This chicken stir fry recipe is a variation of dak yachae bokkeum (닭야채볶음). Dak (닭) is chicken, yachae is vegetable, and bokkeum (볶음) refers to dishes that are stir-fried or sautéed in a sauce. In this recipe, I stir-fried chicken with some kale and mushrooms. It’s a quick healthy one-pot meal that’s perfect for a weeknight meal!
With some steamed rice, your dinner will be ready in less than 30 minutes!
Vegetable options for stir fry
I like to use lots of kale and mushrooms to make it a healthy one-dish meal. Some people don’t like kale because of its bitter taste. The slightly sweet and savory sauce in this recipe nicely balances out the bitterness of the kale. Remember to look for fresh deep colored kale with small to medium leaves and thinner stalks. Smaller kale is tenderer and sweeter.
You can add some strips of carrot, red chili or bell pepper for a pop of color.
For other options, try other green leafy vegetables such as spinach, Swiss chard and bok choy. Broccoli, green beans, asparagus, or zucchinis are all great as well. Vegetable options are indeed endless! If you’re using hard vegetables like broccoli, blanch or steam them before stir-frying with the chicken. You can do this in the same skillet you’ll be using for the stir-fry.
Chicken stir fry sauce
This chicken stir fry sauce recipe is made with a few basic ingredients such as soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar and garlic and ginger. You can swap a tablespoon of soy sauce with a tablespoon of oyster sauce if you like. If you don’t have rice wine, use a little bit of fresh lemon juice. It’ll brighten up the flavor nicely.
This recipe doesn’t yield a lot of sauce, but you can add a little bit of water to the sauce if you like the dish a bit saucier. Also, Korean stir fry sauces don’t typically call for a starch to thicken the sauce, but feel free to add it if preferred. Regardless, the sauce is so versatile! You can use it in any stir fry dish.
How to make chicken stir fry
The actual stir-frying process goes very quickly, so prepare all of the ingredients and sauce before you begin cooking.
- Heat a large skillet over high heat with a tablespoon of cooking oil until very hot.
- Add the chicken pieces in a single layer. Do not touch for a minute or two until the chicken is nicely seared. Flip them over and sear the other side.
- Add the kale, mushrooms, optional red pepper. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the vegetables, and sprinkle with crushed red pepper if using. Continue to stir-fry until the kale and mushrooms are softened.
More chicken stir fry recipes
Stir-fried chicken and baby bok choy
Stir-fried chicken and summer vegetables
For more Korean cooking inspirations, follow along on YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Ingredients
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs (or breast)
- 8 ounces kale
- 6 ounces fresh mushrooms (white, crimini, or shiitaki)
- 1 red chili pepper or 1/4 red bell pepper - optional
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper - optional
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds - optional
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil for stir-frying
Stir Fry Sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce See notes
- 1 tablespoon rice wine (or mirin) or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar (or brown sugar) adjust to taste or use your favorite sugar substitute
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Combine the sauce ingredients, and stir well to dissolve the sugar.
- Cut the chicken into bite size pieces.
- Marinate the chicken with 3 tablespoons of the sauce while preparing the vegetables.
- Tear the kale off the stems into small pieces. Discard thick stems. Rinse thoroughly and drain well.
- Give the mushrooms a quick rinse, and cut into quarters (or halves if small).
- Heat a large skillet over high heat with a tablespoon of cooking oil until very hot. Add the chicken pieces to the pan in one layer. Do not touch for a minute or two until the chicken is nicely seared. Flip them over and sear the other side. The chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point.
- Add the kale, mushrooms, and optional red pepper. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the vegetables, and sprinkle with crushed red pepper if using. Continue to stir-fry until the kale and mushrooms are softened, about 3 minutes. Serve hot on top of rice or with a separate bowl of rice.
Notes
- You can replace 1 TB soy sauce with the equal amount of oyster sauce, if available.
- Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water if you like a bit more sauce.
- Add a couple of teaspoons of cornstarch to no. 2 water for a thicker sauce.
This recipe was originally posted in December 2012. I’ve updated it here with new photos, more information and minor changes to the recipe.
