Dak Galbi (닭 갈비) is one of the most famous and tasty dishes of Korean cuisine, made with tender marinated spicy stir-fried chicken, to which are added various ingredients including cabbage, tteok (a kind of rice cake cut into small white cylinders), shallots, sweet potatoes, spicy chilli paste and many other delicious ingredients that enrich the dish with an intense flavor.
A recipe originated in the 1960s in the city of Chuncheon, the capital of the Gangwon region, as an economic alternative to other dishes that, in that post-war period, people could not afford.
The Dak Galbi is usually cooked by mixing all the ingredients in a large circular cast-iron pan, directly at your table with a cooking hob in the center or, without that, cooked on a portable gas stove. It is usually the restaurant staff who take care of preparing the dish for you and once ready you will receive the signal to start devouring the delight!
It’s a dish made with chili paste, so before ordering it, remember to ask for the level of spiciness you tolerate.
You can eat it by picking it directly from the pan or roll it into a perilla or lettuce leaf. On the table you will find, as always, the various small side dishes plates, called 반찬 Banchan in Korean, which you can re-fill as many times as you want.
Before the Dak Galbi is finished you can ask for some rice that you can mix and heat along with what is left in the pan.
Given its abundant portion and the cooking method with the pan in the center of the table, it should be shared with someone, a cheap and delicious dish perfect to accompany alcoholic drinks in the evening.
There are variations like the one with the cheese that start to melt during the cooking, a super delight!
You will find the Dak Galbi everywhere in South Korea and I’m sure that everyone will love it, obviously you have to be carnivorous!
