Alternative names | Spicy stir-fried chicken |
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Type | Bokkeum |
Place of origin | South Korea |
Associated cuisine | South Korean cuisine |
Serving temperature | Warm |
Main ingredients | Chicken |
788 kcal (3299 kJ) [1] | |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 닭갈비 |
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Revised Romanization | dak-galbi |
McCune–Reischauer | tak-kalbi |
IPA | [tak̚.k͈al.bi] |
Dak-galbi (닭갈비), or spicy stir-fried chicken, is a popular South Korean dish made by stir-frying marinated diced chicken in a gochujang-based sauce with sweet potatoes, cabbage, perilla leaves, scallions, tteok (rice cake), and other ingredients. [2] In Korean, galbi means rib, and usually refers to braised or grilled short ribs. Dak-galbi is not made with chicken ribs, however, and the dish gained this nickname during the post-War era when chicken was used as a substitute for pork ribs. Many dak-galbi restaurants have round hot plates that are built into the tables. Lettuce and perilla leaves are served as ssam (wrap) vegetables. [3]
Although dak and galbi translate into "chicken" and "rib" respectively, the term dak-galbi does not refer to chicken ribs.
This dish was developed in the 1960s as grilled chicken-pieces, an inexpensive anju accompaniment to alcoholic drinks in small taverns on the outskirts of Chuncheon. [4] It replaced the comparatively expensive gui dishes which were grilled over charcoal. [4] Dak-galbi spread to Chuncheon's main districts, where the livestock industry was thriving and offered fresh ingredients with no need for refrigeration. [4] As a relatively cheap dish served in large portions, it gained popularity with soldiers and students on a budget and earned the nickname "commoners' galbi " or "university student's galbi " in the 1970s. [5]
The dish is a local specialty of Chuncheon and is often referred to as Chuncheon-dak-galbi. [4] An annual festival dedicated to dak-galbi is held in Chuncheon, where there is also a dak-galbi alley with a large number of dak-galbi restaurants. [6]
There is a dak-galbi street (닭갈비 거리) in Myeong-dong, Seoul, and there are dozens of restaurants there. [7]