닭볶음탕 (dakbokkeumtang) — the spicy chicken dish you gather around one pot for on a rainy day

닭볶음탕

닭볶음탕 (dakbokkeumtang) means a spicy chicken dish made by chopping chicken into pieces and simmering it with water and seasonings like garlic, soy sauce, and sugar. Rain outside the window, the smell of chili powder rising out of the pot, potatoes gone soft and yellow from soaking up the broth, four pairs of chopsticks going into that same pot — that’s the scene most Koreans picture when they hear this word. You’ll find it on restaurant menus often enough, but this dish’s real home address is somebody’s kitchen.

Take the name apart and the recipe is sitting right there. 볶음 (bokkeum) means stir-frying, and 탕 (tang) means a dish with broth. You season the chicken and stir-fry it first, then pour in water and let it boil — and that order became the name. So a finished 닭볶음탕 has neither the generous broth of 삼계탕 (samgyetang) nor the completely dry pan of 닭갈비 (dakgalbi). It pools shallowly at the bottom of the pot — just enough to mix one bowl of rice into. And when Koreans fry rice in the leftover broth after eating, that isn’t an optional extra; it’s closer to a fixed final step.

In terms of register, this word belongs to the family dinner table rather than the banquet table. It’s respectable enough to serve guests, yet you can buy everything for it at the supermarket for under 10,000 won. It also matters that it tastes best with a crowd around it. This is a dish where you chop up a whole chicken and boil it, so almost nobody makes it just for themselves. Which means “닭볶음탕 해 먹자 (dakbokkeumtang hae meokja)” — “let’s make dakbokkeumtang” — is effectively an invitation that says “let’s get together tonight.”

Checking it in the National Institute of Korean Language dictionary

The National Institute of Korean Language’s Basic Korean Dictionary defines the word like this.

닭볶음탕 「noun」 닭고기를 토막 내서 마늘, 간장, 설탕 등의 양념과 물을 넣고 끓인 음식. 닭고기에 갖은양념과 채소를 넣고 먼저 볶다가 물을 넣고 끓이기도 한다. (A food made by cutting chicken into pieces and boiling it with water and seasonings such as garlic, soy sauce, and sugar. Sometimes various seasonings and vegetables are added to the chicken and stir-fried first, then water is added and it is boiled.) — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

Here are the multilingual glosses the same dictionary provides.

[en] dakbokkeumtang; braised spicy chicken — A food made by cutting chicken into pieces and boiling it with water and seasonings such as garlic, soy sauce, and sugar; you can add various seasonings and vegetables to the chicken and stir-fry it first, then add water and boil it. [ja] タッポクムタン — 鶏肉をぶつ切りにして、ニンニク、醤油、砂糖などの薬味と水を入れて煮込んだ料理。鶏肉に様々な薬味と野菜を入れて先に炒めてから、水を入れて煮たりもする。 [es] Bokkeum Tang de pollo — Plato que se elabora cortando pollo en trozos y hirviéndolo con agua y condimentos como ajo, salsa de soja y azúcar. Se puede agregar varios condimentos y vegetales al pollo y sofreírlo primero, luego agregar agua y hervirlo. [zh] 辣炖鸡块 — 将鸡肉切块后，加入大蒜、酱油、糖等调料和水炖煮而成的食物。也可以先将鸡肉与多种调料和蔬菜一起翻炒，再加入水炖煮。 — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

The dictionary doesn’t carry a Portuguese gloss for this entry, so the following is not a dictionary quotation but our own rendering: frango cozido e apimentado — frango cortado em pedaços e cozido com água e temperos como alho, molho de soja e açúcar.

And here are five of the real usage examples the dictionary lists alongside the entry, quoted as they appear.

매콤한 닭볶음탕을 만들려고 해요. (maekomhan dakbokkeumtangeul mandeullyeogo haeyo.) — I’m going to make spicy dakbokkeumtang.

승규는 닭볶음탕을 끓여서 친구들을 대접했다. (Seunggyuneun dakbokkeumtangeul kkeuryeoseo chingudeureul daejeophaetda.) — Seung-gyu made dakbokkeumtang and served it to his friends.

이 식당의 대표적인 메뉴는 닭볶음탕이다. (i sikdangui daepyojeogin menyuneun dakbokkeumtangida.) — This restaurant’s signature dish is dakbokkeumtang.

닭볶음탕을 끓이다. (dakbokkeumtangeul kkeurida.) — to make (literally, to boil) dakbokkeumtang.

얼큰한 닭볶음탕. (eolkeunhan dakbokkeumtang.) — hot, spicy dakbokkeumtang. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

Those five lines alone reveal where this word lives. 매콤한 (maekomhan) in the first sentence and 얼큰한 (eolkeunhan) in the last are both among the modifiers most often attached to this dish. You will almost never hear anyone describe 닭볶음탕 as 담백한 (dambaekhan) — mild and clean-tasting.

The second sentence — 승규는 닭볶음탕을 끓여서 친구들을 대접했다 — shows the dish’s social position in a single line. He didn’t eat it alone; he served it to his friends. That “food you sit around in a group” quality we mentioned earlier survives right there in the dictionary example.

The third sentence is the restaurant context. 닭볶음탕 is home cooking and, at the same time, a dish worth hanging on a sign out front. And in the fourth example, the thing to watch is the verb. 만들다 (mandeulda) and 요리하다 (yorihada) both work, but the pairing that feels most native is 끓이다 (kkeurida), “to boil.” That’s why the dictionary lists 닭볶음탕을 끓이다 as its own entry — even though the name contains 볶음 (bokkeum), “stir-fry,” Korean speakers say they boil this dish, not that they stir-fry it.

See it in a real conversation

Setting: a rainy Saturday afternoon, at the meat counter of the neighborhood supermarket. Jun-kyung and Emily are standing there with a shopping cart.

Jun-kyung: 비도 오는데 저녁 뭐 하지? 부침개는 지난주에 했잖아. It’s raining — what should we do for dinner? We already did jeon last week.

Emily: 나 오늘 닭볶음탕 먹고 싶어. 국물에 밥 비벼 먹게. I want dakbokkeumtang today. So I can mix rice into the broth.

Jun-kyung: 오, 콜. 그럼 닭은 토막 난 걸로 사자. 감자 집에 있나? Oh, deal. Then let’s get the pre-cut chicken. Do we have potatoes at home?

Emily: 감자는 두 알 남았고 당근은 없어. 근데 너 닭볶음탕 끓일 줄은 알아? Two potatoes left, no carrots. But do you actually know how to make dakbokkeumtang?

Jun-kyung: 야, 나 이거 하나는 진짜 잘해. 고춧가루 좀 세게 넣어도 되지? Hey, this is the one thing I’m genuinely good at. Can I go heavy on the chili powder?

Emily: 당연하지. 얼큰해야 닭볶음탕이지. Obviously. It’s not dakbokkeumtang unless it burns a little.

This is where it sounds off

✗ (walking into a restaurant alone) 사장님, 닭볶음탕 1인분 주세요. (sajangnim, dakbokkeumtang irinbun juseyo.) ✓ (walking into a restaurant alone) 사장님, 혼자 왔는데 닭볶음탕 제일 작은 거 돼요? (sajangnim, honja wanneunde dakbokkeumtang jeil jageun geo dwaeyo?) → The grammar is perfectly fine, but the order doesn’t work. 닭볶음탕 is a whole chicken chopped up and boiled in a big pot, so most places sell it in small / medium / large sizes rather than by the single portion. Ask for “one serving” and you’ll likely hear “저희는 마리 단위예요 (jeohuineun mari danwiyeyo)” — “we sell it by the chicken.”

✗ (misunderstanding) 닭볶음탕은 이름에 ‘볶음’이 있으니 국물 없이 볶아 내는 요리다. (dakbokkeumtangeun ireume ‘bokkeum’i isseuni gukmul eopsi bokka naeneun yoricta.) — “Since the name has 볶음 in it, it must be stir-fried with no broth.” ✓ (correct understanding) 닭볶음탕은 양념에 볶다가 물을 넣어 자작하게 끓여 내는 요리다. — “닭볶음탕 is stir-fried in seasoning, then simmered with water until the broth is shallow.” → Even the dictionary definition says the chicken “is sometimes stir-fried first, then boiled with water added.” The one that really is stir-fried on a griddle with no broth is 닭갈비 (dakgalbi). Swap the two names based on the sound of them and you’ll get a different dish at the restaurant.

Example sentences by situation

Situation 1 — inviting a friend over. This isn’t announcing a fancy menu; it’s a signal that says come over and eat with us, no fuss.

이번 주말에 우리 집에서 닭볶음탕 끓일 건데 올래?
ibeon jumare uri jibeseo dakbokkeumtang kkeuril geonde ollae?
(This weekend I’m making dakbokkeumtang at my place — want to come?)

Situation 2 — agreeing on the spice level in advance. In Korea this negotiation is practically obligatory, and even more so when there’s a foreign guest at the table.

닭볶음탕 얼마나 맵게 할까요? 안 매운 것도 가능해요.
dakbokkeumtang eolmana maepge halkkayo? an maeun geotdo ganeunghaeyo.
(How spicy should I make the dakbokkeumtang? I can do it mild too.)

Situation 3 — after eating, looking at the bottom of the pot. When this sentence comes out, it means the meal is not over yet.

닭볶음탕 국물 남았는데 여기에 밥 볶아 먹을까?
dakbokkeumtang gukmul namanneunde yeogie bap bokka meogeulkka?
(There’s dakbokkeumtang broth left — should we fry some rice in it?)

닭볶음탕 is a noun, so it carries no politeness level of its own. The height of the speech is decided by the predicate that follows it.

Casual: 오늘 닭볶음탕 해 먹자. (oneul dakbokkeumtang hae meokja.) — Let’s make dakbokkeumtang today.
Polite: 오늘 저녁에 닭볶음탕 끓일까요? (oneul jeonyeoge dakbokkeumtang kkeurilkkayo?) — Shall we make dakbokkeumtang for dinner tonight?
To someone older: 어머님, 닭볶음탕 좀 드셔 보세요. (eomeonim, dakbokkeumtang jom deusyeo boseyo.) — Mother, please try some dakbokkeumtang.

The chicken dishes that look similar are separated by how spicy they are and how much broth they have.

Expression	Register / intensity	Where it’s used
닭볶음탕 (dakbokkeumtang)	Spicy and hot, with a shallow pool of broth	Home cooking, gatherings with friends, a restaurant main. Shared by a group
닭도리탕 (dakdoritang)	The older name for the same dish	Still common in everyday speech, but broadcasts and menus write 닭볶음탕
찜닭 (jjimdak)	Soy sauce base, sweet and savory	For tables where someone can’t handle spice
닭갈비 (dakgalbi)	Spicy, but almost no broth	Stir-fried on a griddle; a university-district staple
삼계탕 (samgyetang)	Clear and mild, not spicy at all	Hot-weather stamina food. One earthenware pot per person

Cultural background — the dish that changed its name

There’s one piece of history around this word that every Korean learner will run into. A good number of older Koreans still call this dish 닭도리탕 (dakdoritang). The National Institute of Korean Language established 닭볶음탕 as the standard form, which is why broadcast subtitles, restaurant menus, and cookbooks mostly write it that way. That said, the origin of the 도리 part is still unsettled — some argue it came from Japanese, others that it comes from the verb 도리다 (dorida), “to cut out” — so we won’t declare either side correct here. The practical takeaway for learners is simple: write 닭볶음탕, but understand both when you hear them.

The occasions for eating it are almost fixed, too. Rainy days, payday, the day exams end, the first weekend after a friend moves. What they have in common is that they’re days when a group sits around late. 소주 (soju) often joins the table, and when the broth cooks down, you add more water and drop in a packet of ramyeon noodles. Korean dramas tend to place this dish in the same kinds of scenes. It doesn’t show up when a lavish spread is called for; it shows up when characters are sitting on the floor with newspaper spread out and a single pot in the middle. The reason the camera bothers to linger on that pot is the posture more than the food — these are people who put their chopsticks into the same pot rather than onto separate plates.

So if you only memorize the definition when you learn this word, you’re taking home half of it. 닭볶음탕 is the name of a dish and, at the same time, a way of measuring the distance in a relationship. You don’t usually eat it with someone you’ve just met.

Today’s quiz

You want to invite a friend who can’t handle spicy food over and serve them a chicken dish. Which is the most appropriate thing to say?

오늘 닭볶음탕 얼큰하게 끓일게.
오늘은 찜닭으로 할게. 닭볶음탕은 다음에 매운 거 괜찮을 때 하자.
닭볶음탕 1인분씩 시킬까?

Answer: 2. In sentence 1, 얼큰하게 (eolkeunhage) means you’re going to make it more fiery, not less. And in sentence 3, since 닭볶음탕 comes by the chicken rather than by the portion, ordering “one serving each” barely works as a sentence in the first place. Switching to soy-sauce-based 찜닭 (jjimdak) and pushing 닭볶음탕 to next time, as in sentence 2, is the adjustment Koreans actually make most often.

Definitions and example sentences are from the National Institute of Korean Language’s Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr); that portion of this post, including our translations, is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.