Tasty Korean Spicy Stewed Chicken–매운 찜닭

Hello readers!

When I was having a food slump, I decided I needed a spurt of spice and flavor to reawaken my depressed taste buds. I finally decided to make this simple dish because it is very flavorful, hearty (chicken and potato!), and spicy plus  an added sweetness. It is good as a main dish with a side of rice and some pickled radishes. How shall I describe its flavor? Hm…it is a Korean red pepper spicy, but not overpowering due to the added sweetness of pumpkin, onions and honey. Also the flavor is rich because the chicken is stewed for a quite a long time. Due to this, the meat is not dry, but moist and juicy. I love mixing the extra liquid from the dish with my rice–my taste buds are in tears of joy!

WHAT YOU NEED

• whole chicken butchered
• 1 onion sliced in quarters
• 1-2 potato cubed
• butternut pumpkin/squash sliced without flesh and seed –can sub with sweet potato
• 1 korean red pepper and 1 green pepper sliced
• small nappa cabbage (optional)
• 2 tablespoons korean red pepper paste
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon korean red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup of dried anchovy broth–can also use 1 cup of chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste

WHAT TO DO:

Aside from the sauce, there is not much to do for this dish! JOY! Mix the garlic, red pepper paste, red pepper flakes, ginger, soy sauce, honey, and oil together to create the sauce.

Load a large pot (like a dutch oven size –I struggled with my pot, because it was too small!)  with all the ingredients except the cabbage. Try to put the chicken towards the very bottom of the pot so it will cook evenly.

Cover and bring to boil. Once it is boiling, remove cover and simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour–until chicken is done. Add in the cabbage about 15 minutes prior to serving time.

After 1 hour….

ENJOY!! How simple was that?