Dak-hanmari: One Pot in the Middle, a Dipping Tray for Each Person, Noodles at the End
The broth stays clear in the shared pot. The heat lives in a separate sauce that each person adds to their own dipping tray. Whatever broth is left at the end can carry a final round of noodles.
A pot of clear chicken broth sits in the middle of the table, with potatoes and rice cakes simmering among the pieces of chicken. Everyone lifts out chicken and dips it into their own small tray of sauce and vegetables. When the chicken is gone, noodles go into the broth that remains. This is how Koreana, the Korea Foundation's magazine, and VISITKOREA, the Korea Tourism Organization's site, describe the dak-hanmari meal: a shared pot, a sauce seasoned to each person's taste, and noodles cooked in the leftover chicken-flavored broth.
The recipe here follows one specific home version: "Dak Hanmari - Korea's One Chicken Soup," published on FutureDish by Daniel Oh. It uses 1 kg of skin-on drumsticks and thighs rather than a whole bird, a broth flavored with onion, spring onion, mirim, ginger and whole peppercorns, and two sauces made separately: a soy-vinegar base and a gochugaru sauce loosened with broth from the pot. Daniel Oh describes the amount as enough for two hungry people; there is no formal serving count.
This recipe has not been kitchen-tested by Sekai Gohan. The amounts and steps below are written from Daniel Oh's published recipe, and where that recipe gives no time, temperature or amount, this article does not invent one.
What Dak-hanmari Is: Names, Seoul, and a Dish with Many Versions
In Korean the dish is written 닭한마리. Koreana and VISITKOREA romanize it as Dakhanmari, FutureDish writes Dak Hanmari, and you will also see Dak-hanmari with a hyphen. All of these refer to the same family of dishes. VISITKOREA presents it in English as "Whole Chicken Stew."
Koreana introduces dakhanmari as a chicken dish associated with Seoul: a shared pot of chicken with broth add-ins such as potatoes and rice cakes, a dipping sauce people adjust for themselves, and noodles at the end. Ingredients and sauces vary from restaurant to restaurant and household to household, so no single formula is the one traditional recipe. Koreana also mentions add-ins such as scallions and mushrooms in its general description; this version does not add mushrooms or anything else beyond what Daniel Oh's recipe lists.
Daniel Oh's page attributes the recipe to Chef Baek Jong-won. That is the page author's own attribution; no first-party recipe from Chef Baek was found to confirm it, so this article treats the recipe as Daniel Oh's home version, not as Chef Baek's recipe or as a restaurant original.
Before You Start: Choices Made in This Version
Daniel Oh's recipe leaves a few things open and contradicts itself in two places. Here is how this article handles them, so the ingredient list and steps can stay simple.
- Chicken. The recipe calls for skin-on drumsticks and thighs, 1 kg in total. It does not give the ratio between the two, the number of pieces, or whether the thighs are bone-in or boneless. Use whatever mix you have, and trim off excess fat.
- Water for the broth. The ingredient card says 6.5 cups, but the method on the same page says 1500 ml. FutureDish's own measurement page defines 1 cup as 250 ml (and 1 tablespoon as 15 ml, 1 teaspoon as 5 ml), which would make 6.5 cups 1625 ml, so the two figures do not match. This article uses the ingredient card's 6.5 cups. Neither figure has been confirmed as the intended one, and the difference has not been settled by testing. Do not swap in smaller cup sizes, such as a 200 ml Japanese cup.
- Whole peppercorns. The ingredient card says 6–8, the method says 6–7. This article uses 7, which falls in both ranges. The 6–7 shakes of ground black pepper used later are a separate ingredient.
- Mirim. Daniel Oh's page also mentions white cooking wine as an alternative. This version is written with mirim and does not use the wine.
- Optional parts included. Ginger, jujubes, Asian chives and the fresh kalguksu noodle finish are all marked optional in the recipe. This version includes all four; see "Choosing and Optional Parts" below for leaving them out.
- Timing. The only fixed time is the first 20-minute simmer of the broth. Bringing the pot to a boil, the potatoes and rice cakes, and the noodles are judged by the pot, not the clock, and no prep or total time is given.
Ingredients for the Broth, Pot, Two Sauces and Noodles
The 1/2 cup of water in the soy base and the 1/2 cup of broth in the spicy sauce are two different things; keep them apart. The crushed garlic clove for the dipping tray is separate from the tablespoon of minced garlic in the soup.
Choosing and Optional Parts
Several parts are optional. You can leave these out without changing anything else:
- Ginger in the broth.
- Jujubes in the pot.
- Asian chives in the dipping tray. Cabbage alone is fine.
- The noodle finish. If you skip it, you do not need to save broth at the end.
- How much spicy sauce goes into each tray. Each person adds a few spoonfuls to their own tray, so the heat can be adjusted person by person without touching the shared pot.
Three ingredients may need a trip to a Korean or Asian grocer:
| Ingredient | What it does here | If you can't find it |
|---|---|---|
| Korean chili powder (gochugaru) | The only ingredient in the spicy sauce besides broth | Use the soy base on its own; there is no replacement chili |
| Korean rice cakes (tteok) | A pot add-in, cooked alongside the potatoes | Use 1 handful, in any shape |
| Fresh kalguksu noodles | The optional finish in leftover broth | Skip the noodle finish; it is optional |
This version does not add kimchi, mustard, ginseng, stuffed rice or extra herbs; those belong to other dishes or other versions.
The soy sauce in the dip, the rice cakes and the noodles are packaged products whose ingredients vary. If you are cooking for someone with allergies (for example to wheat or soy), read the labels on the specific products you buy.
Equipment
- Large pot with a lid, for the first broth
- Ladle
- Deep serving pot, wok or high-sided pan, for the shared pot
- Knife and cutting board
- Small bowls for the soy base and the spicy sauce
- Individual dipping trays or bowls
- Colander, for rinsing the noodles
Method: Broth First, Sauces While It Simmers, Noodles Last
Only the first simmer has a fixed time: 20 minutes. Use those 20 minutes to slice the cabbage, chop the chives and make both sauces. After that, the potatoes tell you when the pot is ready.
The Dipping Tray: Why the Heat Stays Out of the Pot
The two sauces are built to meet only in each person's tray. The soy base is soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and water; the gochugaru sauce is chili powder stirred into broth from the pot. Raw cabbage, chives and crushed garlic sit in the tray with both sauces, and each piece of chicken is dipped there.
Because the spicy sauce never goes into the shared pot, the broth stays clear and mild for everyone, and the noodles at the end are cooked in that same clean broth. Someone who wants more heat adds another spoonful to their own tray; someone who wants none uses the soy base alone. Koreana describes this kind of self-adjusted dipping sauce as part of how dakhanmari is eaten.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| The broth boils violently during the first simmer | Lower the heat from medium-high to medium |
| The potatoes are still firm when the pot is boiling | Keep boiling until they are soft; there is no fixed time |
| The shared pot has turned red | The spicy sauce belongs in the individual trays only; next time keep it in its own bowl and add it tray by tray |
| The tray is too spicy | Add more soy base and fewer spoonfuls of the gochugaru sauce |
| Not much broth left for the noodles | Add some water to the pot; only do this when the broth is low |
| Noodle broth tastes flat | Add salt and black pepper a pinch at a time and taste |
| The broth seems cloudy or has foam on top | Skim the scum with a ladle after the first boil, before covering |
Seoul's Shared Pot: What the Sources Say About Its History
Koreana's article "Dakhanmari: Seoul's Iconic Chicken Dish," by food columnist Park Chan-il, ties the dish to Seoul. It reports that dakhanmari is believed to date back to the 1960s, while presenting accounts of its origin as speculation. There is no confirmed founding date, single birthplace or inventor, and this article does not claim one.
VISITKOREA lists Jinokhwa Halmae Wonjo Dakhanmari, a restaurant in Dongdaemun Market, as operating since 1978, serving whole-chicken soup with optional additions such as rice cakes, scallions, potatoes and noodles. That is the history of one restaurant. It shows one long-running place to eat the dish, not who invented it, and its menu is not the template for every version.
What the cultural sources agree on is the order of the meal: chicken from a shared pot, a dipping sauce at each place, add-ins like potatoes and rice cakes in the broth, and noodles in what is left. Daniel Oh's home version keeps that order. For more dishes from the same table, see Korean recipes.
How It Differs from Samgyetang and Other Korean Chicken Dishes
- Samgyetang is a young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, garlic, jujube and ginseng, then simmered, as VISITKOREA describes it. Each bird is a sealed parcel. Dak-hanmari, in this version, uses chicken pieces in an open shared pot with dipping sauces and an optional noodle course, and nothing is stuffed.
- Dakgalbi is chicken and vegetables stir-fried in a spicy sauce, not a broth dish.
- Andong jjimdak is chicken and vegetables braised in a soy-based sauce.
The names share "chicken," but the methods (shared clear-broth pot, stuffed bird, stir-fry, soy braise) are what set them apart.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I use 6.5 cups or 1500 ml of water?
Daniel Oh's ingredient card says 6.5 cups, and the method on the same page says 1500 ml. FutureDish defines its cup as 250 ml, which makes 6.5 cups 1625 ml, so the two values do not match. This article uses 6.5 cups from the ingredient card. The discrepancy has not been corrected by the author or resolved by testing, so treat it as an open question rather than a settled amount.
Is this made with a whole chicken?
The name is often explained as "one whole chicken," and VISITKOREA calls it "Whole Chicken Stew," but this recipe uses 1 kg of skin-on drumsticks and thighs instead. It does not say how many of each or whether the thighs have bones.
Is the soup spicy?
No. The broth itself is not spicy. The heat comes from the gochugaru sauce, which goes only into the individual dipping trays, a few spoonfuls at a time.
Are the noodles required?
No. The fresh kalguksu finish is optional. If you make it, rinse off the excess flour, cook the noodles in the reboiled leftover broth, add water only if the broth is low, and season with salt and pepper to taste. The recipe gives no cooking time or water amount for this step.
How long does it take, and how do I know the chicken is done?
The only fixed time in the recipe is the first 20-minute covered simmer after the broth boils. The pot is ready to eat when it is boiling and the potatoes are soft. The recipe gives no prep time, total time or cooking temperature, so this article does not provide one; follow your local food-safety guidance for cooking poultry.
Can I make it ahead or reheat leftovers?
Daniel Oh's recipe gives no storage or reheating directions, so this article does not give storage times or reheating steps.
Sources
- Daniel Oh, "Dak Hanmari - Korea's One Chicken Soup," FutureDish, 2019-07-31. The recipe followed in this article: amounts, method, the 20-minute first simmer, optional ingredients, the "enough for 2 hungry people" yield note, the water (6.5 cups / 1500 ml) and peppercorn (6–8 / 6–7) discrepancies, and the author's attribution to Chef Baek Jong-won. https://futuredish.com/dak-hanmari-koreas-one-chicken-soup/
- Daniel Oh, "Standard measurements are not standard.," FutureDish, 2017-12-18. FutureDish's definitions of 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tablespoon = 15 ml and 1 teaspoon = 5 ml, used only to explain the water discrepancy, not to resolve it. https://futuredish.com/standard-measurements/
- Park Chan-il, Food Columnist, "Dakhanmari: Seoul's Iconic Chicken Dish," Koreana (Korea Foundation), Autumn 2024. The Seoul association, the shared pot with a customizable dipping sauce, add-ins and noodles in leftover soup, and the 1960s account presented as belief, with origin stories treated as speculation. https://www.koreana.or.kr/koreana/na/ntt/selectNttInfo.do?bbsId=1116&nttSn=127578
- VISITKOREA / Korea Tourism Organization, "Whole Chicken Stew (닭한마리 / Dakhanmari)," 2023-10-19. Dish identity and the sequence of chicken, potato and rice cakes in clear broth, chicken dipped in sauce, and noodles in the leftover broth. https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/svc/contents/contentsView.do?vcontsId=179275
- VISITKOREA / Korea Tourism Organization, "Jinokhwa Halmae Wonjo Dakhanmari (진옥화할매원조닭한마리)." One Dongdaemun Market restaurant listed as operating since 1978; cited as a single restaurant example, not as proof of origin. https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/svc/whereToGo/locIntrdn/rgnContentsView.do?vcontsId=86514
- VISITKOREA / Korea Tourism Organization, "Ginseng Chicken Soup (삼계탕 / Samgyetang)," 2023-10-19. Description of samgyetang as a young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, garlic, jujube and ginseng, used to distinguish it from dak-hanmari. https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/svc/contents/contentsView.do?vcontsId=178344
