Some Korean dishes are delicious but aren’t really known outside Korea. Korean braised chicken — jjim dahk — is one such dish. In Korea, there are entire restaurants that serve nothing but jjim dahk. Specifically, the jjim dahk that originated in Andong, a city located three hours southeast of Seoul. Andong jjim dahk is like jjim dahk deluxe. Not only does it contain braised chicken (which is what jjim dahk literally means, in Korean) it also comes with a mess of salty, spicy noodles — the same type of noodles that make up japchae, which I wrote about last month.

To my great sadness, I have never found one of these restaurants in the U.S. though they may exist somewhere. (L.A.?)

Much as I love Andong jjim dahk sometimes you just want a basic jjim dahk that you can cook quickly and that isn’t too spicy. The below recipe is a great fit for those times. If, however, you want the deluxe version of this dish, complete with noodles, potatoes and a hot red pepper, try this Andong jjim dahk recipe from the Korean cooking site Aeri’s Kitchen.

Jjim Dahk (Braised Chicken With Vegetables) — 찜닭

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. boneless chicken (I used breasts, but most recipes call for chicken thighs.)
• 2 medium onions
• 1 large carrot
• 5 dehydrated mushrooms*
• 1 green (bell) pepper
• 2 green onions (or 6 scallion stalks)
• 1 tsp. salt

Seasoning:

• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce**
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• ½ tsp. ginger juice or powder
• 1 Tbsp. cooking wine
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• dash of black pepper

*You can find these mushrooms at Asian grocery stores. They are sold dehydrated in bags. (See photo above.) You rehydrate them by soaking them in hot water.

**To make this recipe gluten free, I used San-J Organic Tamari Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (available at Whole Foods or for $6.69 + shipping on Amazon.com.)

Steps 

• Cut chicken into 1½-inch-long pieces.
• Mix chicken with seasoning ingredients in a dish and let marinate for at least one hour in refrigerator.
• Cut onions into 8 wedges lengthwise and then cut each wedge in half widthwise (so that pieces get shorter, rather than thinner).
• Soften black mushrooms in hot water and slice thinly.
• Peel carrot and slice into 1/4-inch-wide rounds.
• Cut green pepper into bite-size pieces and drop pieces into boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain.
• Cut green onion or scallions into 2-inch lengths.
• Put chicken pieces in a pot and brown on all sides over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes with lid on.
• Add onion, carrot and mushroom slices.
• Sprinkle chicken and vegetables with 1 Tbsp. soy sauce.
• Reduce heat to 200 degrees F. (“Low” setting on most stoves.)
• Add green pepper, salt and green onion for last 2-3 minutes of cooking.

[Recipe from “Korean Cooking”, an out-of-print cookbook created by the Korean Institute of Minnesota.]