The story behind dak-galbi, South Korea's most fascinating dish

 While all eyes are on South Korea's Gangwon Province for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, the promise of spicy, stir-fried South Korean chicken has turned our gaze to the regional capital of Chuncheon.
As the region's most popular dish, dak-galbi is one of those warming winter meals that's best shared with the entire family.
Prepared atop a cast-iron skillet in the center of the table, the jumble of ingredients includes marinated chicken, cabbage, sweet potatoes, perilla leaves (from the mint family) and tteok bokki (Korean rice cakes) -- all topped with sweet and spicy gochujang sauce (a fermented Korean chili paste).

But dak-galbi isn't just a cheap, ubiquitous meal. Emerging in the 1960s after the Korean War, "commoner's galbi" has become a symbol of the city's resilience.
"I hope people don't come to Chuncheon just to eat dak-galbi without understanding its history," Choi Jeong-Yern, owner of a second-generation dak-galbi restaurant in Chuncheon, tells CNN Travel.
"I hope people learn that Chuncheon's iconic dish was created out of the pain that people carried after the war. This is a local food that has a history and a story."

The dak-galbi story
On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began with the Battle of Chuncheon, where a series of attacks all but leveled the city.
"After the war, chicken farms became the livelihood of people who were poor and almost begging on the streets," says Jeong-Yern. "There was agony and pain, even after the conflict was over."
During this dark era, dak-galbi was a happy discovery. The dish made use of cheap, copious ingredients, creating something comforting and communal that brought people together.

Source: cnn