I’d like to share this exciting story with all of you. Have you ever cooked a huge batch of sweet and crispy Korean fried chicken (dakgangjeong) for a party? If so, how many pounds’ worth of chicken did you cook? Have any of you cooked more than 80 pounds? I’ve never made that much, and I’ve been making dakgangjeong for years!

Tiffany1

Tiffany and her dog Chow Chow Saja Kong

My reader Tiffany Mendez sent me a message earlier this month to tell me that she made dakgangjeong from 80 pounds of chicken for her husband’s staff party. It was enough to feed 200 people!

She had once brought in a small batch at her husband’s company party and they loved it so much they asked her to make it for a bigger party. It turned out to be a big hit! When I heard she got a ton of compliments, I felt like I was standing right next to her. I’m very proud of her and honored. She emailed me and explained what happened:

They ordered 80 pounds of chicken. It took almost 4 hours to fry all of it. It took an hour to peel all of the ginger, and the remaining time before the party was spent prepping and squeezing the potato starch on each piece of chicken, one by one.

Korean fried chicken (dakgangjeong: 닭강정)

We had a huge pan to cook the sauce in: it fit over 4 burners, but we still had to make three batches!
Korean fried chicken (dakgangjeong: 닭강정)

The only thing we did differently than your recipe was to use olive oil instead of peanut oil, because it was an open buffet and we didn’t know if anyone had a peanut allergy.

fryingKorean fried chicken (dakgangjeong: 닭강정)Korean fried chicken (dakgangjeong: 닭강정)

The wings were a HUGE hit. There was such a positive, excited response! I was being introduced to everyone as “the lady who made the wings.” They told me that the chicken had the right amount of sweetness, spice, and crunch. That crunchiness is important! It was complimented the most!!

I didn’t get a chance to eat from the buffet or even look at it. I sat down at the bar for the first time at 9pm, and I did not get back up. You can see in my eyes how exhausted I was, but you can see the accomplishment as well! It was the longest day of my life, and I enjoyed a little champagne and I loved meeting everyone.
tiffany

Thank you for being my absolute favorite cook in the whole world. The recipes of yours that I made for my husband, family, and friends has made us all happier and brought us together.

2 Comments:

  1. RobertsDale Plano joined 5/18 & has 2 comments

    You are greate! I can’t imaging to cook so much!

  2. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,045 comments

    Hi “the lady who made the wings”!
    Your story makes everybody happy! The chicken looks so tasty! Congratulations on your killer wings!

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