찜닭 Jjimdak | Korean Braised Chicken

Jjimdak or dakjjim is Korean braised chicken with sweet, savory and spicy braising sauce where soy sauce, sugar and dried chili pepper is the main ingredient for the sauce. Jjimdak originated from Andong, therefore it is known as Andong Jjimdak as well. I had Andong Jjimdak twice when I was in Korea and it left me a strong impression of it's savory taste. Therefore I learn how to cook Jjimdak since Korean Restaurant in Malaysia doesn't sell this dish. Original Andong-styled Jjimdak recipe, dried chili pepper is use for the spiciness. I am using fresh chili pepper here as I prefer very mild spiciness in gravy.

Ingredient (2-3 Servings):

2 Chicken whole leg chopped (500 gram)

1 Potato

1 Yellow Onion

1 Carrot

4-6 Shiitake Mushrooms

1 bulk of Spring Onions

2-3 Red Chili Pepper

Korean Glass noodle (150 gram)

For the Braising Sauce:

Soy sauce - 1/3 cup

Oyster sauce - 2 tbsp

Mirin - 2 tbsp

Brown Sugar - 2 tbsp

Honey - 2 tbsp

Minced Garlic - 1 tbsp

Minced Ginger - 1 tsp

Sesame oil - 1 tbsp

Water - 2 1/2 cup

a pinch of black pepper

some sesame seeds - for garnish later

How to Cook

Step 1. 

Soak the glass noodles & dried shiitake mushroom in warm water for about 20 minutes. Drain the water and set aside. Meanwhile, clean the chicken whole leg and remove excess fat. Chopped into 4 parts (I usually get the chicken seller to chopped it when I bought the chicken meat).

 

Step 2. 

Dice the potato, carrot and onion into chunks. Chopped red chili pepper. Chopped spring onion into finger length. Set aside.

Step 3. 

Make the braising sauce by combine all ingredient in a bowl.

Step 4. 

Place the chicken parts in a pot or skillet, pour the braising sauce evenly on the chicken, add in 2.5 cups of water (or enough to cover the chicken meat), bring it to boil on high heat. When it is boiling, remove the foam, continue to boil it over high heat, covered, for about 15 minutes.

Step 5. 

Add the dice potatoes, carrots, onion, mushrooms, chopped red chili pepper & spring onion. Continue to let it boil on high heat, covered, for additional 15 minutes until the liquid is reduced to about 2/3.

Step 6. 

Reduce the heat to medium low, add in glass noodle in the middle, let it boil for another 3-5 mins, uncovered, until the glass noodle absorb the sauce well. *Beware not to over-boil, the glass noodle might absorb most of the sauce, reduce the heat further if necessary, make sure there are some sauce left.

Serve it on a plate, garnish with sesame seed and it is ready to eat! It can be eaten just like that, or serve with a bowl of rice. You may also use udon to replace Korean glass noodle - the first Jjimdak I had in Seoul using udon. 찜닭을 맛있게 드세요~