in the kitchen:: korean braised chicken ddakjim

deep rewind a few years ago, right about now, my then-boyfriend took me to korea to see my best friend as part of my birthday treat. we got away for a short trip, lived it up like royalty, rode bicycles  and twirled until we both got dizzy. and we ate the yummiest chicken ever - andong jjimdak.

i recently spotted the recipe on maangchi

and decided to give it a go. 

and because the local supermarket doesn't stock everything in the recipe, i got creative with the fixings. instead of rice syrup, i used mirin and in replacement of chilli, i used bell peppers. doesn't have the same zip to it but spiciness is not one of the common tastes in japanese cuisine. 

i taste tested it for lunch with a bowl of rice-noodles (the type you find in pho). it was delish!

i was instantly transported right back to that random country-side town in the middle of korea. 

with zero language skills, pointing to their top item on their menu,

not knowing that we ordered but whatever it was, it was AWESOME!!

some food just has that extra magic in them! :)

xx