Dak-bokkeumtang (Spicy Braised Chicken)

Name: Dak-bokkeumtang (Spicy Braised Chicken)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: 1.2 kg Whole chicken, cut into 12–14 pieces, or bone-in thighs and drumsticks; 400 g Potatoes; 100 g Carrot; 150 g Onion; 2 stalks Green onions; 2 Green and red chilies; 2 tbsp Gochujang; 3 tbsp Gochugaru; 4 tbsp Soy sauce; 1½ tbsp Sugar; 6 cloves Garlic; 2 tsp Ginger; ⅛ tsp Black pepper; 600 ml Water; 1 tsp Toasted sesame oil

닭볶음탕

Romanization: dak-bokkeumtang

Bone-in chicken and potatoes braised in a red chili sauce until it thickens and clings — long known as dakdoritang, a name whose origin is still debated.

Serves: 4
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 40 min

RegionGaeseong · Northern Provinces (Hwanghae, Pyeongan, Hamgyeong)

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Recipe

Ingredients · Serves 4

1.2 kgWhole chicken, cut into 12–14 pieces, or bone-in thighs and drumsticks
400 gPotatoescut into large chunks
100 gCarrotcut into chunks
150 gOnioncut into wedges
2 stalksGreen onionscut into lengths
2 Green and red chiliessliced on the diagonal
2 tbspGochujang
3 tbspGochugaru
4 tbspSoy sauce
1½ tbspSugar
6 clovesGarlicminced
2 tspGingerminced
⅛ tspBlack pepper
600 mlWater
1 tspToasted sesame oil

Method

Technique: Jorim: Braising in Seasoned Liquid, Yangnyeom: Seasoning Basics

Step 1: Blanch the chicken in boiling water for 2–3 minutes, drain and rinse.
Step 2: Mix the gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger and pepper into a sauce.
Step 3: Put the chicken, sauce and water in a heavy pot, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Step 4: Add the potatoes and carrot and simmer, partly covered, 15 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and their starch begins to thicken the sauce.
Step 5: Add the onion and chilies and cook uncovered 5 minutes, spooning the sauce over, until it is thick and glossy. The chicken should reach 165 °F (74 °C).
Step 6: Add the green onions and sesame oil, and serve with rice.

Origin & History

Dak-bokkeumtang is chicken cut through the bone, cooked with large chunks of potato, carrot and onion in a spicy sauce of chili paste and chili powder. Both the Korean Food Promotion Institute and the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture point out that despite the name — literally "stir-fried soup" — it sits between a soupy tang and a nearly dry jjim, and is closest of all to a jorim, a braise. It is also called dak-maeunjjim, "spicy braised chicken."

Older chicken dishes in the same vein were not spicy. The folk encyclopedia cites a stir-fried chicken (chogye) in the Joseon household manual Sallim gyeongje, and colonial-era cookbooks with dak-bokkeum seasoned with soy sauce and black pepper; the institute notes that the 1924 Joseon musang sinsik yori jebeop version was seasoned with salted-shrimp liquid instead. The same 1924 book says that in Songdo (Kaesong) the dish was called doritang, and a 1925 collection, Haedong jukji, praises a doritang of Pyongyang, chicken simmered half a day with mushrooms and seasoning. Red chili enters the recipe in print in a 1946 cookbook, and today a chili-paste sauce is standard.

The name is the subject of a long debate. For decades the dish was simply dakdoritang. The National Institute of Korean Language treated dori as the Japanese word tori, "bird" — which would make the name a redundant "chicken-bird soup" — and recommended dak-bokkeumtang instead. Others argue that dori comes from the verb dorida, "to cut out," or from an old form of jori (調理, cooking). The Korean Food Promotion Institute concludes that the Japanese theory never had solid evidence and that the word's origin remains unknown; the folk encyclopedia agrees that nothing is settled. See making guk and jjigae and capsaicin and spicy food.

Key Ingredients

Nutrition

Estimated, per serving (¼ of recipe, about 410 g including sauce)
Calories	~590 kcal
Protein	~40 g
Fat	~30 g
Carbohydrates	~41 g
Fiber	~6.1 g
Sodium	~1270 mg

Notable forProtein · Niacin · Vitamin A · Vitamin C

Estimated by summing USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) values for raw chicken meat and skin (FDC 171447; about 730 g edible from 1.2 kg using USDA's yield of 276 g per 454 g ready-to-cook chicken), potatoes (FDC 170026), carrot, onion, scallions, green chili, soy sauce (FDC 174277), red pepper (FDC 170932, as a stand-in for gochugaru), sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil, with gochujang from the Korean Food Composition Table (R0050010009a), divided by 4. Assumes all the sauce is eaten. Vitamin A comes mainly from the chili powder and carrot. Actual values vary with ingredients, portion size and preparation.

Health Benefits

Protein with vegetables: chicken supplies protein and niacin; potatoes, carrot and chili add vitamin C, vitamin A and potassium.
Chili: gochugaru and gochujang provide the capsaicin and carotenoid pigments of red pepper. See capsaicin and spicy food.
Lighter with less skin: removing skin before cooking, or skimming fat from the sauce, lowers the fat considerably.

Regional Variations

Everyday home style: chicken, potato, carrot and onion in a gochujang-gochugaru sauce, cooked until the sauce is thick enough to spoon over rice.
Kaesong and Pyongyang doritang (northern provinces): early 20th-century versions seasoned without chili; the Pyongyang dish was simmered half a day with mushrooms.
Andong jjimdak (Andong): the folk encyclopedia counts Andong jjimdak, braised in soy sauce, as a relative.
Old non-spicy dak-bokkeum: colonial-era recipes seasoned with soy sauce and pepper, or with salted-shrimp liquid, are the ancestors the folk encyclopedia and the Korean Food Promotion Institute describe.

Pairings

Sources

Last updated October 13, 2026