Gochugaru Chicken (get PDF)

  Gochugaru Chicken with Corn, Mushrooms, and Zucchini
  Recipe originally found in the Philadelphia Inquirer, originally from Ellie Krieger, food columnist for the Washington Post

 I saw this recipe and immediately knew that this was something I wanted to make. I am rewriting the recipe to symplify the steps and adjust quantities I used.

 I used 4 bowls to separate the prepared ingredients so I could add each bowl in its entirety to the recipe at the given time.

 Ingredients:
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in half across the width, pounded to about 1/2" thick. (Not having a meat tenderizer hammer, used the back of a meat cleaver to flatten them out a bit. Gotta get the hammer someday...) I think 1/2" thick might be to thin - mine ended up about 1-1/2" thick and turned out perfect.

Bowl 1: (these quantities are double the original, which I ended up using every bit)
3 tsp gochugaru (Korean chile flakes, may use ancho chile powder or regular chile powder. I used my Korean red pepper powder)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp granulated garlic (I used garlic powder)
1/4 tsp cayenne powder

Bowl 2:
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, shiitake, oyster, or cremini, sliced (I used 4 oz. shiitake and 4 oz. oyster)

Bowl 3:
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions, white and light green parts, plus some additional for serving
1 tblsp minced or finely grated ginger

Bowl 4:
1 medium zucchini (8 oz) trimmed, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 1/2" pieces
1-1/2 cups (8 oz.) corn, either frozen or fresh (I used frozen)

Dry the chicken breasts with paper towels and sprinkle and rub in ingredients from bowl 1, covering both sides.
Cook chicken breasts in a pan (I prefer iron) to which a bit or oil has been added and preheated. Use medium heat and cook until done, about 5 minutes per side.
Move chicken to a plate to drain and cool.

Add maybe another tablespoon of oil to the pan and add bowl 2 - mushrooms along with a small sprinkle of salt. Cook until mushrooms start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add a bit of water occasionally if necessary.

Add bowl 3 - scallions and ginger - to the pan and cook until they begin to soften, about 1 minute.

Add bowl 4 - zucchini and corn - to the pan and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add a bit of water as needed.

Add any juices that have drained from the chicken to the pan.

Slice the chicken into strips lengthwise, and serve on top of the vegetables.

 

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