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Andong Jjimdak (Braised Chicken with Glass Noodles and Dried Chile)
Andong Jjimdak (Braised Chicken with Glass Noodles and Dried Chile) reads umami 7.8, sweetness 5.6 and salinity 5.3 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Korean main, about 1 hr 27 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.
The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10
- Umami & Savory — 8.6 / 10
- Sweet & Fruity — 6.0 / 10
- Sour & Bright — 0.8 / 10
- Bitter & Earthy — 2.1 / 10
- Rich & Fat — 3.9 / 10
- Aromatic & Spice — 5.3 / 10
The measured notes (of 18)
Umami 7.8 · Sweetness 5.6 · Salinity 5.3 · Allium 4.8 · Richness 3.7 · Funk & Ferment 2.9 · Warm Spice 2.3 · Herbaceous 2.1 · Heat 2.0 · Earthy 1.9 · Fruity 1.3 · Bitterness 1.3 · Floral 0.9 · Nutty 0.8 · Sourness 0.8
What's in it (16)
- chicken — 1300 g
- water — 1000 g
- dangmyeon — 100 g
- soy sauce — 120 g
- light corn syrup — 40 g
- dark brown sugar — 30 g
- soju — 60 g
- water — 500 g
- garlic — 30 g
- fresh ginger — 20 g
- chiles — 30 g
- potatoes — 300 g
- carrot — 150 g
- onion — 200 g
- scallions — 45 g
- ground black pepper — 3 g
Time & effort: about 1 hr 27 min (57 min active) · effort: involved
Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 65 kcal, 6.4 g protein, 2.7 g fat, 3.9 g carbs
Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.
How it's cooked (7 steps)
- Cover the chicken pieces with the litre of water, bring to a boil and boil hard for 3 minutes, then drain and rinse each piece under running water, rubbing off the clotted protein. This parboil costs five minutes and is what keeps the braising liquid clear and glossy instead of grey and scummy.
- Soak the dangmyeon in plenty of cold water for 30 minutes, until pliable but still firm. They go into the pot at the very end; boiled from dry in the sauce they drink it all up and turn to paste.
- Mix the soy sauce, rice syrup, brown sugar, soju, the 500 ml of water, garlic, ginger and black pepper in a heavy pot, add the chicken and the dried chiles, and bring to a boil. The dried chiles are not optional and not interchangeable with chile flakes: whole dried chile in a braise gives a slow, dry heat behind the sweetness, and that combination is what makes this dish recognisably Andong.
- Cover and simmer 20 minutes, then add the potatoes, carrot and onion and simmer 20 to 25 minutes more, uncovered for the last 10, until the potatoes are tender and the sauce has reduced by about half and turned syrupy enough to coat a spoon.
- Drain the noodles and add them to the pot with the scallions. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, turning them through the sauce with tongs, until they are translucent and slippery and have taken on the colour of the braise.
- Serve straight from the pot with rice. Jjimdak is a communal dish from the old town of Andong in North Gyeongsang, where it is served in a wide shallow bowl and eaten with scissors and tongs; the modern sweet soy version spread nationwide from the Andong market in the 1980s.
- Substitutions: honey can stand in for the mulyeot; rice wine can stand in for the soju; light chicken stock can stand in for the water.
Dishes with a similar flavor shape
- Yaki Udon with Chicken and Vegetables — Japanese
- Jangjorim (Soy-Braised Beef Shank with Quail Eggs) — Korean
- Tofu Katsu with Curry Sauce — Japanese
- Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie with Lentils — British
- Big Plate Chicken (Da Pan Ji) — Chinese · Xinjiang
Keep reading: what umami, sweetness, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.
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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.