My spicy dak bulgogi is chicken marinated with gochujang for umami and gochugaru for the vibrant red color. There’s a touch of sweetness for balance. The marinade doesn’t turn this dish saucy, the way I prefer it, and helps to get charred bits from the sugar. The onions aren’t necessary for flavor, but help me make a meal larger to feed more people which has somehow become my main mission in life.

I used to call this dakgalbi. Now I’m realizing that I might’ve been thrown a random, but technically correct, name when I was younger to get me to stop asking so many questions. Dakgalbi today is a dish that has marinated spicy chicken in it but also has an equal amount of vegetables stir-fried together, and sometimes has rice cakes in the mix. If you’re in a restaurant that specializes in it, you’ll have a cauldron of dakgalbi cooking in front of you in order to have immediate enjoyable consumption as soon as it’s ready.

This dak bulgogi is dakgalbi-esque since I would use the exact same marinade on the chicken that would’ve been piled on top of a bunch of vegetables. It’s just a simplified version. A nice thing to turn to on complicated days.

Spicy Dak Bulgogi 닭불고기 Spicy Marinated Chicken

Ingredients
About 4 servings

2 lb boneless chicken thighs
1 medium white onion, halved then sliced
2 TBSP gochujang
2 TBSP gochugaru
2 TBSP grated garlic
2 tsp grated ginger
2 TBSP sesame seed oil
2 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 tsp salt

Steps
1. Cut chicken thighs roughly into 1-inch pieces, removing any unwanted fat.

2. In a large bowl, combine chicken with minced garlic and ginger, gochujang, gochugaru, sesame seed oil, brown sugar, and soy sauce and mix very well. Mix in the onion slices then marinate at least 4 hours, up to overnight.

3. Using a cast-iron skillet or large pan, cook the chicken for about 5-8 minutes on each side on medium-high heat. Serve hot with rice and kimchi.

Notes
- You can leave the chicken thighs whole and cut them up into bite-sized pieces after cooking. This is a better route to go for grilling on grates.