This Korean-Style Chicken Stew is a slightly spicy, super tasty, comforting dish, perfect for the winter season. It's seasoned with ginger, garlic, gochujang, kimchi, and a handful of pantry ingredients, served on a bed of silky mashed potato. It's one of my favourite dishes I've made this year, so I hope you love it!
This Korean-Style Chicken Stew also has some gorgeous additions; aubergine/eggplant (this goes silky soft and absorbs all the delicious flavours), button mushrooms (for a bit of texture and cute aesthetic), and kimchi (for a boost of umami and tang).
If you've got leftover gochujang, make my dumpling tteokbokki bake, gochujang gnocchi lasagne, or my fire cabbage recipe!
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What is Korean Stew?
I absolutely adore Korean stews - they're boiling hot, spicy, flavourful, and play a central roll in everyday Korean kitchens. They tend to fall into two categories - jjigae and tang/guk. They're usually seasoned with ingredients like gochujang (korean red pepper paste), doenjang (soybean paste), garlic, and fermented foods like kimchi.
Jjigae are thicker, more intensely flavoured recipes served with rice, and then you've got the tang/guk which are more broth-based.
There's a chicken stew called dakdoritang which is made using chicken braised with potatoes, carrots, gochujang, and chili flakes (gochugaru). I've taken inspiration from that dish for this recipe - but swapping out the potatoes in the stew for a mashed potato base. And it turned out SO good.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Garlic: we're using fresh garlic for this recipe.
Ginger: fresh ginger is the best option for this Korean-style chicken stew. Omit if you've only got ginger powder.
Onion: you can either use a white onion or shallots.
Aubergine: I'm using small Asian aubergines, but you could use regular aubergines/eggplants too. If you're not a fan of aubergine, feel free to sub out for silken tofu or courgette/zucchini.
Mushrooms: button mushrooms are a cute option, but you could also use a variety of woodland mushrooms.
Kimchi: this adds tang and extra cabbage-like texture. You can totally omit this if you can't find it.
For the sauce: gochujang (korean red pepper paste), sugar, soy sauce (light soy sauce is good), rice wine (you could also use mirin), gochugaru flakes (korean red pepper flakes - you could use half the amount of mild regular chilli flakes), chicken stock (I used a stock cube with 300ml of water).
Chicken: I'm using chicken breast and thinly slicing it. You could totally use chicken thighs or chicken wings on the bone for extra flavour. If you want a different type of protein, you could do steak, silken tofu, or pork loin.
Potatoes: for those of you in the UK, Maris piper potatoes are great. In the US, russet potatoes are fab. You want to basically find chunky large potatoes. Feel free to make sweet potato mash if you'd prefer - it would go well with this Korean-style stew too!
The full list of ingredients and measurements is at the bottom of this blog, just scroll down to find the recipe card!
Step by Step Instructions with Photos
Step 1: Place a deep pan on medium heat and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Once hot, add in the onion, garlic, and ginger. Fry for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently until aromatic.
Step 2: Add the aubergines/eggplants and mushrooms into the pan and fry for 5-10 minutes on medium-low heat stirring frequently.
Step 3: Add in the kimchi, followed by the gochujang, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, gochugaru flakes, and chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of flour and mix to combine and the sauce should begin to thicken.
Step 4: Taste the stew and season with salt, pepper, or sugar to balance out the flavours based on your preferences! (I didn't need to add in anything personally). Add in the chicken and leave to simmer for 15 minutes.
Step 5: While your korean-style chicken stew is simmering away, place your chopped potatoes on the boil. Once soft when spiking with a fork, drain and add in the butter and milk. Blend with a hand blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 6: Once the stew and the mashed potato are ready, divide the mashed potatoes between two bowls and top with the korean-inspired chicken stew. Garnish with chives and optionally some chilli oil. Enjoy!
FAQs
I have served it with a silky mashed potato, but you could serve it with rice, noodles, or on its own!
It definitely holds a nice level of heat, yes. If you're not a massive fan of spice, you can reduce the gochujang amount to around 1 tbsp.
I love a smacked cucumber salad, edamame beans, kimchi, or kimchi pancake.
If you tried this Korean-Style Chicken Stew or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thank you!
Korean-Style Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 inch ginger minced
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 aubergine chopped into cubes (or 2 small aubergines, sliced into discs)
- 150 g button mushrooms
- 150 g kimchi
- 2-3 tablespoon gochujang use less if you're not a massive fan of spice!
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3-4 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoon gochugaru flakes
- 300 ml chicken stock
- 2 chicken breasts thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 10 g chives finely sliced
Mashed potato
- 2 large potatoes maris piper or russet potato, chopped
- 25 g salted butter
- 150 ml milk
Instructions
- Place a deep pan or pot on medium heat and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Once hot, add in the onion, garlic, and ginger. Fry for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently until aromatic (make sure not to burn it - add some more oil if it looks like its catching).
- Add the aubergines/eggplants and mushrooms into the pan and fry for 5-10 minutes on medium-low heat stirring frequently.
- Add in the kimchi, followed by the gochujang, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, gochugaru flakes, and chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of flour and mix to combine and the sauce should begin to thicken.
- Taste the stew and season with salt, pepper, or sugar to balance out the flavours based on your preferences! (I didn't need to add in anything personally). Add in the chicken and leave to simmer for 15 minutes.
- While your korean-style chicken stew is simmering away, place your chopped potatoes on the boil. Once soft when spiking with a fork, drain and add in the butter and milk. Blend with a hand blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
- Once the stew and the mashed potato are ready, divide the mashed potatoes between two bowls and top with the korean-inspired chicken stew. Garnish with chives and optionally some chilli oil. Enjoy!
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