Cheese Buldak (Korean Fire Chicken)
If you were to try this without anybody telling you what it was, you wouldn’t guess that this was Korean. You’d think that it was some type of Italian chicken pizza hotdish. I must say that I was surprised how “normal” tasting this dish is. You don’t think of cheese working with any type of Asian cuisine, except for Korean. Somehow adding the mozzarella balances out all of the flavors happening in the skillet. This dish is so good that you won’t want to share it. Then you end up eating a pound of chicken and a cup of cheese all at once. Maybe smoke a bowl after instead of before? The sauce is really just the typical mix of gochugaru and gochujang, hence the “fire” in the name. The sauce is mixed with the chicken. You can use either breast or thigh for the chicken. Using a cast iron pan is the best option for making the cheese buldak, since you need to broil the top. First, sauté the rice cakes for a couple of minutes. Remove them from the pan. Add the chicken and water to the pan. Cover and cook for 6 minutes, giving it a few stirs. Add the rice cakes, cover, and cook for another 5 minutes. Top with mozzarella cheese and broil for no more than 2 minutes. You can serve this as is with either bread or steamed rice to soak up the sauce.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- cast iron pan
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1” pieces
- 1 cup mochi rice cakes
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
Sauce
- 1/4 cup gochugaru pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp gochujang
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp ginger minced
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Mix together the sauce ingredients.
- Add the sauce to the chicken; making sure that all of the pieces are evenly coated.
- Heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add in the rice cakes and sauté for 4 minutes. Remove from the pan.
- Add the chicken to the pan along with salt and water. Cover and cook for 6 minutes, giving the chicken an occasional stir.
- Add in the rice cakes. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 5 minutes.
- Turn on your oven’s broiler. Place the rack to the middle of the oven. Top the chicken with mozzarella cheese. Place under the broiler.
- Broil for just 2 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
