Braised Kimchi Chicken With Sweet Potatoes
Updated March 31, 2026
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
- Ready In
- 1 hr
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Ingredients
2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken drumsticks or leg quarters
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 (3-inch) piece ginger, peeled and cut into fine matchsticks
2 tablespoons gochugaru (see Tip)
1 ½ packed cups finely chopped kimchi, plus any juices
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 fresh or dried bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large or 2 small Asian sweet potatoes (about 10 ounces), peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks (see Tip)
1 small yellow onion, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
26 grams carbs; 239 milligrams cholesterol; 578 calories; 12 grams monosaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 33 grams fat; 5 grams fiber; 1145 milligrams sodium; 44 grams protein; 9 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Fill a medium bowl with ice water. Then, fill a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot with cold water and bring to a boil over high. Add the chicken and poach for just 5 minutes (it’s OK if the water doesn’t come back to a boil). Shock the chicken in the ice water to stop the cooking and set aside. Drain the Dutch oven, rinsing if very dirty, and return the pot to the stove.
- Step 2
In the now-empty, fairly dry pot, melt the butter over medium. Add the ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir the gochugaru into the gingery butter, just a few seconds, then immediately add the kimchi, fish sauce, honey, bay leaves and 1 cup water. Nestle in the chicken pieces so they’re partly covered by liquid. Season with salt and pepper.
- Step 3
Raise the heat to high and bring the pot to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low to continue simmering the chicken for 10 minutes to begin its braising journey.
- Step 4
After 10 minutes, place the sweet potato and onion over the chicken, coaxing them into the liquid if possible (or at least spooning over some of the liquid). Continue simmering the stew, partly covered, until the sauce is reduced, the potatoes are tender and the chicken falls off the bone, about 30 minutes. Serve the chicken and vegetables with the sauce ladled over.
Asian sweet potatoes have tapered ends with reddish-purple skins and yellow-white interiors. They also become gloriously fudgy when braised like this (or dry-roasted whole). Their orange-bellied American counterparts, varieties such as Beauregard, jewel and garnet, would disintegrate into a soft sludge, but the Asian sweet potato — particularly the Japanese satsumaimo and the Korean goguma — remains sturdy even after a long, slow cook, their chestnut-sweet interiors only deepening with time.
Gochugaru, a mild, intensely savory Korean red-pepper powder, ranges from a fine dust to tiny coarse flakes. Try to buy the coarse variety for a deeper, sweeter flavor. You can find gochugaru at Korean and other Asian supermarkets and at many grocery stores, as well as online.
Private Notes
Comments
@mitch The recipe … calls for kimchi and it’s juices?
I made this today, using my homemade kimchi, which is pretty spicy. But not overpoweringly so. Only thing I did differently from how the recipe is written was to pop the chicken, skin side up, under the broiler to crisp up the skin a bit before serving. I loved how the sweet potatoes soaked up the flavors of the sauce. This is a delicious recipe and I will be making it again!
I love braising and this recipe seems almost irreverently delicious. Not a fan of drumsticks but using the whole leg saves it. I’m curious about Asian sweet potatoes. I don’t think I’ll find them at any stores in my small town along Midcoast Maine
My husband and I loved the deep and complex flavors in the broth. I definitely recommend this over rice. I never understood the differences with sweet potato variations, but the Asian ones definitely hold up better in the longer braise. However, I definitely had to cook it slightly longer than the recommended 30 minutes for the potatoes to become tender enough. Might try adding more kimchi or napa cabbage for more vegetables next time. This is a keeper in our rotation now.
I'm moving soon and looking to use up ingredients that I have on hand and this recipe happened to be perfect and I'm so glad I tried it. I had about 20 oz of chicken thighs instead of the called for amount of drumsticks so I added in a block of tofu as well. In the interest of using what I had, I used regular sweet potato, agave instead of honey, frozen minced ginger instead of fresh, and added in some green onion segments. Delicious and forgiving recipe!
Loved this recipe! Kimchi is such a great ingredient and I found that it’s easy to make it at home at a spice level I like. I only had boneless chicken thighs so I seared them for a short time and skipped the poaching. After I sautéed the ginger in butter I threw everything together at once and simmered for about 30 minutes. Very tasty and easy.