I was invited to a Dak Galbi feast with some awesome American teachers.  Dak Galbi is spicy, grilled chicken marinated in a pepper paste concoction.  I couldn’t tell you exactly what went into the marinade, but it wasn’t as spicy as it looked.

I’ve ordered food countless times here, thinking it wouldn’t be spicy, only to take the first bite and having to gulp down three cups of water.  Fortunately, this dish had a slight kick to it, but it wasn’t unbearably spicy to the point that it was no longer delicious.

Or maybe they gave us a less spicy version because we were all wimpy Americans.

You can order different items to go along with the chicken.  We had a mixture of chicken, rice cakes, onions, cabbage, and udong noodles because we were feeling indulgent.  When you start getting to the end of the dish, you can order rice to throw on at the end.  The rice gets mixed up with the leftover marinade juices.  I could have skipped everything else and just eaten the fried rice.

Just kidding, I would never choose between foods.

The plate of green food next to the grill is pickled radish.  It dulls the spice, so if you can’t handle the heat, just grab a few pieces of radish and your palate will be back to normal.

I can’t wait to eat this again, as long as no one turns up the spice on me.