Buldak sauce

On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The literal meaning of the name is “fire chicken”, where bul means “fire” and dak translates to “chicken. Buldak became popular in South Korea during 2004, primarily for its extreme pungency, as the country’s long-term recession and economic downturn caused the local population to seek out spicy buldak sauce to relieve stress.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you: Korea’s 5 spiciest dishes”. 7 Korean dishes that are super spicy — and tips for eating them”. Korean instant noodles hot in overseas as ramen challenge goes viral”. Today’s recipe is super-spicy chicken, called buldak in Korean. 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. 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. 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! 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.