Yesan Market chicken stir-fry microwaved in Splash Resom room: Sijang

Why Sijang Dakbokkeum was the first stop after booking Splash Resom

Sijang Dakbokkeum is a shishito pepper chicken stir-fry place inside Yesan Traditional Market. It was the spot I most wanted to visit the moment I booked Splash Resom, so I put Yesan Market first on our Yesan trip itinerary!!

This was my first trip to Yesan and I have no idea when I'll be back, so I tried a bunch of different foods at the market — but if I had to pick the best one, it's hands down the shishito pepper dakbokkeum from Sijang Dakbokkeum. Both my husband and I ate so well and so full that if we ever come back to Yesan, this is the place I'd want to visit again.

Parking and atmosphere at Yesan Traditional Market

This market, known as Yesan Traditional Market or Yesan Market, is the one I'd heard about from Baek Jong-won's market revitalization project. It had way more people and way more food than I expected — a real market vibe through and through.

There's a large outdoor parking lot near the main entrance, so parking was easy. Plenty of cars were coming in, but plenty were also leaving, so we found a spot quickly — and best of all, it's free!

How to find Sijang Dakbokkeum inside the market

Once you step through the market entrance, you might be a bit overwhelmed by how many shops are packed together. But finding Sijang Dakbokkeum isn't hard at all! Walk in through the main entrance and you'll see a big electronic sign straight ahead. Just head into the alley right below that sign.

There's a banner standing right at the alley entrance too, so just head into that alley. Pass a shop selling apple desserts and a noodle restaurant, and you'll arrive at Sijang Dakbokkeum!

This is the only place in Yesan Market — and possibly the only place in the whole country — selling shishito pepper dakbokkeum.

Sijang Dakbokkeum menu and prices

Sijang Dakbokkeum bets everything on a single menu item: shishito pepper chicken stir-fry.

• Shishito pepper dakbokkeum ₩25,000
• Extra shishito peppers ₩2,000
• Mozzarella cheese ₩3,000
• Glass noodles ₩2,000
• Vienna sausage ₩2,000
• Quail eggs ₩2,000

If you're just having the one dish, the shishito pepper dakbokkeum alone is enough to fill two adults, and there are various toppings sold alongside it that make it even tastier!

They don't sell water, drinks, or rice, but you can buy those at the 'Grill Rental Spot' near the plaza at the market's entrance. Since we were eating at our hotel, we picked up instant rice at the CU convenience store inside Splash Resom to eat alongside it.

Kiosk ordering and the 15-minute takeout wait

You order at the kiosk inside the store. Enter your phone number and you'll get a KakaoTalk message confirming payment and letting you know when your food is ready — so you don't have to stand around waiting in front of the shop!

Since we planned to add quail eggs to the basic shishito pepper dakbokkeum and eat it back at our hotel, we chose takeout! You can eat at the shop or in the plaza too, but the table space in front of the shop is pretty limited, so most people either eat in the plaza or take it to go like we did.

Since cooking starts the moment you order, there's a wait — it took about 15 minutes for me to get my food. Since the alert comes via KakaoTalk, I wandered around the surrounding alleys and picked it up once I got the notification haha.

Unpacking the shishito pepper dakbokkeum with quail eggs in the Splash Resom room

After finishing our market tour and checking into Splash Resom, we opened up the shishito pepper dakbokkeum and it looked absolutely gorgeous, seriously. It's only about a 20-minute drive from the market to the resort, so if you're staying at Splash Resom and can't decide what to eat, I'd recommend picking up dakbokkeum to go.

The sturdy takeout container even has instructions printed on it for how to reheat it best. You can transfer it to a pot and warm it over medium-low heat, but since our room had no cooking facilities, we just gave it a quick spin in the microwave.

How does it taste? Chicken and shishito peppers together

It's packed with both chicken and shishito peppers. The chicken was tender and soft, and the shishito peppers had a great crunch. I'd never really thought about chicken stir-fry and shishito peppers together, but the combination worked surprisingly well — I even thought about trying to recreate it at home someday, though that flavor probably can't be replicated,,^^

Thanks to the crunchy, slightly spicy shishito peppers, there wasn't a hint of greasiness, and the sauce was so good that mixing it into rice was absolutely delicious. We would've been so sad if there'd been no spoon in the room haha. We only added quail eggs, but there are so many extra topping options that you could tailor it even more to your taste.

I hope the day comes soon when our 6-year-old can enjoy flavors like this too — it goes so well with rice, and there's plenty of sauce to go around.

Even for a spice wimp who can't handle Buldak fire noodles, this shishito pepper dakbokkeum was just the right amount of spicy! By the time we were nearly done, we were already full but kept scraping the bottom of the container because it was that good. If you're visiting Yesan Market, Yesandho Lake, or Splash Resom, this is definitely worth a stop!!