Spicy Stir-Fried Chicken (Dakgalbi)
Chunks of marinated chicken, cabbage, sweet potato and chewy rice cake griddle-fried together in a fiery, slightly sweet gochujang sauce. Loud, communal and utterly addictive, straight from Chuncheon's street-side grills.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Marinate the chicken
In a large bowl, mix the , , soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, garlic and ginger into a smooth paste. Add the chicken chunks and massage the sauce into the meat with your hands so every piece is coated, then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (for the best flavor, leave it 2–4 hours or overnight).
- 800 g chicken
- 4 tbsp
- 2 tbsp
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp rice wine
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp ginger
✅ Done when: the chicken is evenly red with marinade and has rested at least 30 minutes
Prep the vegetables
Cut the cabbage into bite-size pieces, slice the sweet potato thinly (about 5 mm) so it cooks through at the same speed as the chicken, slice the onion and cut the spring onions into batons. Tear the perilla leaves. If your rice cake is firm or dried out, soak the slices in warm water for about 10 minutes until soft and pliable.
- 300 g cabbage
- 1 sweet potato
- 300 g rice cake
- 1 onion
- 4 spring onions
- 10 perilla leaves
✅ Done when: the rice cake bends easily without snapping and all vegetables are sliced
Sear chicken and sweet potato
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Add cabbage and rice cake
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Finish and serve
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Marinate the chicken
In a large bowl, mix the , , soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, garlic and ginger into a smooth paste. Add the chicken chunks and massage the sauce into the meat with your hands so every piece is coated, then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (for the best flavor, leave it 2–4 hours or overnight).
- 800 g chicken
- 4 tbsp
- 2 tbsp
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp rice wine
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp ginger
✅ Done when: the chicken is evenly red with marinade and has rested at least 30 minutes
Prep the vegetables
Cut the cabbage into bite-size pieces, slice the sweet potato thinly (about 5 mm) so it cooks through at the same speed as the chicken, slice the onion and cut the spring onions into batons. Tear the perilla leaves. If your rice cake is firm or dried out, soak the slices in warm water for about 10 minutes until soft and pliable.
- 300 g cabbage
- 1 sweet potato
- 300 g rice cake
- 1 onion
- 4 spring onions
- 10 perilla leaves
✅ Done when: the rice cake bends easily without snapping and all vegetables are sliced
Sear chicken and sweet potato
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Add cabbage and rice cake
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Finish and serve
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The Story Behind the Dish
Dakgalbi was born in Chuncheon in the 1960s as a cheap, filling meal for factory workers and students. Chicken, far less expensive than beef, was cut up, marinated in a fiery gochujang sauce and grilled on a griddle in the style of beef galbi, which few could afford at the time — giving the dish its name, 'dak' (chicken) plus 'galbi' (ribs).
From small eateries near Chuncheon's train station, it spread across the country as a favorite anju (drinking food) and a go-to meal for students, often finished with a scoop of rice or noodles fried in the leftover sauce.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It's loved for the ritual of cooking and eating straight from a sizzling communal griddle, and for the way sweet potato and chewy rice cake soften the heat of the gochujang.
💡 Fun Fact
Chuncheon is nicknamed 'Dakgalbi Town' and has an entire street of restaurants devoted to the dish, which is considered one of the city's defining culinary exports.
Chuncheon, Gangwon Province
37.88°N, 127.73°E
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