Korean-Style Braised Chicken With Vegetables & Glass Noodles

Author Notes

The origins of Andong jjimdak aren't set in stone, but the popular belief is that the braised chicken dish emerged in the city of Andong in Korea's Gyeongsangbuk-do province in the 1970s and 1980s, in response to the growing trend of fried whole chicken (tongdak) being sold in the food markets.

For the uninitiated, jjimdak is an irresistible braised chicken dish, made even better with the addition of potatoes, carrots, scallions, and glass noodles that help to soak up the sweet and savory sauce. The braising liquid is soy sauce-based, with sweetness coming from both sugar and either corn syrup or Korean oligo syrup (aka oligosaccharide), which helps give the dish a glossy finish. The addition of both dried and fresh chiles adds a nice heat to the jjimdak, which balances out the sweet.

There are several versions of jjimdak out there, with varying levels of spiciness and soupiness. Some versions include dried shiitake mushrooms; some contain slices of cucumber or small bunches of spinach. All this said, my take on jjimdak nods to the traditional, but veers from it in in a few notable ways:

1. It is on the mild side of the spectrum, leaning more heavily on the soy sauce and sugar, with just a hum of heat in the background from a couple of dried chiles. That said, you can adjust the heat level to suit your taste. If you decide to include fresh chiles, try to keep an eye out for the green Korean variety: Cheong gochu are longer and milder than cheongyang gochu, which are quite spicy. Otherwise, a jalapeño works as well.

2. It is a bit more “dry” and saucy, rather than soup-like with a lot of liquid.

3. I go off-roading and add a bit of balsamic vinegar for tangy sweetness and color. I’ve always enjoyed vinegared sweet and sour braises found in Chinese, Filipino, Italian, and French cooking, and took inspiration from them. But don’t worry, this does not taste like a vinaigrette chicken dish! The balsamic vinegar lends balance more than anything.

This recipe starts with the important Korean cooking technique of blanching the meat. Koreans will often blanch or parboil their bone-in proteins in dishes like this or galbi jjim (braised short ribs) before introducing the rest of the flavor components. This is said to remove impurities and scum from the meat, and give the dish a cleaner taste and look. I take this a step further and recommend that you remove the skin and excess fat from the chicken pieces as well before cooking the meat. (There’s no waste: I like to save the chicken skins for a tasty, salty pan-fried snack with beer afterwards!)

And even though this is at first blush all about the chicken, the unsung hero of the recipe is the potato, which soaks up all of the irresistible sauce as it softens. As jjimdak is bold-flavored and highly seasoned, be sure to have a pot of steaming white rice at the ready before you dig in. —Hana Asbrink