Korean Stir-Fried Chicken with Rice

In Seoul, we tasted several versions of maeun dakgalbi, a communal dish enjoyed in two stages. A wide, flat pan is placed on a burner at the center of the table for cooking a group-sized spicy, saucy stir-fry of chicken, chewy rice cakes and vegetables. When everyone has had their fill, cooked rice (or sometimes noodles) is added to the leftovers in the pan, along with a few aromatics and seasonings. The grains, spread into a thin, even layer, pick up the tasty caramelized bits in the pan and also take on some browning and crisping of their own, creating flavorful fried rice. This two-stage table-top cooking is impractical at home, so we combined both stages into one and cook it in a 12-inch nonstick skillet on the stovetop. Though we typically use cold cooked rice to make light, fluffy fried rice, here we use freshly cooked short- or medium-grain rice, which has a satisfying chew.