Chicken

Cheese Buldak

Name: Cheese Buldak
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: 600g Chicken Breast; 1 Spring Onion; 200g Mozzarella Cheese; 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce; 1 Tbsp Sugar; 1 Tbsp Mulyeot; 2 Tbsp Mirin; 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper; 2 Tbsp Gochujang; 3 Tbsp Gochugaru; 1 Red Chilli Pepper; 2 Tsp Crushed Garlic; 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce; 2 Tbsp Sesame Oil; 2 Tsp Minced Ginger; 1 Tsp Chilli Oil

치즈불닭

When you know this dish translates to 'Fire Chicken' then you can guess what this dish is all about!

Prep: 40m
Cooking: 10m
Total: 50m

Next up we have Cheese Buldak! The word Buldak is a simple translation into English meaning “Fire Chicken”. I guess that sums up this dish quite well. In terms of Korean cooking history this is a relatively new dish with its popularity increasing heavily over the last decade or so.

Buldak is a relatively simple dish that involves cooking pieces of marinated chicken breast and then covering in a rich, intensly spicy sauce. A lot of people also like to melt cheese on top of this dish, and I’m no different. The cheese adds a nice chewy texture to the dish and offers some relief from the heat of the chicken underneath.

This recipe uses the standard type of red chilli pepper you can find in UK supermarkets which are typically not too hot. If you want to crank up the heat further just substitute this for your chilli pepper of choice.

As with all ingredients within my recipes, if you’re not sure what something is – or where you can find it – just click on its name in the ingredient list on the left to find out more!

Ingredients

Makes 2 servings

600g Chicken Breast
1 Spring Onion
200g Mozzarella Cheese
FOR THE MARINADE
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Mulyeot
2 Tbsp Mirin
1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
FOR THE SAUCE
2 Tbsp Gochujang
3 Tbsp Gochugaru
1 Red Chilli Pepper
2 Tsp Crushed Garlic
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
2 Tsp Minced Ginger
1 Tsp Chilli Oil

Method

1

Chop up the chicken breast into bite sized pieces and place in a mixing bowl. Slice the spring onion and leave to one side for now.
2

Add all of the marinade ingredients to the bowl and mix well with the chicken pieces. Pop into the fridge and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
3

While the chicken is marinating it's now time to prepare the sauce. Finely chop the chilli pepper and add to a bowl along with the remainder of the sauce ingredients. Mix thoroughly.
4

When the chicken has finished marinating, remove it from the fridge and add it to a hot frying pan. Cook the chicken for 2/3 minutes on both sides until cooked through.
5

Drain off any liquid from the frying pan and then add the chicken to a large heavy pan. Add the sauce mixture on top and mix well.
6

Drizzle a small amount of sesame oil over the chicken and cook over a medium/low heat for 5 minutes. Stir the chicken often to ensure it doesn't stick to the pan.
7

Pre-heat a grill, add your mozzarella to the chicken and put the whole pan under the grill for about 5 minutes. Keep an eye on the pan to ensure you don't burn the cheese. It's ready to remove from the grill when the cheese has melted and has started to turn golden brown on top. * I have used sliced mozzarella balls in this recipe. They contain more water than grated mozzarella which will dilute the sauce somewhat when it's under the grill. This does mean though that you will be left with some delicious sauce in the bottom of the pan when you've finished which is perfect for adding some rice to. Almost like a bonus second course :) If you'd prefer dryer Buldak then use grated Mozzarella instead of balls.
8

Place the pan in the center of your dinner table (on a coaster!) and enjoy with a side bowl of fresh rice.