Sweet and crispy fried chicken

Dakgangjeong 닭강정

Dakgangjung is a very popular traditional Korean dish and is usually made with chunks of chicken from a whole chicken. I’m using chicken wings in this recipe, but you could use chunks.

Each piece of chicken wing is coated with sweet and crispy sauce. Of the ingredients, thinly sliced ginger will turn into something like candy which has not only its own special chewy taste but also influences the whole flavor of chicken. Peanuts turn it into an amazingly crispy snack!

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I also posted an easier version of dakgangjeong where you don’t need to mix a batter or slice ginger. It’s just as delicious as this one, so check it out!

Ingredients

40 pieces of chicken wings, kosher salt, flour, starch powder, eggs, ground pepper, vegetable oil, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, corn syrup (mulyeot), vinegar, peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, dried and crushed red hot chili pepper.

Directions

  1. Prepare 40 chicken wings or chunks of chicken, rinse them off in cold water and drain them.
  2. Transfer the chicken into a big bowl.
  3. Add 2 ts of kosher salt, 1 ts of ground pepper, 2 eggs, and the mixture of ½ cup of flour and ½ cup of starch powder. Mix it by hand.
  4. Deep fry the chicken wings in vegetable oil 2 times at about 350-380 degrees (F).

Make sauce:

  1. Prepare a big wok or pan.
  2. Place 1 cup of water in the wok and heat it up.
  3. Slice 1 cup of ginger thinly after peeling the skin off and washing, and add it into the boiling water.
  4. Add 2 tbs of soy sauce, 1 cup of brown sugar, ¼ cup of vinegar and boil it over medium heat.
  5. 5 minutes after, add 1 cup of corn syrup and keep boiling over low medium heat about 30 minutes.
  6. Raise a spoon of the sizzling sauce above the wok in the air and drop it until the sauce begins stopping halfway. Then turn off the stove.

Mix it up:

  1. Reheat the sauce.
  2. Add the deep fried chicken, 1 cup of peanuts (or any kind of nuts), ½ tbs dried red hot chili pepper, and ½ cup of toasted sesame seeds into the sizzling sauce and mix it with a spatula. The amount of sticky sauce will decrease while you are stirring. Then turn off the heat and you are done!

Tip: Before the chicken cools down, you may have to separate each piece of chicken wings to prevent them from sticking to each other.

dakgangjeong - fried chicken

For spicy food lover:
You can sprinkle 2 tbs of dried and crushed red chili pepper instead of ½ tbs.

For vegetarians:
Just make the sauce following the recipe above, and then add whatever dried ingredients you like and make candy! You can use sliced ginger, nuts (almond, walnuts, pine nuts, and peanuts), or sesame seeds.

  1. Place plastic wrap on your cuttingboard
  2. After mixing all the dried ingredients with the sticky sauce, spread it on the plastic wrapper on your cuttingboard. Wait a few minutes for it to harden.
  3. Cut it into bite size pieces and enjoy!

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Posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 8:57 am. Last updated on October 17, 2016.
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340 Comments:

  1. Jessicaf North carolina joined 6/20 & has 12 comments
    Posted June 19th, 2020 at 12:15 pm |

    So amazing. Korean fried chicken seems to go over even with picky eaters. Honey butter is our favorite but both this and the spicy also win plenty of praise. My husband now prefers Korean fried chicken to Kentucky fried. Never expected that conversion!

  2. shelizar69 Oklahoma (but Texan born and raised) joined 9/18 & has 2 comments
    Posted November 20th, 2018 at 5:03 am |

    I was wanting to make this for a Christmas party I’m going to. Can I put the chicken (after I fry it and sauce it) into a crockpot to transport it and keep it warm, or will keeping it warm like that make it soggy?

  3. lnaj SC joined 1/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted January 4th, 2017 at 12:17 pm |

    My 89 yr old father in-law is a southern man who only eats southern food (which I consider over cooked and bland). He will not try anything ethnic. I made the crispy chicken with ginger yesterday and OMG is was so yummy. He lives 5 minutes away so I made him a plate (which my husband told me I was giving him too much because he does not eat much). He called me on my cell phone and left me a message “this was the best meal he has ever eaten. He said he ate all of it which is unusual for him”.
    So Maangchi, you won my finicky father in-law over with this dish.
    Just a few things to mention; both my husband and father in-law cannot eat spicy food so I omitted the chilies. Since I was cooking for 3 I cut all the measurements by half and the brown sugar even more. We loved it but next time I will make a separate batch with hot peppers for me because I love really spicy food.
    Love Love Love your site and plan on trying other dishes…Linda

  4. Sakiki joined 11/15 & has 2 comments
    Posted November 12th, 2015 at 7:48 pm |

    Hi Maangchi! I have a question to ask. For my Human Geography class I need to bring in a food from another country and the country that was given to me was South Korea, so I chose this recipe to do. My question is could I refrigerate this the night before and re-fry it again next morning to take to school? Or should I just fry the chicken the night before,refrigerate it, and the next morning I can fry it again and mix it with the sauce? Oh, and this class is 4 hours after I go to school so would it still be okay then too?
    Sorry for asking a lot of question and thanks for the help! :D

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,003 comments
      Posted November 14th, 2015 at 12:04 pm |

      Yes, fry the chicken the night before and keep it in the fridge, and fry it again and mix it with the sauce next morning. It will stay crunchy for several hours. Good luck with your school project and let me know how it turns out.

      • Sakiki joined 11/15 & has 2 comments
        Posted November 14th, 2015 at 6:29 pm |

        Thanks so much for answering Maangchi! :) And would this also work for the Crispy and crunchy fried chicken? Because I’m thinking about doing that too. Thanks again so much Maangchi!

  5. LovelyKiki Japan joined 12/14 & has 6 comments
    Posted December 18th, 2014 at 8:23 am |

    Hey Maangchi, I’m a Jamaican living in Japan. I am happy I found your recipes because you explain so that anyone can do it. I made your Jap Chae and it was beautiful now I’ve made the braised potatoes and sweet and spicy chicken wings for my children’s end of term party tomorrow. They’ll be so happy. If I could have shared pics, I would.

  6. tharini123 chennai joined 6/14 & has 1 comment
    Posted June 19th, 2014 at 12:53 pm |

    Eonni i tried the recipe . I loved it and my brother appreciated it a lot . I love Korean cuisine , drama and culture . Kamsahamnida eonni

  7. Omi Pop Humboldt Co, CA joined 3/14 & has 3 comments
    Posted March 9th, 2014 at 12:34 am |

    안녕하세요! Does the vegetarian-ginger-candy version of this recipe have the same name in Korean or a different name?

  8. luxy indonesia joined 7/13 & has 1 comment
    Posted July 17th, 2013 at 10:07 pm |

    hi maangchi..i really love all your recipes..i’ve been trying some of your recipes from youtube and this is one of my favorite dish..
    i’m from indonesia, and because i can’t find any corn syrup, i use red sugar or “gula jawa” instead of corn syrup..it is made from coconut’s essence. but still i find it scrumptious!!
    oh also i try to replace the chicken with home made potato chips and cassava chips..and my family loves it..
    thx maangchi for your recipes..
    :D

  9. Pink Washington, DC joined 6/13 & has 2 comments
    Posted June 24th, 2013 at 1:27 pm |

    I made this recipe this weekend & the chicken was pretty good BUT the sauce was a little too sweet. But this recipe was good overall. THANK YOU!!!!

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