Andong Market Jjimdak Alley

Since the 1970s, there has been a chicken alley in Andong Old Market where both raw chicken and fried chicken are sold. But, as seasoned spicy chicken became popular, merchants in the chicken alley needed to find a solution and this is how a fusion dish called Andong jjimdak, or braised chicken, was born. The dish is cooked with the seasoning of braised galbi and boiled down after adding glass noodles and different vegetables. Its sweet and spicy flavors, inexpensive price and abundant amount made the dish an instant hit nationwide, and "Chicken Alley" naturally changed its name to "Jjimdak Alley." Today, there are some 30 stores in business on this street that attract over 20,000 tourists on weekends. Although Andong jjimdak is not a traditional dish that has been passed down from the ancient days, "Suun Japbang" and "Eumsik Dimibang," a pair of the oldest cooking books in Korea, talk about a cooking method that seems similar to that of Andong jjimdak in the Andong region from a long time ago. Andong jjimdak is protein-rich and contains vitamins and various nutrients from different types of vegetables, which makes it a nutritionally sound dish as well.