Jjimdak Korean Braised Chicken Recipe

Jjimdak or Korean Braised Chicken as done in a more elegant and refined manner.

Make the mother sauce first by blending 1 yellow pear, 1 medium onion, 40g peeled garlic, 2 stalks leek, 180ml light soy sauce, 1/4 honey and 1 tsp black pepper into a saucy paste. Store in a glass jar and refrigerate for 1 day.

To make the Jjimdak, sauté a handful of spinach with some perilla seed oil and a pinch of salt in pan until the vegetables are lightly cooked. 

Add 2 tsp of perilla seed oil to a fresh wok and heat up the oil. Add 1 stalk chopped leek, 6 cloves peeled garlic and 4 slices ginger and sauté for a few minutes until aromatic. 

Add 300g chopped boneless chicken leg with skin on and brown the chicken pieces. Once the chicken is browned, add 4 tbsp of mother sauce and mix well.

Add 300ml of prawn stock. You may substitute with chicken or vegetable stock. Add 60g sliced carrot, 2 shiitake mushrooms that have been quartered and 60g sweet potato. 

Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes and carrots are soft. Add 60g Korean glass sweet potato noodles and cook for another 5 minutes until the noodles are soft.

Plate the braised chicken and place the sautéed spinach on top. Finish by sprinkling some almond flakes on top.

Jjimdak, in Korean literally means braised (jjim) chicken (dak). And the most popular variants of this Korean braised chicken dish hails from the city of Andong, hence it is widely known as Andong Jjimdak.

It is said that in the 80s, the eateries around Andong market came up with this dish to combat the increasing popularity of western fried chicken. Whichever is the case, today it is served as an army stew like portioning enough for a family with spicy sauces and vegetables. 

Yet, this dish is known to exist hundreds of years ago back in Joseon time when consuming chicken was more of a luxury and eaten only on special occasions for the rich families of Andong. 

We have made our own non spicy Jjimdak as inspired by the version seen on Youn’s Stay #younstay using only fresh ingredients and naturally fermented soya sauce. Just like how it would have been done during the Joseon era.

We have also given it a more elegant and refined look as inspired by Youn’s Stay. Instead of commercial soya sauces, we made our own Korean special mother sauce using the natural soya sauce from www.nanyangsauce.com, fresh pears, leeks and onions. 

After which, we sautéed the chicken pieces with vegetables before braising them in our own homemade prawn stock with sweet potatoes, carrots, sweet potato noodles and shiitake mushrooms. And garnishing the dish with sautéed spinach and almond flakes. 

The resulting dish is as colourful as it is healthy as it is delicious. A slightly sweet and savoury sauce that is lightly orange in colour, but full of chicken and vegetable flavours. 

And the chewy glass noodles are perfect for absorbing all the Jjimdak juices and giving it a creamy texture at the same time. The addition of sweet potatoes gives it that added dimension of a somewhat creamy potato taste.

It is said that Joseon cuisine is meant to serve as a form of medicine as healthy food like this will keep many of the court royals in good spirits and condition.

We hope you will enjoy making and savouring this amazingly delicious and nutritious classic Korean chicken dish that is also fit for a Joseon king. 

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