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!

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

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 kosher salt, ground pepper, eggs, and a mixture of the flour and the starch powder. Mix it by hand.
  4. Deep fry the chicken wings in vegetable oil 2 times at about 350” to 380”F.

Make sauce:

  1. Prepare a big wok or pan.
  2. Place 1 cup of water in the wok and heat it up.
  3. Add the ginger to the boiling water.
  4. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and boil it over medium heat.
  5. 5 minutes after, add 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 starts to stop halfway down. Then turn off the stove.

Mix it up:

  1. Reheat the sauce.
  2. Add the deep fried chicken, peanuts (or any kind of nuts), dried red hot chili pepper, and the 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, separate each piece of chicken to prevent them from sticking to each other.

dakgangjeong - fried chicken

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

Posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 8:57 am. Last updated on August 2, 2021.
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340 Comments:

  1. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
    Posted May 10th, 2008 at 8:37 pm | or create a profile.

    Dear Hendrian,
    Using a spoon to peel ginger is not a new trick. My grand mother and mother used it. I also used to peel it that way long time ago. Thank you for giving me chance to talk about it. : ) Nice!

  2. Anonymous
    Posted May 9th, 2008 at 8:59 am | or create a profile.

    hi maangchi,

    I saw how you peeled the ginger. Try this trick I learnt while working in the kitchen: instead of using a knife, use a tablespoon to peel. Just put the tip of the spoon onto the ginger and peel! Hope that helps.
    Regards
    Hendrian

  3. Anand
    Posted May 8th, 2008 at 10:20 pm | or create a profile.

    maangchi, do you have duck recipe? I’m duck lover and always hunt many duck dish with many style.. can u give me one? Thanks

  4. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
    Posted April 16th, 2008 at 6:31 am | or create a profile.

    erasmusa,
    I am very glad to hear that you are learning about Korean food from my recipes. Now you can judge Korean dish that you are served at a korean resturant. “hmm, this soon du bu should be more thicker than this, only 1 shrimp?” or “oh, this cook must forget about using sesame oil!” etc… lol

  5. erasmusa
    Posted April 16th, 2008 at 2:19 am | or create a profile.

    hi maangchi! i’v been watching your vodcasts for months now. although i still haven’t cooked any korean food, i’ve learned about it and appreciate what goes into the food i eat in korean restaurants. all the best to you and your work! :)

  6. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
    Posted March 30th, 2008 at 8:45 pm | or create a profile.

    Agasuka,
    Yes, you have to stir fry hot pepper flakes longer with some vegetable oil.

    I will give you this method which I don’t like beause it is time consuming. We call it gochu kierum.

    In a small heated pot, pour 5 TBS of vegetable oil first and 3-4 TBS of hot pepper flakes and stir it for short time. Then put some of this into Soondubu jjigae.

    I simplified by stir frying the hot pepper flakes with other ingredients and vegetable oil in the same pot.

    Your pictures will encorage some people to attempt trying to make some dishes without worrying.

    Thanks,

  7. Agasuka
    Posted March 30th, 2008 at 5:40 pm | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi,

    I saw your the column of “Bloggers who made my recipes”

    Other than what you posted, I also made the following:
    1. Bean Sprouts Side dish http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!fRcxarKTFxY5k6QGsJ605Q–/article?mid=143
    2. Jap Chae
    http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!fRcxarKTFxY5k6QGsJ605Q–/article?mid=110
    3. Yuk Gae Jang
    http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!fRcxarKTFxY5k6QGsJ605Q–/article?mid=90
    4. Jeon
    http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!fRcxarKTFxY5k6QGsJ605Q–/article?mid=78
    5. Bulgogi Stew
    http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!fRcxarKTFxY5k6QGsJ605Q–/article?mid=69
    6. Deon Jang Chigae
    http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!fRcxarKTFxY5k6QGsJ605Q–/article?mid=54
    7. Kim Bap
    http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!fRcxarKTFxY5k6QGsJ605Q–/article?mid=43

    By the way,
    sorry to inform you that my Soon du bu was a failure. I encountered the same problem as one of your youtube viewers. The hot pepper flakes floated in the soup and ruined the dish. I guess I should have stir fired it longer before pouring in the liquid.

  8. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
    Posted March 30th, 2008 at 11:05 am | or create a profile.

    Rebecca,
    It looks very good! You changed the recipe a little to fit your taste, which is wonderful.

    I posted the picture of your delicious looking boneless dak kang jung dish under “Bloggers who made my recipes”.

  9. Rebecca
    Posted March 29th, 2008 at 11:53 am | or create a profile.

    Hi…

    This dish was so easy to follow! I guess I am a little strange when it comes to meat, I do no like bones. So I made the meal using skinless/boneless chicken breast, cut into bite size. I also added the crushed red pepper to the sauce. I included a picture for you. Thank you so much! I look forward to all of your other meals!

    http://i250.photobucket.com/albums
    /gg242/Mrs_T05/dakkangjung.jpg

  10. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
    Posted March 25th, 2008 at 5:36 am | or create a profile.

    James,
    Wow, it looks perfect!

  11. james
    Posted March 25th, 2008 at 12:13 am | or create a profile.

    I know I wrote this as a video comment on youtube but I couldn’t tell if it posted without a hitch. Here it is again:
    >>
    Maangchi, I made this earlier tonight. There’s a picture on my website if you want to see how it turned out. I love it! I could see why this is a popular potluck dish. Thanks for sharing this with us.

    http://yakap.org/2008/03/dak-kang-jung.html
    >>

  12. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
    Posted March 24th, 2008 at 6:14 pm | or create a profile.

    anne.h,
    sure, you must be good at cooking.
    Update me when you make other dishes.

  13. anne.h
    Posted March 24th, 2008 at 5:00 pm | or create a profile.

    Dear Maangchi,

    I found your website last week. I love your videos! I made bibimbap for my fiance and it was delicious. I hope I can make this one and all the others someday. Keep it up!

  14. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
    Posted March 24th, 2008 at 3:20 pm | or create a profile.

    Hi, lillian,
    I was expecting your comment. : )
    Oh, your mom sounds like she has allergy in wheat.
    Yes, you can use all starch powder(either potato or corn) instead of mixing it with wheat flour.

  15. Lillian
    Posted March 24th, 2008 at 2:13 pm | or create a profile.

    Maangchi these look transcendentally delicious! I can easily imagine they’re the first thing to go at potlucks. My mom can’t eat wheat–can I use all starch powder instead of mixing it with wheat flour? Also, what kind of starch powder is it? Thanks!

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