Korean Fried Chicken

Chicken fried twice and sauced only after the second fry, so the crust survives the sauce.

Chicken. Not vegetarian — contains chicken.

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 1.2 kg chicken wings and drumsticks
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 piece ginger, 3 cm, grated
• 120 g potato starch
• 2 litres oil for frying

For the sauce

• 3 tablespoons gochujang
• 3 tablespoons rice syrup or honey
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons water
• toasted sesame seeds and peanuts, to finish

Method

1. IT IS FRIED TWICE AND SAUCED AFTER THE SECOND FRY. The first fry at 160C cooks the chicken through; the second at 190C, after it has cooled, drives the remaining surface water off and sets the shell hard. That shell is the only reason a wet sauce can be put on fried chicken at all and it still crunch twenty minutes later. One fry gives a crust that is soggy within two minutes of being sauced.
2. AND IT MUST COOL BETWEEN THE TWO FRIES, at least fifteen minutes. Straight back into the oil, the steam still coming out of it keeps the surface damp and the second fry achieves nothing.
3. POTATO STARCH, NOT FLOUR. Starch fries to a thin, glassy, almost transparent shell; wheat flour gives a thicker, softer, more bready coating that goes limp under sauce. This is the substitution that decides whether the dish works.
4. THE SAUCE IS COOKED SEPARATELY AND TOSSED THROUGH OFF THE HEAT, in a bowl, in the last thirty seconds before it goes on the table. Simmered with the chicken in it, the crust is gone before anybody sits down.
5. AND HALF IS USUALLY LEFT PLAIN. Say it on the page because it is how it is actually eaten: some sauced, some not, so the plain pieces stay crisp to the end of the plate.
6. Chicken tossed with the soy sauce, salt, pepper and ginger and left 30 minutes.
7. Patted dry, then tossed in the potato starch until evenly and thinly coated. The excess shaken off hard.
8. Oil heated to 160C. The chicken fried in 3 batches, 7 to 8 minutes a batch, until pale gold and cooked through.
9. Lifted onto a rack and COOLED 15 MINUTES. The oil brought up to 190C.
10. Fried a SECOND time, 2 to 3 minutes a batch, until deep gold and audibly hard. Drained on a rack, not paper.
11. Meanwhile the sauce ingredients except the sesame oil simmered in a small pan 3 minutes until glossy and slightly thickened. The sesame oil stirred in off the heat.
12. Half the chicken tipped into a large bowl, the warm sauce poured over, and TOSSED for 30 seconds until coated.
13. Sesame seeds and crushed peanuts scattered over.
14. Served immediately with the unsauced half alongside, and pickled radish to cut it.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under South Korea · All recipes