Street Food & Snacks
Dakkochi (Korean Chicken Skewers)
Prep
15 min
Cook
12 min
Servings
3
Steps
- 1
Thread the chicken chunks onto skewers.
- 2
Season lightly with salt and pepper, and brush with vegetable oil.
- 3
Whisk together gochujang, soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, garlic, and sesame oil into a glaze.
- 4
Grill the skewers over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until mostly cooked through, about 8 minutes.
- 5
Brush the glaze onto the skewers in the last 2-3 minutes of grilling, turning to coat evenly.
- 6
Grill briefly until the glaze is sticky and lightly charred at the edges.
- 7
Top with chopped green onion before serving.
Did you know — Korean culture
Dakkochi stalls are a fixture of Korean university neighborhoods and late-night streets specifically because they're fast, cheap, and portable — a skewer can be eaten walking, unlike most Korean BBQ formats built around a sit-down grill. The glaze brushed on near the end of grilling, not the start, is what keeps the sugar in the sauce from burning before the chicken finishes cooking.
Brushing the glaze on near the end of grilling, not at the start, is the one timing detail that makes or breaks dakkochi. The sugar in a gochujang-based glaze burns fast over direct heat — putting it on too early leaves you with blackened, bitter edges instead of a glossy, caramelized coating.
Cutting the chicken into evenly sized chunks and packing them snugly (but not too tight) on the skewer keeps everything cooking at roughly the same rate, so you're not left with some pieces charred and others still pink by the time the glaze goes on.
Dakkochi stalls are a fixture of Korean university neighborhoods and late-night streets specifically because they're fast, cheap, and portable — a skewer can be eaten walking, unlike most Korean BBQ formats built around a sit-down grill. That street-food practicality is a big part of why it became such a specific, recognizable category of its own rather than just "chicken on a stick."
Troubleshooting
Glaze burning before the chicken finishes cooking? It went on too early — grill the chicken mostly through first, and only add the glaze in the final few minutes.
Chicken drying out? Thigh meat is far more forgiving than breast here — if it's still turning dry, the pieces were likely cut too small or grilled too long before the glaze went on to help seal in moisture.
Glaze not sticking well? Pat the chicken dry before skewering, and brush the glaze on in a couple of light coats rather than one heavy one.