Basically Dakgalbi or
spicy stir-fried chicken is a popular Korean dish generally made by stir-frying marinated diced
chicken in a
gochujang-based (chili pepper) sauce with sliced cabbage, sweet potato, scallions,
onions,
perilla leaves, and
tteok (rice cake) on a hot plate. Although its name means
chicken ribs, there is no rib meat in dak-galbi
It is a local specialty in the Korean city of Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, where
dak-galbi originated. Because of its origin, the dish is also called
Chunchŏn dak-galbi. It is said that
dak-galbi appeared after the late 1960s as an inexpensive
anju (food that is eaten while drinking) in small taverns on the outskirts of the city to replace the comparatively expensive
gui dishes, which are grilled over charcoal. The dish spread to Chunchŏn’s main districts, where the livestock industry thrives and offers fresh ingredients with no need for refrigeration. There is a street known as
dak-galbi golmok (dak-galbi alley) that has a high concentration of dak-galbi restaurants.