Grilled
Dak-galbi
Spicy Stir-Fried Chicken
Spicy stir-fried chicken with cabbage, rice cakes, and gochujang, cooked on a hot plate at your table.
Dak-galbi is the rowdy, communal hot-plate dish from Chuncheon: chunks of chicken stir-fried with cabbage, sweet potato, chewy rice cakes, and a fiery gochujang sauce, all tumbled together on a wide griddle in the middle of the table. It's a favorite of students and friend groups because it's cheap, generous, and interactive — the staff or one designated friend keeps tossing it as it cooks. The undisputed grand finale is bokkeumbap: leftover sauce is mixed with rice, seaweed, and cheese and fried right on the same plate. It's spicy, sweet, and built for sharing over drinks. Chuncheon even has a street lined with dak-galbi restaurants.
✦ Tastypinch tip
Grab the slippery rice cakes by pinning them against a piece of chicken or cabbage rather than chasing them solo.
How to eat it
- Let it cook on the hot plate, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is done.
- Eat from the communal plate into your own dish; wrap in lettuce to tame the heat.
- Order the fried-rice finish (볶음밥) to mop up the leftover sauce.
Common mistakes
- Don't skip the bokkeumbap finale — it's considered the best part.
- It's a shared, two-person-plus dish, not a solo plate.
Where to try it
- Dak-galbi restaurants, often with tabletop griddles
- Chuncheon's famous dak-galbi street
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