Korean Chicken Gizzard is commonly referred to as Dak-Ddong-Jib (닭똥집).
That middle character 똥 (Ddong) also means poop. So for the longest time, I associated chicken gizzard was Chicken Anus!
Naturally, I stayed far away from it – heh! But when I moved to Korea, I started to grow fond of them – after learning what they really were and snacking on them as anju (bar foods).
So what exactly is chicken gizzard?
It’s a muscle that’s found in the digestive tract of a chicken (not the booty area!).
If you’ve seen chicken pecking at the ground, they are swallowing small bits of rock and gravel, which travels through the chicken’s digestive tract and lodges into this gizzard.
When the chicken eats, this gizzard contracts, like a small hand squeezing. It grinds up the food and helps the chicken digest comfortably.
Now, gizzards have a distinctively chewy taste. So if you’re new to it, expect a bit of work with the jaw.
In Korea, many people enjoy gizzard – just for this crunchy texture.
But today, I’ll show you to tenderize gizzards by boiling it. This makes the gizzards tender but still retain a slight chewy texture.
This boiling process also help to remove any oil splatter when deep-frying. Chicken gizzards are notorious for splattering oil everywhere – because they contain a high amount of moisture.
But Daniel, does it taste gamey? Well, if you eat it straight, it will. But we’ll use a mix of fresh aromatics like ginger and garlic – plus our secret ingredient, instant curry powder.
This curry powder does an amazing job in eliminating any gamey smell from the meat.
(Note: If you don’t have instant curry powder, you can substitute with Cajun seasoning or powder)
The result is beautiful! Something you’ll fall in love with it 😉
Today, I’ll breakdown the two most popular ways to eat Korean Chicken Gizzards. The first is deep-fried and the second is stir-fried.
The stir-fried version is especially popular among late-night club-goers or pub dining. It’s pairs nicely with soju or makgeolli (no rice today!).
Both recipes are prepped the same with the boiling method!
Cooking Notes for Korean Chicken Gizzard:Clean the gizzards thoroughly: Rinse under running water. Then sprinkle some flour over the chicken gizzards. Mix it thoroughly to turn into a wet paste. Then wash it off!
Cut them from top-to-bottom. Turns them into nice bite-sized pieces when fried
After boiling the gizzards for 30 minutes - remember to save ⅓ cup of the broth!
Alright Neighbors! I hope you enjoy these Korean Chicken Gizzards - let us know how they turned out. Snap us a photo on IG – makes us smile in the morning 😉
P.s. If you’re cooking alone, don’t get bored. Consider playing our latest podcast episode and listen as you cook!
Ingredients
Chicken Gizzard
- 400 grams of Chicken Gizzard
- Few shakes of Flour (When washing gizzards)
- Few pinches of Salt (Use to season the boiling water)
Gizzard Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon (!) Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
- 1 teaspoon (!) Minced Ginger
- Few cracks Black Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Instant Curry Powder (Or Cajun Seasoning)
- ⅓ Cup Gizzard Broth (The leftover broth from boiling)
Dry Coating
- Few shakes Korean Frying Mix (Or Tempura Mix) (Or Use All-Purpose Flour)
Wet Batter
- 1 Cup Korean Frying Mix (Or Tempura Mix) (Or Use All-Purpose Flour)
- 1 Cup Cold Water
- Few Ice Cubes
Final Seasoning
- Few pinches Salt
- Few pinches Black Pepper
Dipping Sauce
- Small dab Mayonnaise
- Drizzle of Hot Sauce
Instructions
- Let's thoroughly clean the gizzards (400 grams): First, give it a quick rinse under running water. Then place them into a mixing bowl. Shake some flour over them. Then thoroughly massage the flour onto the gizzards until it turns into a sticky paste. Then wash it all off under water. Set the cleaned gizzards onto a strainer and let it drip off excess water.
- Next, slice each gizzard down in half vertically (reference video).
- Fill a large work or pot with water. Season with a few shakes of salt. Then bring it up to boil. Once its boiling, add in the chicken gizzards. Let it boil for 10 minutes on high heat. Then reduce to a medium-heat for the rest of the 20 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, turn off the heat. IMPORTANT: Use a soup ladle and save ⅓ cup of the broth (we'll use it later). Then drain the broth and let the gizzards briefly cool off in a strainer.
- Place the boiled gizzards into a mixing bowl. Let's season them with: Salt (1 teaspoon!), Minced Garlic (1 Tablespoon), Minced Ginger (1 teaspoon!), Black Pepper (few shakes), Instant Curry Powder or Cajun Seasoning (1 Tablespoon).
- Then add in ⅓ cup of the broth. Mix it all throughly. Place the seasoned gizzards in the refrigerator for 30 minutes - so it can soak in the flavor.
Coating and Flour
- After 30 minutes, take the mixing bowl out of the refrigerator. Gently scoop the gizzard piece from the marinade and place into a plastic bag (try to limit the amount of liquid that goes into the bag). Then add in few shakes of the frying mix into the bag and give it a good shake.
- Afterwards, the pieces should be well coated. It's now time to make the wet batter: Take out a mixing bowl and add-in (1 cup) of frying mix, with (1 cup) of cold water. Gently mix the two together so that they get well incorporated (don't over mix it though). Then place this wet bater into the refrigerator while we get the oil ready.
- Place a good amount of oil into a large wok or pot. Place on a medium-high heat. Place in wooden chopsticks and wait until you see lot of bubbles rise up from the chopsticks. This means the oil is ready.
- Take the wet batter out from the refrigerator. Now, dip each gizzard into the wet batter and carefully drop into the oil.
- Place the finished pieces into a mixing bowl. (Double-fry them if you like).
- Season the finished pieces with a few pinches of salt and black pepper.
- Make dipping sauce by mixing mayonnaise with hot sauce. Bon Appetit!
Ingredients
- 250 grams Chicken Gizzard
- 3 Cheonyang Chili Pepper (Or 2 Jalapeno Peppers)
- 8-10 Cloves Garlic
Stir Fry Seasoning
- 2 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- Few cracks Black Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- A drizzle Sesame Oil
- Few shakes Sesame Seeds
Dipping Sauce
- Big Squeeze Mayonnaise
- Small drizzle Soy Sauce
- Few Chopped Chili Peppers
Instructions
Prep Gizzard
- Let's thoroughly clean the gizzards (250 grams): First, give it a quick rinse under running water. Then place them into a mixing bowl. Shake some flour over them. Then throughly massage the flour onto the gizzards until it turns into a sticky paste. Then wash it all off under water. Set the cleaned gizzards onto a strainer and let it drip off excess water.
- Next, slice each gizzard down in half vertically (reference video).
- Fill a large work or pot with water. Season with a few shakes of salt. Then bring it up to boil. Once its boiling, add in the chicken gizzards. Let it boil for 10 minutes on high heat. Then reduce to a medium-heat for the rest of the 20 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, turn off the heat. Drain the pot and let the gizzards briefly cool off in a strainer.
Prep Ingredients
- Cut 3 spicy chili peppers into small bite-sized pieces. Dice 8-10 cloves of garlic into bite-sized pieces. Set aside for the stir-fry
Stir-fry Gizzards
- Place some vegetable oil into a frying pan. Place it on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic pieces in.
- Once the garlic pieces start to sizzle, add in the boiled gizzard pieces. Stir-fry until you see a slight browning on the gizzards.
- Move the gizzards to one side of the pan. Then turn off the heat for this step (as we don't want the soy sauce to burn). Place in 2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce to the empty side and let the soy sauce cook for a few seconds. Then stir-fry it together with the garlic. Add-in a few crack of the Black Pepper as well.
- Now, turn the heat back onto a medium. Add in the chopped chili peppers. Then drizzle on some Honey (1 Tablespoon). Stir-fry everything for 20-30 seconds. Now turn off the heat.
- Finish with a drizzle of Sesame Oil and few shakes of Sesame Seeds. Give it one last stir around. And it's done!
- For dipping sauce, simply mix Mayonnaise, Soy Sauce and few thinly sliced chili peppers.
- Bon Appetit ya'll!
Jenn says
First time cooking gizzards, used to have them every so often growing up as they were inexpensive so I didn’t know where to start. I tried this stir fried recipe, it was delicious! Never thought to add a bit of honey but it gave the dish a nice balance. Of course I had to have it with soju, it’s a great pairing. Thanks for the recipe!