Dak Bokkeum Tang ( Spicy Braised Chicken)

Korea has a pretty similar weather to Maine. Cold and long Winters therefor a shorter grow season for fresh produce. Thus we eat a lot of hardy root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots, and of cause a lot of fermented and preserved food to get by the Winter. In the past few years, kimchi has became a star in the western world as a "superfood" because of it's fermentation process, not only it becomes more flavorful but also has some great health benefits. Many people sees kimchi as the flavor of Korean cuisine. Although it is true that we do eat kimchi almost every single meal, but the real flavor which think defines the flavor of Korean food is gochujang. Gochujang is the underdog of Korean fermented food, it is a spicy chilly paste made from demented sticky rice and soybeans. 

It's almost hard to describe the flavor, it's savory and spicy but also sweet and the same time. Because it is fermented, it could take a little time to get used to the smell. If you go to Korea, no matter if you are in the city or in the country side, you will often see jars and jars of earthen pots sitting on people's front step or off their balcony. Chances are those are homemade gochujang. I assume those are usually older people who lives their as the younger generation like in many cultures don't really follow these traditions these days. I remember my grandmother's balcony always has a pungent smell, every few days, my grandmother will open up one of the pots to taste her gochujang as it is fermenting. While kimchi only takes a week or two to ferment, gochujang can take up to over a year until it's ready. 

If you've been following my column for a while, you may have noticed that each time I share a Korean recipe, it usually calls for gochujang, and unfortunately there rarely is a substitute for it. I thought I make it a statement in this column to let you know that if you really are into making authentic Korean cuisine, gochujang is absolutely a pantry staple that you must have in your refrigerator. Much like soy sauce and sesame oil for Chinese cuisine. Gochujang can be used just as a hot sauce on it own, but it's great for stews and stir fries and marinades. You may find gochujang in the local specialty store, however if you ever have a chance to go to an Asian grocery store, I highly recommend getting it there as it's more affordable there, and obviously you can get them real easily online as well. 

As we are heading up March hill, nothing beats a pot of warm and spicy braised meat and vegetables for dinner in the cold weather. One of my favorite comfort food my mother and grandmother always makes when I was a kid was the delicious Dak Bokkeum Tang. Dak Bokkeum Tang is a spicy braised chicken with potatoes and carrots made with gochujang. This was also one of the first dishes I've ever made when I first started to cook. Even till this day, after all the fancy and exotic dishes I've made, there's just some nights that I will crave nothing but a pot of Dak Bokkeum Tang serve with some rice, simple yet delicious and also really easy to make. This week I'd like to share with you this one comforting pot meal that will be sure to get you through the cold weather, and frankly is a great gateway dish to introduce the amazing gochujang. 

Ingredients: 

Serves 2 to 3 people

2 chicken thighs with bone and skin on

3 cloves garlic

2 onion

1 carrot 

3 to 4 yukon gold potato 

2 scallions

1 hot pepper

1 1/2 T gochujang

1 1/2 T Korean hot pepper flakes

1 T brown sugar

2 1/2 T soy sauce

3/4 T sesame oil

1/4 t salt

1/8 t black pepper

2T water 

Directions:

Clean and roughly chop the chicken thighs into chunks. Place them into a heavy duty pot and add enough water to cover up the chicken. Place it on the stove and let the water come to a boil and let  boil for one minute. Drain and rinse the chicken, set aside. You make skip this step if you want to make it even easier, I find by doing this step gives the dish a much cleaner taste. 

Mince the garlic and chop onion, carrot and potatoes into big bite size pieces. 

In a bowl, mix together  the minced garlic, gochujang, Korean hot pepper flakes, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper and 2T water. 

Place the rinsed chicken thighs back into the pot along with the chopped onion and carrots. Then toss in the gochujang mixture, and make sure everything is coated with the sauce. 

Cover it up and cook on medium high heat for 15 minutes, make sure to check half way though to make sure the bottom isn't burning. Meanwhile, roughly chop up the hot pepper and scallion into strips. After 15 minutes, add in the scallion and hot pepper along with the potatoes. Turn the heat down to medium and let it cook for another 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.

Serve it along with some warm white rice, and there you have the most comforting one pot meal with meat and vegetable and packed full of flavor.

Enjoy and stay warm!

For more gochujang or Korean recipes, visit www.thewayriceshould.blogspot.com