Spicy stir-fried chicken rice bowl (닭갈비 덮밥). A comforting meal during the current heavy rain. Boneless skinless chicken thigh marinated in a gochujang-type sauce (Korean red chili paste) with garlic, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and sometimes ginger.
This dish was served as packaged for takeout (포장). Takeout dishes are typically served with small soup and 1-2 small side dishes (here cubed radish 깍두기 and mini-vegetable pancakes 파전).
There are many types of covered-rice (덮밥) dishes that are enjoyed for lunch since they’re quick and easy. Some common ones are:
-제육덮밥 spicy pork over rice (jeyuk-deopbap)
-오징어덮밥 spicy squid over rice (ojingeo-deopbap)
-닭갈비덮밥 spicy chicken over rice (dakgalbi-deopbap)
The name 닭갈비 can be misleading as there’s no chicken ribs (갈비) used. The term 닭갈비 originated as a marketing term in Chuncheon Province , where it comes from. Similar to pork or beef ribs, the chicken meat is marinated and grilled. Chicken, at the time, was a cheaper alternative meat to pork or beef.
This particular 닭갈비 덮밥 cost 8,900 Korean Won ($6.50USD). Although seemingly inexpensive in USD, meals are getting expensive with recent inflation.
덮밥 (toppings over rice bowls) are similar to Japanese donburi and Chinese 盖饭 (gài fàn).
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