“My Ugly Duckling” Korean Spicy Chicken Over Rice

My Ugly Duckling is currently a very popular reality-like show in Korea where celebrities’ moms observe and add commentary as they watch footage of their sons’ daily activities. The famous son’s daily lives are captured and then the moms and hosts watch it together like their watching a YouTube vlog! It’s a fairly new concept but has been actually very fun and gained a lot of popularity for its creativity. The moms themselves have also become stars!

One son, Kim Jong Gook is a famous singer but also a super workout addict. His high-pitched soothing singing voice and muscular body definitely do not match. He could probably retire from being a singer and become a full-time personal trainer or even bodybuilder.

His daily life often shows him eating boring chicken breast (plain with no seasoning).Famously, he has also showcased making smoothies with chicken breast… Not very appetizing looking. So, a famous chef, Kang Rae Oh showed the ways of making chicken breast not so boring for when he wants to enjoy some flavor without too much hassle. The sauce is a equal 1:1 ratio for all the different flavors. It’s spicy, sweet and salty all in one! My recipe tester, the husband, gobbled it pretty quickly even though he’s not a huge chicken eater. *Note, I used chicken thigh instead of chicken breast here today but really any part of the chicken will work!

Print Recipe

"My Ugly Duckling" Korean Spicy Chicken Over RIce

Keyword

chicken, korean

Servings

1 people

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast or chicken thigh (6 oz or 170 g)
• ¼ tsp salt and pepper
• ¼ onion
• ½ medium sized potato*
• 2 green onions
• 2 mushrooms I used baby bella
• Size of a quarter (25 g) sweet potato starch noodles
• 200 ml water
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1water

Sweet and Spicy Sauce

• 1 Tbsp red pepper paste
• 1 Tbsp Korean red chili pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp mirin
• 1 Tbsp sweetener I used honey
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Keyword chicken, korean Servings 1 people Ingredients 1 chicken breast or chicken thigh (6 oz or 170 g) ¼ tsp salt and pepper ¼ onion ½ medium sized potato* 2 green onions 2 mushrooms I used baby bella Size of a quarter (25 g) sweet potato starch noodles 200 ml water 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1water Sweet and Spicy Sauce 1 Tbsp red pepper paste 1 Tbsp Korean red chili pepper flakes 1 Tbsp minced garlic 1 Tbsp soy sauce 1 Tbsp mirin 1 Tbsp sweetener I used honey Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cut the chicken into bite-size chunks. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Soak the noodles in water for about 20 minutes.
3. Prep the vegetables. Slice the onions, slice the mushrooms, cut the green onions into longer strips.
4. Make the sauce. Add 1 Tbsp of each: red pepper paste, korean red chili pepper flakes minced garlic, soy sauce and mirin and mix well.

   
5. Heat a medium sized fry pan with 1 Tbsp oil and cook the chicken until it’s no longer pink.

   
6. *If using potatoes, add them in here as it takes longer to cook than the other vegetables. After about a minute, add in the rest of the vegetables in the next step.
7. Add in the onion, green onion and mushrooms. Stirfry until the chicken is completely cooked through.

   
8. Once the chicken is cooked, add in the sauce and stirfry for another 1-2 minutes until the sauce becomes fragrant. The heat will bring an extra depth of flavor to the sauce.

   
9. Add in the 200 ml of water. Add in the sweet potato starch noodles. Simmer for about 3-4 minutes.
10. At the end, mix together the 1 tsp of cornstarch with 1 tsp of water. Add the cornstarch slurry to the dish and mix well. Remove from heat and serve! *Depending on how much of the water has reduced, the cornstarch amount needed may vary. I recommend starting with about half the amount and seeing how thick the sauce gets. Note that the sauce will becoming thicker over the next minute.