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
- 40 pieces of chicken wings
- 2 ts kosher salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 ts ground pepper
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup starch powder
- vegetable oil
- 1 cup ginger, sliced thinly
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup corn syrup (mulyeot)
- ¼ cup vinegar
- 1 cup peanuts
- ½ cup toasted sesame seeds
- ½ tbs dried and crushed red hot chili pepper
Directions
- Prepare 40 chicken wings or chunks of chicken, rinse them off in cold water and drain them.
- Transfer the chicken into a big bowl.
- Add kosher salt, ground pepper, eggs, and a mixture of the flour and the starch powder. Mix it by hand.
- Deep fry the chicken wings in vegetable oil 2 times at about 350” to 380”F.
Make sauce:
- Prepare a big wok or pan.
- Place 1 cup of water in the wok and heat it up.
- Add the ginger to the boiling water.
- Add soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and boil it over medium heat.
- 5 minutes after, add corn syrup and keep boiling over low medium heat about 30 minutes.
- 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:
- Reheat the sauce.
- 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.
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.
- Place plastic wrap on your cutting board
- After mixing all the dried ingredients with the sticky sauce, spread it on the plastic wrap. Wait a few minutes for it to harden.
- Cut into bite size pieces and enjoy!
Maangchi's Amazon picks for this recipe
It's always best to buy Korean items at your local Korean grocery store, but I know that's not always possible so I chose these products on Amazon that are good quality. See more about how these items were chosen.
tintin,
Good luck with your dakkangjung making!
i am salivating now, i will try this tomorrow!
Teresa,
I don’t remember which vinegar I used when I filmed the video recipe. Yes, you could use rice vinegar.
Anna,
oh, I know how you feel now by reading your words “The taste has haunted my memories for years.” ! Let me know how your chicken dish turns out later if you make it.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe and video! I found your blog from a video link on Youtube. This dish was a freebie from the chef at our favourite Korean restaurant, and it was love at first bite. I’ve been looking for years for a recipe or even just the name, so I can ask for it in a restaurant. The taste has haunted my memories for years. Thank you again for all your hard work on this website, now I can learn how to make my favourite Korean dishes.
Did you use apple vinegar for the dakkungjung? Will rice vinegar work without compromising the taste?
Murasaki Shikibu,
I would not use lemon because it might give some strong flavor. Use some vinegar.
Can I use lemon juice instead of vinegar?
tina,
oh, your mom uses rice powder? Sure, why not?
Hi Maangchi,
My mom uses rice powder when coating the chicken wings, can i replace the flour amount with the rice powder instead?
Angelika,
I’m sorry to hear that!
but, no problem! Next time, cook the sauce less than 20 minutes then. Maybe 10 minutes? I am using my gas stove to cook, but the cooking time may be different depending on what kind of stove you use. If your sauce ends up so hard like solid rock, just pour some water and boil it again instead of scraping it off the pan with a knife. : )
Try it out again next time and let me know.
Maangchi, I have no idea what happened! The chicken I made was perfect and very tasty, however something happened to the sauce! The sauce turned rock solid while I was cooking it. I cooked it on medium heat for about 20 minutes (I was stirring it before to) however at that 20 minutes I noticed the sauce was becoming very very hard while i was stirring it. So I turned the heat off and the sauce became so hard that I had to scrape it off of the pan with a knife. Do you have any idea at what might have gone wrong? I followed the recepie exactly.I also have an electric stove so do you think maybe the medium heat on an electric stove is different from the med heat on the gas stove?
Vince,
It doesn’t matter much. Use any vinegar. Let me know how it turns out. Thank you!
One question on the Dakkangjung (chicken)recipe, in your replies it appears you stated that (apple) cider vinegar is good, but I see you using a clear vinegar in your video….what is that particular vinegar? I want to try the recipe to impress my wife and frineds, but am not sure if (apple cider) vinegar is correct for this…can you please help with what is the best vinegar for this dish. I love your dishes and videos by the way.
Patricia,
This dish is good selection for pot luck party because you don’t have to reheat it before serving. After making it, just put it at room temperature until you serve.
Hello! I was wondering when this dish gets served, does it have to be served immediately or can is there a way to keep it warm until guests arrive? I know the sauce has a thick consistency and I’m afraid it may cause the wings to harden if I let it cool. Thank you!
maangchi,
i’m impressed by your videos since i found it by a mistake that day. they’re very clear and easy to understand and fun also. so i have a suggestion here, can you make a video about how to make a sauce for particular dishes. i’m sure it should be interesting for people who are desired to learn in cooking. i hope you will do it in the future. Thank you!
amanda,
I see that you lo~ve your son dearly! : )
Maangchi,
Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes and easy to use/view site! We adopted our son from Korea and you have helped me to incorporate his culture into daily lives! Thank you!
james,
let me know how your Korean cooking turns out.
My hot spicy fried chicken recipe will be posted someday in the future. Thank you!
wow, is this similar to the style of chicken at places like bon chon chicken and cheogajip? i recently discovered those two korean restaurants in the northern virginia area but i was having trouble finding out the way to cook this style of fried chicken at home.
i’ll be trying your recipe this weekend, thank you for the clear and well displayed step by step process!
Jasmine,
I use roasted peanuts and sesame seeds.
spinningleaf,
wonderful! Thank you for your detailed description about how to prepare peanuts for this recipe.
Hello, Maangchi
Thanks for the great recipe. The dish came out great. I tried something a little different with the peanuts though. I crushed them up first, mixed the the chicken with the sauce, then rolled the pieces in the crushed peanuts. made them even crunchier. thanks again. look forward to trying another one of your recipes.
I love your website!!!! Before I start on this recipe, I have one question about the peanuts and sesame seeds, do you use raw peanuts and raw sesame seeds, or do you cook them before hand?
Thanks!
Jen,
When the ginger slices are cooked for a long time with sugar, it turns out like jelly looking candy. It will be ok. If you are worried about the flavor, use less amount than the recipe then.
Dear Maangchi,
I found your website a couple weeks ago & love it! I actually have my computer in the kitchen & follow along. This dish looks really good but my kids do not like the taste of ginger when its really strong. Does this dish have a strong ginger taste?
hannaone,
Of course I don’t mind it.
oh, your website is terrific!
http://www.hannaone.com/Recipe/
Hi Maangchi
I ran across your site a couple months ago, and I think it is great. As a former Korean restaurant owner, and someone who has loved Korean food for a long time, I am happy to see your efforts at spreading knowledge about Korean cooking.
I have operated a website with recipes from my restaurant and my wife’s family cooking for several years now, and I hope you don’t mind that I added a feature on my site to search your site for recipes.
Please keep up the good work.
sasha,
yes, of course you can use rice vinegar, too, but honey is much sweeter than corn syrup. Use half what I use in the recipe.
maangchi, can i use rice vinegar for the sauce? should i just add more sugar or can i use some honey in it if i dont have corn syrup?
candice,
I think apple cider vinegar is good. I like apple cider vinegar. (사과식초 in Korean)
Yes, gochugaru(hot pepper flakes) will be ok.
hi!
I’m going to make this dish for my son’s 100th day. What kind of vinegar are you using here? And is it ok to use gochugahloo instead of pizza pepper flakes?
Jennifer,
yes, practice makes perfect! I’m sure your korean cooking skill get better and better by time passes!
Your children are lucky to have a mom like you! Say hello to them. : )
Hi Maangchi!
Although my hobakjuk didn’t turn out, I didn’t give up on cooking Korean foods. I’m so glad I kept trying!
I made this dish tonight and my family loved it…especially my children (both of whom are adopted from S. Korea).
Mashinnun!
charlie
I’m very happy to read your comment especially you got some ideas from my recipes. It sounds like you are good at cooking!
Jenny,
Yes, I use the same oil twice. Thanks!
maangchi
do u use the same oil twice?
or can you put in new vegetable oil?