Dak kalbi... homestyle

Dak kalbi is easily one of my favorite Korean dishes. Unfortunately, finding a restaurant that specializes in it when you're not in Korea (or LA) is a bit challenging. So I did the next best thing - made my own!

Honestly, they make it seem so easy... throw in a little chicken, some cabbage and any other extras you want, add a little chili paste and voila - chicken heaven! However, I've definitely learned that the secret's in the sauce. I tweaked a recipe from My Korean Kitchen and basically ended up with something like this (for about a pound of chicken):

• 6 T gochujang
• 2 T soy sauce
• 2 T gochugaru
• 3 or 4 T of garlic (what can I say, I love garlic)
• 3 1/2 T brown sugar (to taste)
• A bit of rice wine vinegar

Unfortunately, I couldn't actually TASTE what I was cooking, as I was recovering from a bad case of food poisoning, so my sister volunteered to test the sauce.

After frying it up in a wok (with cabbage, ddeok, onions, and sesame leaves)... it turned out like this...




Overall, it wasn't bad, but the sauce reminded me of the ddeok bokki they sell off the street... (I tasted the leftovers the next day). My sister's never tried dak kalbi but agreed there was something missing. Oh well... try again next time!

PS. This was MY dinner that night. ㅠㅠ