it was invented, Korea was under the rule of Japanese Imperialism and Dak-dori-tang was named after Dori, which is a Japanese word for bird.
It’s commonly known as Dak-dori-tang even today but the correct name is Dak-bokkeum-tang.
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.0 | iso 1000 | 2015:03:21 17:04:16 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 50mm
Dak-bokkeum-tang is a stew of chopped chicken, seasoned with Gochujang paste, soy
sauce, sugar, spring onion and garlic, and boiled with potato, onion and carrot until there’s only little liquid left.
Chicken gets soft and tastier when it’s boiled for a long time.
It might be spicy at first due to Gochujang paste but it has a strong flavor of chicken meat because the whole bones are boiled together.
Korean foods mostly use spices like spring onion, garlic and ginger to remove the smell of meat. And taste of spices spreading in your mouth is quite unique.
Chicken is quite cheaper than beef or pork in Korea so you’ll be able to eat Dak-bokkeum-tang at a reasonable price.
Plus it looks plenty with all those vegetables including potato, carrot and onion that would make you full any time soon.
It’s a good dish to eat with other people because the dish is so big and cheap.
4. Kinds of Dak-bokkeum-tang
Since it has a short history, Dak-bokkeum-tang does not have many variations. But people today love spicy food so you can find spicy chicken as well.
And with the common ingredients including chicken and vegetables, you might as well add different kinds of vegetables in it.
So there are Haemul-dak-bokkeum-tang(seafood added), Kimchi-dak-bokkeum-tang(Kimchi added) and Kare-dak-bokkeum-tang(curry added).
Dak-bokkeum-tang is very popular cuisine in Korea that you can easily find the specialized restaurant.
Or you could enjoy it in a special way.
There are numerous restaurants along the road near famous valleys in Korea such as Namhansanseong Fortress and Cheonggyesan Mountain. And most of them around valleys would offer you Dak-bokkeum-tang.
You can enjoy the sound of water flowing next to you while you eat chicken.
You could even put your feet into the water if you get lucky enough to get a table.
You might get sweat and hot when you eat spicy Dak-bokkeum-tang. So it will be so nice to see cold water flowing next to you while you eat it. Plus you can play in the water from time to time so you can enjoy both a nice meal and a nice rest.
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.0 | iso 125 | 2013:03:02 17:20:45 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
