slow cooker dakjjim (닭찜) | korean braised chicken with vegetables

Once again, I had a lazy sort of day.

For one, it was raining. Rainy days = just-don't-want-to-get-off-my-ass days.

But dinner still needs to be cooked.

So I made dakjjim - Korean braised chicken with vegetables. That means I just had to cook rice and we were good to go.

It was really simple making the dish because I used the slow cooker. The only catch was, I had to wait 4 hours (while the aroma of the chicken cooking drove me bonkers) to eat it.

Here are the instructions on how to make this dish that will soon become your family's favorite.

Cut all the vegetables. Set them aside.

Clean and cut the chicken into small pieces. Trim off excess fat. Use a piece of kitchen towel to pat the chicken dry.

Place all the ingredients for the sauce into a bowl. Whisk to combine.

Place the chicken and vegetables (except the spring onion) in the slow cooker.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables.

Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Stir occasionally while cooking.

When the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are soft, add the sesame oil and sesame seeds.

Add the spring onions and stir through. Serve, hot, with rice.

Ma Sit Sso Yo! (맛있어요.!)

RECIPE
Slow Cooker Dakjjim (닭찜) | Korean Braised Chicken with Vegetables (Serves 4-6)
Loosely adapted from Korean Bapsang

Ingredients:
1 medium size chicken cut up (about 1kg of cut pieces)
4 medium potatoes, cut into large chunks
3 medium carrot, cut into large chunks
1 large onion, cut into large chunks
4 – 5 mushroom caps (shittake, white, or baby bella), cut into large chunks
6 – 7 plump garlic cloves
4 – 5 thin ginger slices (1-inch round)
2 – 3 dried whole red chili peppers (or green chili peppers or jalapenos) – optional - I omitted this
2 sprigs spring onion, cut into chunks

For the sauce:
1/3 cup (80ml) soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons (30ml) oyster sauce (or 2 more tablespoons soy sauce.)
3 tablespoons (30ml) rice wine or mirin - I used mirin
2 tablespoons (30ml) honey (or 2 to 3 more tablespoons brown sugar)
1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons (10ml) sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Method:
1. Clean and cut the chicken into small pieces. Trim off excess fat. Use a piece of kitchen towel to pat the chicken dry.
2. Place all the ingredients for the sauce into a bowl. Whisk to combine.
3. Place the chicken and vegetables (except the spring onion) in the slow cooker.
4. Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Stir to combine.
5. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours. Stir occasionally while cooking.
6. When the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are soft, add the sesame oil and sesame seeds.
7. Add the spring onions and stir through. Serve, hot, with rice.