Recipe: Korean Fire Chicken

Korean Fire Chicken with our Radish Kimchi.

You may have purchased gochugaru (Korean chili powder) and gochujang (Korean chili paste) for Korean Fried Chicken or a similar dish, and wondered what else you can do with the chilis. Try this. Korean Fire Chicken comes from the redoutable Maangchi and we’ve made just a couple of very minor tweaks. It’s also super easy to make, comes together in half an hour from pantry to plate. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken, cut into 1 inch chunks (we used a mixture of breast and thigh meat)
¼ c gochugaru
2 T gochujang
3 T light brown sugar
1 T chopped or minced ginger
2 t chopped or minced garlic
1 T soy sauce (a generic version like Kikkoman)
½ t ground black pepper (that’s a lot!)
¼ c water
4 oz tekkbokki (Korean rice cakes)
4 oz mozzarella, sliced or grated
2 T neutral oil
2 T chopped scallions for garnish, optional

Korean Fire Chicken as it comes out of the broiler bubbling hot!

Method: combine chicken with gochugaru, gochujang, sugar, ginger, garlic, soy and black pepper and mix thoroughly. Marinate for a few minutes. Unless tekkbokki are very fresh and soft, reconstitute by soaking 10 minutes in hot water, then drain and cut on the bias into 1 inch pieces.

Heat the oil and add the chicken mixture in a cast iron or otherwise oven-safe skillet. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, stirring frequently and adding ¼ c water and mixing in tekkbokki halfway through. Meanwhile, heat the broiler to medium/high.

Drape the cheese over the chicken in the skillet and transfer to broiler. Cook 2-3 minutes till cheese is soft and bubbly. Serve hot, over rice.