Korean soy braised chicken (ddak jjim) for your weeknight dinner – slightly sweet and slightly salty but packed with flavor! Go to the recipe
I have officially started back-to-school shopping. My mission was to find toddler-sized winter parkas and snow pants since I did not want to be left out in the cold (quite literally) this year. Last year, my memory lapse with the East Coast winter left me shopping for a parka for my son during one of the snowiest winters when all coats were sold out and choices were slim. This time (in the middle of August) I found what I needed and Phase 1 was done.
I get a bit (okay A LOT) excited for the fall season. I love the clothes, the weather, the food – stews, braises, and roasts. It’s one of my favorite seasons. Summer heat just turns me into Queen Crankypants, and right now I could be Ultimate Warlord of Crankiverse. Anyway, tonight I was confronted with the question, “Dammit, it’s dinnertime already? What am I going to make?” I thought about making something Indian, but quickly concluded that the kids would reject it. I thought about making my quick chicken soup, but was sooo tired of it. Then, the lightbulb came on and, regardless that it was steamy outside, I would make braised chicken. Not just any old braised chicken, but Korean-style a.k.a. ddak jjim. (Jjim is a term that typically describes boiling or steaming ingredients that have been marinated. Braising seems the most similar technique to jjim.)
I threw this together tonight. I used chicken thighs since it would cook quickly and stay tender (and it was the only cut I had.) The ingredients for the sauce are similar to the marinade I use for kalbi jjim, and everything took less than an hour. It is a very flavorful salty-sweet dish that only needs to be accompanied by rice. If you have kimchi, then it completes the perfect trifecta.
Can’t wait to make this dish again.
This recipe has been updated. Originally published August 14, 2011.
Ddak Jjim (Soy Braised Chicken)
Author: Amy Kim | kimchi MOM
Easy weeknight that the kids (and
adults) will devour! Serve with rice.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoons sesame oil
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped or smashed
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Couple of tablespoons of cooking oil
- 1 1/2 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken thighs (I
bet bone-in would taste even better) - 8 fresh or dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted and
sliced - 10 ounces (roughly 2 cups) baby carrots
- 3/4 – 1 cup water
Instructions
- Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, sesame oil, black
pepper, salt together in a small bowl. - Heat cooking oil in a medium-sized saucepan over
medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, brown chicken for about 3
mintues each side. - Add mushrooms, sauce, and carrots. Add water, but do
not completely cover or submerge the ingredients. - Bring to a boil. Turn down heat to low and partially
cover the saucepan with a lid. Stir occasionally. - Simmer for about 35-40 minutes or until sauce is
reduced to half and it glistens.
