Meat & BBQ
Jjimdak (Andong Braised Chicken with Glass Noodles)
Prep
20 min
Cook
35 min
Servings
4
Steps
- 1
Parboil the chicken briefly in boiling water, then drain and rinse to remove surface fat and impurities.
- 2
Whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, gochujang, garlic, and ginger into a sauce.
- 3
Combine the chicken, sauce, and water in a wide pot and bring to a boil.
- 4
Reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.
- 5
Add the potato, carrot, onion, and mushrooms, and simmer another 15-20 minutes until the chicken and potato are tender.
- 6
Add the soaked glass noodles in the last 5-7 minutes, stirring them into the sauce until they turn glossy and tender.
- 7
Finish with green onion and a drizzle of sesame oil.
Did you know — Korean culture
Jjimdak has a specific, traceable birthplace: Andong's Gujeong Market, sometime in the late 1970s to early 1980s, now nicknamed "Jjimdak Alley" for the cluster of restaurants that grew up around it. As the story goes, local vendors were losing customers to the newly arriving Western-style fried chicken franchises and needed something cheaper and more distinctly their own — soy-braising chicken with vegetables and glass noodles was the answer, and it became one of the clearest examples of a dish invented directly in response to fast-food competition rather than handed down from older tradition.
The glass noodles go in last for a reason that's easy to get backwards. Dangmyeon cooks fast once it's already soaked, and dropped in too early it turns mushy and starchy, clouding the sauce. Adding it in the final few minutes, after the chicken and vegetables are already most of the way done, is what keeps the noodles distinctly chewy rather than soft and waterlogged.
Parboiling the chicken before the real braise starts follows the same logic as most of this site's other bone-in braises — it clears surface blood and impurities that would otherwise cloud the sauce and leave a faint off-flavor underneath the soy and gochujang.
Jjimdak has a specific, traceable birthplace: Andong's Gujeong Market, sometime in the late 1970s to early 1980s, now nicknamed "Jjimdak Alley" for the cluster of restaurants that grew up around it. Local vendors were reportedly losing customers to newly arriving Western-style fried chicken franchises and needed something cheaper and more distinctly their own — soy-braising chicken with vegetables and glass noodles was the answer, making it one of the clearer examples of a dish invented directly in response to fast-food competition rather than handed down from older tradition.
Troubleshooting
Noodles gummy and clumped instead of chewy? They went in too early, or weren't soaked enough beforehand. Soak dangmyeon a full 20 minutes, and add it only in the last 5-7 minutes of cooking.
Sauce tastes flat despite plenty of soy sauce? The gochujang is there for a reason — it adds a savory depth soy sauce and sugar alone don't cover. Don't skip it even though the quantity looks small.
Chicken tough after the full simmer time? Bone-in pieces vary — give it a few more minutes and check for tenderness at the joint rather than committing to a fixed clock.