Please enter the email you’re using for this account.
When my eldest was three, I took him on his first trip to Korea. We had such a fun-packed time, meeting up with cousins, going to the beach, riding the cable car in Songdo… but the one memory that really stuck in his head was eating the dak gotchi (chicken skewers) in Nampodong in Busan. I love this area for street food, and I’m not sure if it was because the chicken skewer he had was so big, or because he genuinely loved the taste, but whenever we spoke about his Korea trip afterwards, he would always speak about these chicken skewers with huge enthusiasm, so I had to make these for him. Fortunately, he loves them just as much at home as he did on that trip.
Makes 5–6 skewers
6 spring onions/scallions
500 grams/1 pound 2 ounces boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Gefen Ground White Pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
sliced red chilli/chile, to garnish (optional)
1 tablespoon [artificial] oyster sauce
2 teaspoons crushed/minced garlic or 2 cubes Gefen Frozen Garlic
2 tablespoons Gefen Honey
1/4 teaspoon Gefen Ground White Pepper
5–6 skewers (if using wooden skewers, soak them for 30 minutes in warm water first)
Put a saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add all the sauce ingredients along with three tablespoons water and simmer for two minutes until bubbling. Set to one side.
Cut the spring onions into five-centimeter/two-inch lengths and the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Skewer in an alternating pattern on to five to six skewers.
Place a cast-iron pan (or large frying pan/skillet) over a medium-high heat and brush with oil. Lay the chicken skewers in the pan and brush with sauce. Cook for three minutes, then flip and brush with more sauce. Flip again, brush with sauce and cook for a further three minutes. Repeat once more and then serve immediately garnished with red chilli if liked.
From Balli Balli by Da-Hae West, published by Ryland Peters & Small
Photography by Clare Winfield ©️ Ryland Peters & Small 2025
How Would You
Rate this recipe?
Reviews