BULDAK - MARINATED SPICY KOREAN CHICKEN 🇰🇷

What is your level of spice that you can handle?

The name of this Korean dish is called ‘buldak’ which literally translates to fire-chicken. As Korean food became more recognised for its spiciness, this dish became popular for its dark red chilli sauce and to have sweat drip down the sides of your chin and while eating.

But despite its literal name, you can actually enjoy this dish without the extra heat. The great thing about this dish is that the level of spice is completely adjustable to your taste. The marinade is very flavourful, sweet and savoury that the spice is only an icing on the cake.

I first tried buldak when I visited Seoul, South Korea after 6 years of moving to Canada. Oh man, it was so much flavour! It is definitely a sharing main dish with your friends or family! It’s tasty, fun and you’ll be sniffing your way through it but you won’t be able to stop.

I love spicy food - really, I love it. If you can handle extreme spice, this recipe will not satisfy your heat pain where your mouth feels like you dipped your tongue in lava. The korean chili peppers (gochugaru) that is used in the recipe is not like ghost peppers or carolina reaper, it’s much milder. But, it’s delicious!

I hope you enjoy!

-Ari Yori

BULDAK - SPICY MARINATED CHICKEN

prep time: 15 minutes

cooking time: 10-15 minutes

portion: 3-4 servings

---

INGREDIENTS

• 450g/1 lbs chicken thighs, skin removed, cut into bite size pieces

• 5 to 7 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed

• 1 tsp ginger, finely chopped or grated

• 2 tbsp mirin

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tbsp oyster sauce

• 1 tbsp apple juice or apricot jam

• 1 to 3.5 tbsp gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) depending on your level of spice

• 1-2 tbsp cooking oil

• 1 tsp sugar

• 1 small onion, thinly sliced

• 2 green onions, cut into 2 inch long (optional)

• sesame seeds for garnishing

• Served with rice balls (jumukbap) or cooked rice

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, mix together chicken, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, miring, oyster sauce, apple juice/apricot jam and gochugaru. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to overnight.

2. Heat a wok or a large pan and drizzle vegetable oil. Sauté the onions until translucent and slightly caramelised.

3. Add the marinated chicken and cook for about 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Make sure your mix with your spatula so it does not burn.

4. Taste the marinade and sprinkle sugar to your desired taste. Season with salt & pepper to your taste

5. Garnish with sesame seeds and some thinly sliced green onions. You can serve the chicken with rice balls or a bowl of cooked rice.

PRO TIP

• Careful with ginger! Too much ginger can overpower your dish.

Please share your experience below! I would love to hear what you think.