Andong Jjimdak (Braised Soy Chicken with Glass Noodles)

Ingredients

• 8 chicken drumstick
• 120 g glass noodles
• 2 potato, cut into large chunks
• 1 carrot, cut into thick diagonal slices
• 1 onion, cut into wedges
• 6 garlic, sliced
• 20 g fresh ginger, sliced
• 1¼ dl soy sauce
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp rice wine
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 7 dl water
• 2 fresh chilli, sliced on the diagonal
• 4 spring onion, cut into 4 cm lengths
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds

Method

1. 1.

   Soak the glass noodles — Cover the glass noodles with cold water and leave them to soak for 30 minutes, until they are bendy and opaque but still firm. Drain and set aside.

2. 2.

   Blanch the drumsticks — Bring a pan of water to the boil, drop in the drumsticks for 3 minutes, then drain and rinse them under the tap. This washes off the grey scum that would otherwise cloud the braise.

3. 3.

   Mix the soy braising liquid — Whisk the soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine, black pepper and water together. Put the drained drumsticks in a wide heavy pot with the onion, garlic and ginger, pour the liquid over and bring it to a rolling boil.

4. 4.

   Braise the chicken covered — Turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, turning the chicken once so both sides colour in the dark soy.

5. 5.

   Add the vegetables and reduce — Add the potato and carrot, uncover, and simmer for another 20-25 minutes. The potato should be tender to a knife tip and the sauce reduced by about a third, thick enough to coat a spoon.

6. 6.

   Finish the noodles in the sauce — Slide in the soaked noodles with the chilli and spring onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, lifting them through the sauce with tongs until they turn glassy and have drunk up most of the liquid.

7. 7.

   Sesame and serve — Stir in the sesame oil off the heat, scatter with sesame seeds and take the pot straight to the table so everyone can dig noodles out from under the chicken.