Fire chicken with cheese (Cheese buldak: 치즈불닭) recipe by Maangchi 4/27/24, 11:39 AM

Fire chicken with cheese

Cheese buldak

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,
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Fire chicken with cheese (Cheese buldak: 치즈불닭) recipe by Maangchi 4/27/24, 11:39 AM

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
For 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

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Fire chicken with cheese (Cheese buldak: 치즈불닭) recipe by Maangchi 4/27/24, 11:39 AM

Directions
1. 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.

2. Add the chicken and mix well by hand.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Uncover, stir and turn over the chicken with a wooden spoon.
Add the rice cakes to the top of the chicken.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Remove and sprinkle with the chopped green onion. Serve hot.

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Fire chicken with cheese (Cheese buldak: 치즈불닭) recipe by Maangchi 4/27/24, 11:39 AM

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