Dakgalbi

Dakgalbi is one of those dishes we had never even heard of before arriving in Korea… and it ended up becoming one of our favourite discoveries of the trip. We ate it several times and it never disappointed.

The idea is as simple as it is convivial: everything arrives in a large pan set in the middle of the table, which keeps cooking as you eat. Chicken marinated in a spicy gochujang-based sauce is stir-fried with cabbage, sweet potato, onions, tteok and, depending on the version, noodles or other extras. Everything cooks together, the sauce gradually coats all the ingredients, and everyone helps themselves straight from the pan. It is generous, spicy, slightly sweet and made for sharing.

Dakgalbi is especially associated with Chuncheon in Gangwon Province. Its story goes back to the 1960s and 1970s, when marinated chicken began replacing more expensive pork in preparations inspired by galbi. Originally grilled over charcoal, it gradually evolved into the version cooked on a large iron plate, with vegetables and rice cakes added along the way. Affordable and filling, it became particularly popular with university students and soldiers.

What we loved, beyond the flavour, was precisely this communal side of the meal. Dakgalbi is not really something everyone orders separately: you cook, wait, pick from the pan and share it together. And when there is only a little left, rice can be fried directly in the remaining sauce. After eating dakgalbi several times in Korea and never being disappointed, it easily earned a place among our favourite meals in the country.