Korean Spicy Chicken Stew (Dakdori Tang)

This recipe, from the Brooklyn chef Sohui Kim, is an ideal one-pot weeknight meal, as everything — chicken included — is thrown into the pot. Soy sauce, fiery gochugaru (Korean dried red-pepper flakes), fish sauce and radish kimchi give this stew a deeply funky, satisfying flavor. The kimchi called for here is not cabbage kimchi, it is kkakdugi, sometimes listed as cubed radish kimchi or cubed moo radish kimchi, available at Korean grocery stores.

Ingredients

¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
8 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup gochujang
3 tablespoons coarse gochugaru
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, diced (4 cups), or 12 whole baby potatoes
1 cup cubed moo radish kimchi
2 Korean green chiles or 3 Serrano chiles, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 bunch scallions, white parts only, cut into 2-inch pieces

Preparation

Make a seasoning paste by mixing the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, gochujang, gochugaru, fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl.
In a large sauce pot, combine the chicken with the seasoning paste and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover the pot then reduce the heat so it cooks at a simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the potatoes and radish and cook for another 15 minutes, covered, on low heat. Add more water if the pot looks dry.
Stir in the green chiles and scallions. Let everything cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, uncovered, until the sauce thickens slightly. Portion into bowls and serve immediately.

Tip

To grill chicken: Reserve a few pieces of chicken to grill and add the rest to the pot in step 2. While the other chicken, seasoning paste and water are simmering, lightly brush grill grates with oil and grill reserved chicken skin side down until dark brown and charred in spots, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and flip chicken pieces cook until nicely charred, another 5 minutes. Add the chicken pieces to the pot and allow to simmer until chicken is cooked through about 15 minutes. Continue with steps 3 and 4 above.