Buldak, or fire chicken, is a Korean street food dish, made from spicy pieces of chicken breast or thigh, cooked in a sauce made from gochujang and gochugaru (Korean chili powder and paste – see my favorite item links to purchase these), ginger, garlic, and soy sauce.
The chicken in this recipe can be grilled, fried, or cooked in a skillet like I did in this recipe. Traditionally this dish is quite spicy, and I reduced the heat level a little bit to make it easier to eat. If you want to try the real heat level, double the amounts of chili powder and paste from what I have in the recipe while keeping everything else the same.
The cheese is optional but I highly recommend including it. Cheese is not traditionally in Korean cooking, but has become used a lot more in recent years, particularly in street food and the combination is pretty delicious.
I served this with rice, zucchini, kimchi and some mung bean pancakes. You could also serve it over some ramen noodles which would be really good.
Buldak (Korean Fire Chicken)
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 tbsp gochugaru
- 2 tbsp gochujang
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 4 inch piece fresh ginger peeled and minced
- salt to taste
- 1/4 cup water or stock
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- sliced scallions or chopped cilantro for serving
- rice or noodles for serving
- kimchi for serving
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients other than cheese and toppings and mix well. Add the chicken and let marinate for an hour.
- Heat the oven to broil and in an oven safe skillet, brown the chicken in a little oil, then add the water or broth and allow to simmer until cooked through and the sauce has thickened to coat the chicken.
- Top with the cheese and place under the broiler until the cheese has browned.
- Serve over rice or noodles, topped with scallions, cilantro, and kimchi.