Chicken braised in Korean red chili paste and chili flakes marinade then topped with mozzarella, that’s broiled until melted and gooey – this Korean fire chicken is serious deliciousness!
Spicy, comforting, delicious and warming are the kind of foods I am craving these days. With the weather getting colder each day that is what the soul wants. And this amazing Korean fire chicken (cheese buldak) fits the bill perfectly. This one pot chicken recipe is made with a fermented, Korean chili paste called gochujang and also chilli flakes gochugaru. Now, while the chili flakes are quite hot, the fermented chili paste is milder. In fact, it has a slight sweet taste to it, as well. However, it does have a pretty distinct flavour that it lends to the fire chicken, so using it is a must for this recipe. You should be able to easily find these in an Oriental shop or in the Asian section of your super market. And once you do, you are going to keep using them.
Even if it is going to a slight effort to get these ingredients, I promise, this recipe is going to be worth it. Moreover, once you have a stash of them you can make so many more yummy dishes with them. In fact, you could even make this spicy Korean chicken stir fry sometime. Korean recipes are delicious and also quite easy to cook, too. Since they also have a lovely kick of chili, it is one of our favourite cuisines. However, in this fire chicken recipe, the heat comes mostly from the chili flakes and not really the chili paste. So, you could tone the quantity down in the recipe, for a milder version.
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Serving suggestions
I can finish an entire batch of this is delicious Korean fire chicken (cheese buldak) just as is. Nonetheless, it tastes equally yummy paired with steamed rice. Also, you need to eat the fire chicken fresh and hot, that’s when it tastes the best. And keep in mind to make a big batch of it, because there is always going to be more than one serving! Like always, I hope you are going to give my Korean chicken recipe a try it out as well. This, especially, is an amazing dinner idea on a chilly evening. No wonder this is what I’ve been making on repeat, these last few weeks. On the other hand, let me also tell you once you’ve made it and loved it, you aren’t going to look at the weather to make this amazing chicken dinner. š
You will need only a handful of ingredients and under 30 minutes to whip this recipe up. And if you intend to use an oven proof pan, this is also a one pot recipe. Isn’t that something we all love? So, I hope you are going to love this easy Korean recipe and try it out for yourself sometime. And like always, if you happen to try this recipe out, I’d love to hear back from you. You can share your food pictures with me over on Instagram, too.
Eat hearty!
Korean fire chicken (cheese buldak)
Equipment
- Oven proof skillet
- Bakeware
Ingredients
- 600 g chicken thighs cut in thin strips
- Ā¼ cup Gochujang Korean red chili paste
- Ā¼ cup Gochugaru or any chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp ginger finely chopped
- 1 tbsp garlic finely chopped
- 1Ā½ tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp black pepper crushed
- 1 tbsp sugar
- Ā½ cup mozzarella roughly torn in chunks
- 2-3 tbsp oil
- salt to taste
For garnishing
- 2 tbsp spring onion greens chopped
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the gochujang, gochugaru, sugar, soy sauce, salt, pepper, ginger and garlic. Add the chicken to this mixture and mix evenly. Leave it aside for 15 minutes
- Heat a skillet with the oil and add the marinated chicken along with Ā¼ cup water. Mix well, cover and cook, on medium heat, for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked
- Remove from flame and top the chicken with the mozzarella. In case your skillet/cooking pan is not oven proof* transfer the chicken to a baking dish, cover with the cheese and proceed to next step
- Place the pan/dish in the oven, under broiler, until the cheese has fully melted and browned in a few spots (about 2 minutes)
- Remove, garnish with spring onion greens and serve your mouthwatering Korean fire chicken (cheese buldak) hot, as is or with steamed rice. Enjoy!
Notes
- *In case you want to continue cooking on stove top, layer the mozzarella over your chicken, cover and cook over medium high heat until the cheese has melted
- You can leave the pepper out and reduce the amount to chili flakes (gochugaru) in the recipe, to make it milderĀ
- I have used fresh mozzarella balls for this recipe, however, you could also use the pre-shredded ones
- Traditionally, even Korean rice cakes are added to this recipe, but I haven't used them
- g - grams
- tsp - teaspoon
- tbsp - tablespoon
- 1 cup = 250 miligrams
