Recipe: Dakgalbi (Korean spicy stir fried chicken) 닭갈비

Since MCO started, we have been recreating a lot of our favourite eat-out dishes at home. One of our pre-MCO bi-weekly indulgence was dakgalbi, also known as Korean or Chuncheon-style spicy stir fried chicken. 

Dakgalbi 닭갈비 is made by stir-frying marinated chicken with sweet potatoes, cabbage, tteok (Korean rice cake), spring onion and ramen in a large, round flat hot plate, with lettuce and kimchi served on the side. Dakgalbi is usually made using boneless chicken drumstick or thigh (skin left-on), however at home, we opted for chicken breast. The chicken is marinated in gochujang (Korean light chilli paste), gochugaru (Korean red pepper powder), Korean rice wine (I substituted with mirin), light soy sauce, garlic, ginger and Korean curry powder (I used regular meat curry powder). In the restaurant, raw sweet potato is added straight into the pan and cooked with the chicken, however I prefer to steam it for 10 minutes at home for a nice, fluffy texture. Add in lots of cabbage for crunch and freshness. At the restaurant, we also add-on ramen for a complete meal. 

This definitely satisfied our dakgalbi craving ;) A pretty good replication of our favourite dakgalbi, though slightly a little wetter due to the surface area of the pan used at home. 

Dakgalbi 닭갈비 (Korean spicy stir fried chicken)

Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from My Korean Kitchen

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients
400g chicken breast, cut into bite-size chunks
2 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 large yellow sweet potato, steamed, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1/2 carrot, cut into matchsticks
4-6 cabbage leaves, sliced
1 packet (500g) Korean rice cakes
1 packet ramen noodles

2-3 stalks spring onions, cut into 2" lengths

For the marinade

3 tbsp gochujang

1 tbsp gochugaru

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp curry powder

Freshly ground black pepper

1. Place marinade in a bowl and then mix well. Add chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Rinse the rice cakes and then place in a large bowl. Pour over boiling water and leave for 3-5 minutes to soften it.

3. Place ramen in a pot and pour boiling water over it. Leave for 2-3 minutes and then drain and set aside. This helps rehydrate the noodles and partially soften it.

4. In a large wok, heat oil over medium high heat, then add marinated chicken, cabbage and carrot, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the rice cakes and sweet potato, and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring frequently so that the rice cakes don't stick to the wok. Taste, and season with more soy sauce or gochugaru as necessary.

5. Toss ramen noodles and spring onion in the mixture and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, until noodle texture is to your liking. Serve with lettuce leaves and kimchi.

Note: 

1. Original recipe calls for sugar in the marinade, but I omitted is as I find it too sweet with sugar. 

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Recipe: Siong Tong Lala 上湯啦啦 (Clams in Superior Soup)

 Siong tong lala 上湯啦啦 can commonly be found in Chinese dai chow (homestyle cooking) restaurants. We will not hesitate in ordering this if it's available on the menu - my son especially, loves this dish! That's how he got his nickname "Lala King".... he could easily devour a whole plate of lala, if you let him.

Siong tong la la usually comprises la la clams cooked in a superior stock with Chinese rice wine, dong quai (Angelica sinensis), cili padi, and goji berries. When we make it at home, we usually use Japanese asari clams which are really similar and more accessible (you can usually find this in frozen sections of the supermarket). I find them cleaner and less gritty too. You will first need to soak them in salted water and rinse several times to remove any excess grit.. it's no fun biting into grit when you're enjoying your dinner.

To make the stock, I use chicken stock, simmered with garlic, ginger and a generous dash of ginger wine. I love the herbal taste of the siong tong la la in restaurants, so adding dong quai is a must. Don't forget the cili padi too, for a nice, subtle heat. Once the stock is ready, it's just a matter of minutes for the clams to be cooked.  The good thing about making this at home is that we can supersize the portion and it will still cost significantly less than ordering it in the restaurants. So good!

Watch the step-by-step YouTube video here: 

You can buy dang gui here: https://shope.ee/9K4Hg50hjU

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Siong tong la la (Clams in superior soup)
Recipe by Baby Sumo

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

500g asari or lala clams

2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4cm ginger, julienned

1 tbsp cooking oil

2 slices dang gui / dong quai (Angelica sinensis)

2-3 red cili padi, chopped

500ml chicken stock

2 tbsp ginger wine

1 tbsp goji berries

Spring onions, to garnish

1. Soak clams in a bowl of salted tap water for 10 minutes, then rinse. Repeat at least 3 times, to remove any sand and grit. Drain and set aside.

2. In a wok, heat cooking oil over medium high heat.  Then, add ginger and garlic and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, until lightly golden and fragrant. Add the chicken stock, cili padi, goji berries, Shaoxing wine and dong quai, and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Taste, and season with salt if necessary. If you're happy with the taste, then add the clams, cover, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir once, then cook for a further 1-2 minutes.

4. Serve immediately with rice. 

Note:

1. If using frozen asari clams, defrost at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, before doing Step 1. 1kg of frozen clams will yield 500g clams after defrosting.

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