Today’s recipe is super-spicy chicken, called buldak in Korean. The Korean word bul means fire, and dak means chicken, so you can call this “fire chicken.”
I first heard about this dish years ago, when I still lived in Korea. One evening I saw a truck on the street selling barbecued chicken. The guy had set up a homemade grill with real fire underneath, and was barbecuing huge chunks of chicken covered in a thick, spicy paste. With the flames and the smoke, it was a real festive sight, and there was a crowd of people gathering around, some to buy his chicken and some to just take part in the revelry.
He had a banner on the side of his truck that said “불닭” (buldak). I had never heard the name before, but between the spicy chicken and the fire he was cooking it over, it seemed like a great name to me. I bought some and brought it home to my family. It was fantastic!
These buldak trucks caught on: they would come out in the evenings, set up their makeshift fire pits, and grill spicy chicken over the flames. People would come out and take part in the fun.
I can’t set up a fire pit in my apartment, but my version is still plenty fiery! This buldak is spicy, a little sweet, and plenty soft and juicy. The crunchy rice cakes are my own variation and optional, but they give the dish a wonderful texture. If you want to make it less spicy, cut down on the hot pepper flakes, or use milder flakes. I use chicken breast in my recipe, but you could use chicken thigh, too.
I hope you love this recipe! Let me know if you try it!
Ingredients (4 servings)
- 2 pounds of chicken breast, cut into ¾ or 1 inch cubes
- ½ cup Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons hot pepper paste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons vegetable or corn oil
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup rice syrup (or corn syrup, sugar, honey)
- 6 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons ginger, minced
- 1 pound mozzarella cheese (optional), cut into small pieces
- 1 cup of sliced rice cake (optional)
- 1 green onion, chopped
- ¼ cup water
Directions
- Combine hot pepper flakes, hot pepper paste, soy sauce, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, ground black pepper, rice syrup, garlic, and ginger in a bowl. Mix it well into a sweet and spicy paste.
- Add the chicken and mix well by hand.
- Heat up a skillet with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Add the sliced rice cakes and fry them for a few minutes. Turn them over with a spatula once or twice until both sides are crispy and light golden brown.
- Place the marinated chicken into a heavy pan, preferably cast iron. Use the water to rinse the bowl and get the last of the sauce into the pan. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 10 minutes. If you use a normal frying pan, it will take 7 to 8 minutes. Be sure not to burn the chicken.
- Uncover, stir and turn over the chicken with a wooden spoon. Add the rice cakes to the top of the chicken.
- Turn down the heat very low. Cover and let cook another 10 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked. If you’re using cheese, pre-heat the oven broiler.
- When the chicken is cooked, put the cheese over the top. Slip it into the oven for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Remove and sprinkle with the chopped green onion. Serve hot.
Hello Maangchi!
I registered here to thank you for your awesome recipes! Thanks to Korean cuisine and your site I’ve discovered my love to cooking. As well as way to impress my Korean future-mother-in-law and gain some of her love. :) Now she’s excited she has some “material” to teach since her own daughter refuse cooking. :) I hope I won’t disappoint her when we will meet in Korea soon. So now, before I will go back to cooking my “치즈불닭” , I want to thank you one more time!
You’re my hero!
Thank you so much for the nice words! Your mother-in-law will love you because you like to learn about Korean culture and food! But not all Koreans love spicy food. Ask your husband what kind of dishes she will like. Then make her favorite dish. I love spicy food but my mom is not a big fan of spicy food. : )
Hello Maangchi
This looks like another delicious receipe for me to try. I just have one questions. The rice cakes you are using are not frozen, are they?
I still have some frozen rice cake from the soup I made. Do I need to defrost and dry the rice cakes first (because of the use of hot oil)?
Yes, the sliced rice cake were from my freezer. I thawed them out at room temperature just for 10 minutes and cooked just as I showed in the video.
Maangchi this one looks good!! (my mouth is watering already T.T) I better ask my mom to cook this right now for dinner! Thank you for sharing this simple recipe! I love you Maangchi!!
ok, I hope your mom enjoys this dish, too!
what kind of noodles maangchi can i use ? <3 :)
I would use spaghetti noodles or dangmyeon. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/starch-noodles
This was delicious!!! Thank you, Maangchi!!!!
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Super tasty!
Maangchi,
Here you go.
http://item2.gmarket.co.kr/English/detailview/item.aspx?goodscode=662884886
expensive as heck though, there must be a better way….
Thanks!
This was my FIRST introduction to the “spicy noodles” in korea. after that, others have tried to make some videos about it too. Maangchi, you might enjoy it. Let me know if you try it, and where you got it from…i cant find any in VT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWZmdWP67DA
imrhart,
I live in southern NH and work in MA. I got these in a small Korean grocery Chung Ge in Ayer, MA about 40min from where I live. I posted a review of that store here on Maangchi’s site. Also there is an HMart (basically a Korean Wal-Mart) which has pretty much everything you could want! You could make a day trip of it because HMart has a food court and a Korean bakery! Then you could stop at Chung Ge and pick up some soju and makgeolli!
Cheers!
Dave
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maybe i need to correspond with you ;-), i live in the North-Eastern most point of VT…almost a canadian. haha
Haha! Any time! -_^
Made this for dinner tonight :)
What do you think Maangchi?
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This looks very very delicious!
Maangchi씨 안녕하세요!
I have only had this once and I was totally caught off guard by the heat level! I had it at BonChon Chicken restaurant in Lowell, MA. Now I can make it at home! Yes!! Thank you for this recipe!
Cheers!
-Dave
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Dave, this is not buldak you made but had at the restaurant, yes? I’m already excited to see your own homemade buldak photo! : )
Maangchi,
That’s right! I had it at BonChon! The restaurant BonChon originates in Korea but has expanded to the US. In gact, I believe their headquarters is in NYC! They specialize in Korean style fried chicken. Now I can make from your recipe! 😁👍👍
해피 토요일!
Dave
Just made this today, tripled the recipe! Didn’t use a cast iron skillet because I don’t have one, but instead I used a nonstick wok. I had to turn it every 2 mins for 8 mins total, otherwise it would burn a little. Also, instead of sticking the wok in the oven I transferred everything to an aluminum pan and broiled for about 5 minutes until little brown spots appeared. Tasted great, thanks!
http://puu.sh/gIGme/5a0f0bbdcc.jpg
Thank you for sharing the photo! It looks tremendously delicious!
Wow, I lived in Korea for almost 8 years and have never heard of this dish! It does look delicious, though. I’ll have to try it out!
Hi Maangchi!!!!!!!! I love your blog! Is this recipe in your cookbook???? Also are you able to make chicken buldak with a crockpot?
Hi phillipsea20dc,
a crockpot always works nicely when it comes to simmering dishes.
Bye, Sanne.
Hi Maangchi, i dont have the oven so can i use microwave?
yes, that’s a good idea!
This reminds me of buldak beokumyeon. It was very popular and my students would compere to see who could eat the most. Thanks for posting this recipe. Cant wait to try it.
Thank you for sharing your story! You must have lots of good memories of Korea!
yep. i remember when we first started talking, about Namhae and family history. thanks to you i can claim to “cook some korean food”… :-( no one there ever taught me.
iamrhart… I just recently bought a package of buldalk bokkeumyeon! Spiciest ramyeon I’ve ever had! Apparently I made it incorrectly when I left the water in that you boil the ramyeon in. When I posted the picture in Instagram, no less than 3 of my Korean friends immediately told me so! Haha!
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I’ve never tasted buldalk bokkeumyeon! I should try it out sometime. I’m glad you have Korean friends! So cool!
Maangchi,
I am planning a trip to Korea, possibly for next year! I am hoping to meet some of those friends there and maybe cook some Korean food for them using your recipes! I tell them about your website and they always praise me when I cook your recipes! Haha! On my profile is a link to your website!
Cheers!
Dave
haha! Then I’m going to appoint you as my ambassador! lol
You’re absolutely right Dave. That ramyeon is so spicy yet addicting. I can’t wait to make my own and put noodles in it.
That picture looks cool. i dont think there is any “wrong” way to eat it, i mean you at LEAST got a HOT broth out of it.
I sure do miss the noodles. can’t find them here in the USA
Ah, this looks so good. Can you bake the chicken instead of cooking on the stove?
Thanks.
Yes, I think cooking in the oven work well, too.