Jjimdak is a popular Korean braised chicken. It originated in the city of Andong, Korea. It’s savoury, mildly salty and sweet with a very subtle spicy kick. It has a somewhat complex flavour and because of that, it’s highly addictive and comforting!
Jjimdak (찜닭, Korean braised chicken) recipe has been on my to-do list for a long time, since 2013, so I’m super excited to share it with you today!
This recipe is even more special in that it is developed by my sister! My involvement has been testing the recipe and writing more refined instructions of it.
The thing is I’ve never had Jjimdak in Korea before, but my sister had, so it was logical to involve her in the recipe development.
We even visited our local Korean restaurant here that is well known for Jjimdak. It was good, but it tasted a bit artificial. Maybe they added caramel sauce or oyster sauce too much to make the dish look darker and look more appetising. Whatever it was, we couldn’t eat too much of it. We’ve yet to discover a good Jjimdak restaurant here!
On the contrary, you can eat our Jjimdak over and over. OK, I might be biassed, but my daughter absolutely adores this Jjimdak! It is the only dish lately that she asks for a second serving! (I struggle every day to make her eat with all the other food, but this one is exception!)
I don’t know the restaurant’s secret’s sauce, but our Jjimdak is braised in soy sauce and honey infused sauce. Of course, the usual Korean essential spices, garlic and ginger are added too.
It has a slightly salty and sweet flavour, but it gives a mild spice kick to your taste buds as well because there are some dried chillies too. While dried chillies can be omitted or added more per your liking, they certainly make the flavour more complex, in a good way. So I highly recommend you adding it at least as much as we did. 😉
In my opinion, the best part about Jjimdak is you don’t need additional side dishes or soup to serve with it. All you need is a bowl of hot steamed rice! There’s enough sauce so you can mix your rice with it. I also love the braised potatoes and glass noodles in it. They make the best side dishes! Yummo!
I hope you try our recipe soon! Enjoy!
P.S. There is also a spicy version of Korean braised chicken. It’s called Dakdoritang (닭도리탕) or Dakbokkeumtang (닭볶음탕). And I have a slow cooker version if you would like to try it out! Check my Slow Cooker Korean Spicy Braised Chicken and Potatoes.
Ingredients for 4 servings
Main
- 800g/1.8 pounds chicken (I used a mix of chicken drumettes & wingettes and thigh fillets), cut into medium sized chunks
- 5 cups water to parboil the chicken
- 2 medium potatoes (340g/12 ounces), cut into medium sized chunks
- 1 medium carrot (170g/6 ounces), cut into medium sized chunks
- 1 large brown onion (210g/7.4 ounces), cut into medium sized chunks
- 5 dried small red chillies (2g/0.07 ounces) (I used Thai chillies, but you can use Korean chillies if you can get them)
- 150g/5.3 ounces Korean glass noodles, soaked in warm water for about 20 mins to hydrate, drain before use
- 3 button mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms (80g/2.8 ounces), thinly sliced
- 1 stalk of green onion (20g/0.7 ounces), diagonally chopped
- 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
Sauce (Mix these in a bowl)
- 1 & 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp raw sugar or dark brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp rice wine/mirin
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp msg free oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp minced ginger
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
* 1 Tbsp = 15 ml, 1 Cup = 250 ml
**If you want to learn more about Korean cooking ingredients, check my 30 essential Korean cooking ingredients list!
How to Make Jjimdak
1.On medium-high heat, boil the water (5 cups) in a medium sized pot. Once it’s rolling boiling, parboil the chicken for 1 minute to skim off any fat. Drain the water.
2. In a clean pot (I used this braising pot), add the chicken and the sauce. Boil them over medium-high heat for about 10 mins, covered.
3. Add the potatoes, carrots, onions and chillies and boil for a further 7 mins, covered. Reduce the heat to medium and stir gently to change the position of the chicken and the vegetables. Simmer for a further 8 mins, covered.
4. Add the glass noodles, mushrooms, and green onions and simmer until the noodles and mushrooms are cooked (about 3 to 5 mins), covered. Stir lightly to make sure the noodles and the mushrooms are mixed with the sauce.
5. Garnish with the sesame seeds. (You can add additional green onions for extra poppy colour before serving as well.) Serve hot with a bowl of steamed rice.
Jjimdak (Korean Braised Chicken)
Ingredients
MAIN
- 800 g chicken (1.8 pounds), cut into medium sized chunks, I used a mix of chicken drumettes & wingettes and thigh fillets
- 5 cups water to parboil the chicken
- 2 medium potatoes (340 g / 12 ounces) cut into medium sized chunks
- 1 medium carrot (170 g / 6 ounces), cut into medium sized chunks
- 1 large brown onion (210 g / 7.4 ounces), cut into medium sized chunks
- 5 dried small red chillies (2 g / 0.07 ounces), I used Thai chillies but you can use Korean chillies if you can get them
- 150 g Korean glass noodles (5.3 ounces), soaked in warm water for about 20 mins to hydrate, drain before use
- 3 button mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms (80 g / 2.8 ounces), thinly sliced,
- 1 stalk of green onion (20 g / 0.7 ounces), diagonally chopped,
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
SAUCE (MIX THESE IN A BOWL)
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp raw sugar or dark brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp rice wine/mirin
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp msg free oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp minced ginger
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- On medium-high heat, boil the water (5 cups) in a medium sized pot. Once it’s rolling boiling, parboil the chicken for 1 minute to skim off any fat. Drain the water.
- In a clean pot (I used this braising pot), add the chicken and the sauce. Boil them over medium-high heat for about 10 mins, covered.
- Add the potatoes, carrots, onions and chillies and boil for a further 7 mins, covered. Reduce the heat to medium and stir gently to change the position of the chicken and the vegetables. Simmer for a further 8 mins, covered.
- Add the glass noodles, mushrooms, and green onions and simmer until the noodles and mushrooms are cooked (about 3 to 5 mins), covered. Stir lightly to make sure the noodles and the mushrooms are mixed with the sauce.
- Garnish with the sesame seeds. (You can add additional green onions for extra poppy colour before serving as well.) Serve hot with a bowl of steamed rice.
Notes
Nutrition Info (per serving)
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Delicious! I made some changes in an attempt to replicate our favorite jjimdak restaurant in Suwon. Used boneless/skinless thigh meat, at the end transferred everything except broth to an oven-proof skillet, reduced broth with a cornstarch slurry to thicken it, poured that into the skillet, topped everything with shredded mozzarella, and threw it under the broiler for a couple minutes. Turned out pretty dang close to how we remembered it! Totally down to make this as-written next time 🙂
I’m thrilled to hear you loved it! My recipe can result in a slightly soupy-style jjimdak, with the consistency varying based on braising time and ingredients used. So to amp up the flavor intensity, I would’ve done the same. For those who prefer not to use cornstarch, no worries – just simply simmer the broth on the stove until it reduces!
Is gochujang/gochugaru and the mushrooms/glass noodles what differentiates this from dakdoritang? this one seems to have a more mild and savory flavor, correct? love your dakdoritang recipe ♡
Jjimdak and dakdoritang are quite different in taste. Most of the difference comes from the sauce, as you pointed out. 🙂
Hi Sue,
I’ve made jjimdak using yours and other recipes several times and it’s always delicious! I was wondering, I used fresh red Thai chilies (can’t find them dry, nor can I find dried Korean chilies)- how many would I use in place of dry ones?
I’m so pleased to hear you’re enjoying my recipe. There are no specific rules. That can be up to your preference and your tolerance level for spicy food. 🙂
So, SO good! After reading some of the reviews, I decided to leave out the brown sugar because of personal preference and I think it turned out amazing! The flavor was outstanding- salty and sweet with tons of umami. I also didn’t have any chili in the house so I just used some gochugaru and that added the needed spice. Will definitely be making this again. Thank you for the recipe!!
I made this and it was delicious!
Hello, can you use salmon or shrimp instead of chicken?
I haven’t tried them in this recipe, but I would give them a go. I would think that cooking time would be much shorter. 🙂
Hi sue,
Super easy to do. I used this recipe for my daughter school Twinning Malaysia-Korea project.
Thank you.
Made this tonight it’s a bit on the sweet side but sooooo delicious. I’m fortunate to be living in Korea so all the ingredients were super easy to come by including Korean peppers. I upped the peppers a bit and left the seeds intact so I had a little fire in my lips to go along with the sweetness. Added to my rotation of goto recipes. 맛있는
I would put this against either of the two restaurants I have had jjimdak in before.
Tasty but very sweet. I put in half the amount of sugar. My pot didn’t do a very good job of absorbing the liquid, ended up being quite soupy. I added zucchini and corn for some added veg too and a touch extra salt as I like things to be on the more salty side.
Will give it another go in future, perhaps in a wider and more shallow pot.
Some vegetables like Zucchini contain a lot of water which is released when cooked. This may be why you had soupy results. You could slice the vegetables place them in a bowl, mix in salt and let it sit for 20 minutes (the salt draws out the water), rinse dry and then add but it’s just extra work. ☺️