Jjimdak – Braised Chicken with Glass Noodles

Jjimdak is a braised chicken dish that is great year round – but it’s fantastic in the fall because of the beautiful orange from the sweet potatoes and carrots, and because it has all of the delectable starchiness we crave when the weather turns cold! Subtly sweet and spicy this is a delicious, hearty dish that can all be cooked in one pot.

While it may seem super heavy to include potatoes in a dish that also has noodles, the glass noodles aka dangmyeon or 당면  (made from sweet potato vs. wheat and a lower glycemic choice) are very light, and they don’t consume the entire dish. They are more of an accent that complements the rest of the ingredients, vs. a pile of noodles with a few other ingredients.

It’s always hard for me to quantify the amount of noodles in a recipe. Just grab a bunch and it should fill the circumference of your thumb and middle finger. Everyone has different sized hands so this isn’t exact but it should be about right. (By the way, these are the types of measurements my mom, mother-in-law and husband give me all the time that I try to measure for this blog. It’s never exact).

There’s a couple of ingredient variations listed in case you don’t have some of these things on hand. I’ve used the substitutions and still enjoyed the dish very much!

Here’s what you need:

• 1 whole chicken
• ~3-4 ounces Korean glass noodle 
• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 medium white potato
• 1 medium carrot
• ½-1 medium onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch green onion
• ~4 rehydrated shitake mushrooms
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• ⅓ cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce (or use ½ cup soy sauce instead of ⅓)
• ~2 dried chilli peppers (or ~½+ tsp of any other chilli pepper you have)
• 4 tbsp oligodang (or honey/other sweetener)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp mirin (or rice vinegar)
• 2.5 cups of water
• Roasted sesame seeds to garnish

Start by placing your noodles into a bowl of warm water. Let them soak while you prep all of your other ingredients.

Also soak your mushrooms if you have not already.

Cut up your chicken into medium-small pieces if not already done. Next, cut your potatoes, carrots and onion into chunks. Set aside.

Smash and chop your garlic, grate/finely chop your ginger, chop your chili peppers into thirds or in half and place into a bowl. If using other red pepper add that to the bowl. Then add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, oligodang or other sweetener, sesame oil, and mirin. Mix well.

Remove your mushrooms from the water and squeeze out the excess liquid. Cut into thin strips and place with your other chopped vegetables.

Now you will place your chicken into a large pot. Add the water and turn the heat to high. Add in your soy sauce mixture and after the water reaches boiling, cook on medium for about 10 minutes.

Next, add your chopped vegetables and cook for an additional 7-8 minutes or until the potato is soft. 

Finally, drain the water from your noodles and if desired, cut them once or twice with a pair of kitchen scissors so they aren’t so incredibly long. Add them to the center of the pot and cook for an additional 3 minutes. You can now chop your green onion if you haven’t already, and set aside.

Remove from heat, and top with the green onion and roasted sesame seeds before serving. Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Jjimdak - Braised Chicken with Glass Noodles

Dinner – Korean, Asian

By Janice Yucel – Serves: 5-6

Prep Time: 10 Mintues – Cooking Time: 20 Minutes – Total Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• ~3-4 ounces Korean glass noodle 
• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 medium white potato
• 1 medium carrot
• ½-1 medium onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch green onion
• ~4 rehydrated shitake mushrooms
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• ⅓ cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce (or use ½ cup soy sauce instead of ⅓)
• ~2 dried chilli peppers (or ~½+ tsp of any other chilli pepper you have)
• 4 tbsp oligodang (or honey/other sweetener)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp mirin (or rice vinegar)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2.5 cups of water
• Roasted sesame seeds to garnish

Instructions

1

Start by placing your noodles into a bowl of warm water. Let them soak while you prep all of your other ingredients.

2

Also soak your mushrooms if you have not already.

3

Cut up your chicken into medium-small pieces if not already done.

4

Cut your potatoes, carrot and onion into chunks. Set aside.

5

Smash and chop your garlic, grate/finely chop your ginger, chop your chilli’s into thirds or in half and place into a bowl. If using other red pepper add that to the bowl.

6

Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, oligodang or other sweetener, sesame oil, black pepper and mirin to the same bowl. Mix well and set aside.

7

Remove your mushrooms from the water and squeeze out the excess liquid. Cut into thin strips and place with your other chopped vegetables.

8

Now you will place your chicken into a large pot. Add the water and turn the heat to high.

9

Add in your soy sauce mixture and after the water reaches boiling, cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes.

10

Add your chopped vegetables and cook for an additional 7-8 minutes or until the potato is soft. 

11

Finally, drain the water from your noodles and if desired, cut them once or twice with a pair of kitchen scissors so they aren’t so incredibly long. Add them to the center of the pot and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

12

Chop your green onion if you haven’t already, and set aside.

13

Remove from heat, and top with the green onion and roasted sesame seeds before serving. Enjoy!