Dakgalbi (Spicy Stir-Fried Chicken)

Dakgalbi means "chicken ribs," but it isn't ribs. The folk encyclopedia explains that various parts of the bird are used, cut thin and flat like rib meat, and points to the old idiom gyereuk (鷄肋), "chicken rib," for something with too little on it to enjoy but too good to throw away. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture defines the dish as chicken marinated in a seasoned gochujang paste and stir-fried with cabbage, sweet potato, carrot and green onion, and notes it is also simply called Chuncheon dakgalbi.

There are two origin accounts. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, citing a 1982 Chuncheon city publication, says that in the late 1960s a man named Kim Yeong-seok, who sold grilled pork on Jungang-ro, marinated two chickens the way he did pork ribs and grilled them over charcoal as a drinking snack called dak-bulgogi. The folk encyclopedia, citing anthropologist Hwang Ik-ju's 1994 study, tells it differently: around 1960 a couple running a tavern, suddenly cut off from their pork supply, sliced chicken flat, marinated it in gochujang or soy sauce and grilled it on a wire rack over charcoal. In both versions the charcoal-grilled chicken was first known as dak-bulgogi. The folk encyclopedia adds that cooking it on a round iron pan with cabbage and sweet potato came in the late 1970s, and that the name dakgalbi distinguished the new style.

Cheap and generous, it won over students and soldiers on leave: the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture puts the 1970s price near 100 won a portion and records the nicknames "college student galbi" and "common people's galbi," explaining Chuncheon's role by the many poultry farms and slaughterhouses around the city. The folk encyclopedia links its rise to the dams of the 1960s and 70s, which made lakeside Chuncheon a popular weekend trip from Seoul; specialist shops gathered in Joyang-dong's Myeongdong dakgalbi alley by the late 1970s. In the 1980s and 90s, udon noodles and rice cakes were added and fried rice at the end turned a drinking snack into a family meal, and the 2002 drama Winter Sonata carried its fame to Japan. See Chuncheon, Gangwon and anju and drinking culture.

• Lean protein: skinless chicken thigh provides plenty of protein for modest fat.
• A pan full of vegetables: cabbage, sweet potato, onion and perilla make up much of the dish; sweet potato and chili supply vitamin A activity and cabbage adds vitamin K and C. See vegetables and namul.
• Shared cooking: eaten from one pan at the table, portions are easy to pace.

• Iron-pan dakgalbi (Chuncheon): the standard today — chicken, cabbage, sweet potato, onion, green onion and rice cakes cooked together on a wide, round griddle at the table.
• Charcoal dak-bulgogi (Chuncheon): the older method, with marinated chicken grilled on a rack over coals.
• Soy-sauce marinade: the folk encyclopedia notes soy-based marinades alongside the more common gochujang version.
• Add-ons and fried rice: udon or rice-cake sari added partway, then rice, chopped kimchi and gim fried in the leftover sauce (see kimchi-bokkeumbap); in Chuncheon it is often paired with makguksu.