The Spicy Wonders of 찜닭(Jjimdak)

Jjimdak is steamed on-the-bone chicken combined with hot pepper, garlic, ginger, potatoes, carrots, and onions and then mixed into a wide platter of chili-infused, soy-sauce soaked glass noodles. The glorious thing about jjimdak restaurants is that there are only three choices on the menu: small jjimdak, medium jjimdak, and large jjimdak. To give you a sense of proportion, the “small” jjimdak would likely provide enough food for your next Super Bowl party.

Having a limited-scope menu is very common in Seoul. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense for both producers and consumers. The producers get to limit their ingredient purchasing and streamline the cooking process. On the customer’s side, what could possibly be better than standing on a street full of tasty restaurants, each focusing on one kind of dish? Rather than each restaurant in a row having its own menu, the row of restaurants is your menu. It’s all very meta.

Back to jjimdak. Jjimdak is spicy. Jjimdak can be really spicy. Our jjimdak experience so far mostly consists of 75% wiping your nose with napkins, 10% asking the waitress for more napkins, 10% drinking beer, and 5% eating jjimdak. It is oh so delicious, though. Your lips start burning, the spice makes you feel light-headed and slightly euphoric, and the carrots and potatoes are to die for.