Dakgalbi Recipe: Chuncheon's Sweet and Spicy Chicken and Cabbage Stir-Fry

A Chuncheon Bar That Grilled Chicken Instead of Pork

"Galbi" originally means ribs, but dakgalbi uses no ribs at all. The name comes from the fact that chicken was grilled in place of pork galbi. The dish was born in the 1960s in a Chuncheon bar as food to go with drinks, and the story goes that someone who ran a pork restaurant substituted chicken when the pork ran out. It was first called "dak-bulgogi" and was grilled over charcoal like pork galbi.

In those years, large poultry farms were increasing around Chuncheon and neighboring Hongcheon, and chicken had become an affordable source of protein. An English-language article published in September 2026 by the Korean business paper Herald Business describes bar owners seasoning chicken with gochujang and grilling it over briquette fires. In the 1970s, cooks on Chuncheon's Jungang-ro began setting a thick iron griddle over stoves made from oil drums. Cabbage, sweet potato, and rice cakes from nearby fields went onto the griddle too, and the dish turned into one that let a crowd eat their fill from a small amount of chicken.

The back alley of Chuncheon's Myeongdong, where dakgalbi restaurants cluster, became "Dakgalbi Street" as shops opened one by one through the 1970s and 80s. Restaurants line both sides of an alley about 150 m long, and you can eat both griddle-fried dakgalbi and charcoal-grilled dakgalbi there. In Chuncheon it is one of the two great local specialties alongside makguksu, a cold buckwheat noodle dish, and a festival celebrating the two is held every year.

What to Know Before Making It at Home

In Chuncheon restaurants, the dish is stir-fried on a round griddle set into the table. At home, a large skillet with a lid or a hot plate is plenty. If you want to cook and eat at the table, a hot plate is fun; if you want to finish everything in the kitchen in one go, a skillet gives steadier heat. Either way, choose a pan with enough room to spread out four servings, so everything cooks evenly during the steaming stage.

The flavor depends on gochujang and gochugaru, the Korean chile powder. Both are now easy to find in the Korean section of many supermarkets or in Asian grocery stores. Gochujang adds sweetness and depth, while gochugaru adds aroma and a vivid red color. If you substitute plain crushed red pepper flakes for gochugaru, the heat tends to come on strong, so start with less than half the amount and taste.

Some restaurants in Korea serve perilla leaves or lettuce for wrapping. Perilla leaves are sold in Korean grocery stores and some supermarkets. If you cannot find them, shiso leaves make a similar aromatic wrap.

Ingredients (serves 4)

How to Make Dakgalbi

Plan on about 20 minutes of prep, about 20 minutes of marinating, and about 25 minutes of stir-frying and steaming, for roughly 1 hour 5 minutes in total.

Serving and How It Is Eaten in Chuncheon

In Chuncheon restaurants, the server stir-fries the dakgalbi on the griddle, and everyone serves themselves straight from the griddle. Put a perilla or lettuce leaf in your palm, wrap a bite of dakgalbi in it, and the aroma of the leaf freshens the sweet and spicy sauce. At home too, bring the skillet to the table and serve as you eat for a taste of the restaurant atmosphere.

Dakgalbi is also popular as cheese dakgalbi, coated in melted cheese. To enjoy it that way, push the contents aside at the finishing stage to open up the center of the pan, add shredded mozzarella, cover, and heat for 1–2 minutes until the cheese melts. If you want more sweet and spicy Korean dishes, try it alongside Andong jjimdak, Andong's chicken braised with glass noodles in a soy-based sauce. They are both chicken dishes, yet you can see how completely different the flavor can be from region to region.

Variations

The ingredients can change with the season and what is in your refrigerator. Adding onion increases the sweetness, and adding carrot brings color. If you use potato instead of sweet potato, cut it to the same thickness and steam for the same time.

To tone down the heat, reduce the gochugaru to 1 tsp, use 3 tbsp gochujang, and add 1 tsp honey for a sweeter flavor that children can eat easily. For more heat, increase the gochugaru to 2 tbsp or add sliced green chiles at the end. You can also make it with chicken breast, but breast turns tough quickly once cooked through, so cut it slightly larger than bite-size and keep the final cooking short while you watch it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I do not have gochugaru?

You can substitute crushed red pepper flakes, but they are hotter than gochugaru, so start with 1 tsp and taste. Mixing in a little paprika makes it easier to get a red color like gochugaru's.

What if I do not have tteok?

You can make it without them. If you want a chewy texture, you can cut mochi into small pieces and add them in the last few minutes, but they melt easily, so do not overcook them.

Can I make it ahead?

Because it is a cooked chicken dish, the rule is to eat it soon after making it. If there are leftovers, let them cool just a little and refrigerate right away, and when reheating, heat them in a skillet until piping hot all the way through. Tteok turns hard when cold, but reheating brings back the softness.

Is a longer marinating time better?

Twenty minutes is enough for the sauce to cling to the surface of the chicken. A longer marinade gives a deeper flavor, but the sugar in the gochujang makes it scorch more easily, so watch the heat when you sear.

Sources