Hi everybody! Today I’m going to show you how to make dakgangjeong, a crispy and crunchy Korean fried chicken.
Many of you probably know that I posted it once already, years ago, but the version I’m showing you today is a little easier than the last one, and will be faster to make: I don’t mix a batter, I just coat the chicken in potato starch powder. I also skipped the ginger slices so we can cook the sauce faster.
In this recipe, both the peanuts and the chilis are optional.
Both versions are delicious in their own way, and both of them are authentically Korean, they’re just two ways of making the same dish, kind of like there are many ways to make pizza. Take this chicken to a party and everyone will give you compliment. “Whoo ah~ this crispy chicken is crunchy crunchy like candy!”
If you love fried chicken, I strongly advise you to try this recipe, my recipe for dakgangjeong with ginger slices (including a vegetarian version), and my yangnyeom-tongdak recipe which has been incredibly popular on YouTube! You’ll love all of them.
Steps:
- Mix chicken with seasonings and cover in starch.
- Fry in hot oil for 7 to 8 minutes.
- Shake off, let sit, then fry for another 12 to 15 minutes.
- Coat in seasoning sauce.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds over top and serve immediately.
Ingredients
- 3½ pounds chicken wings (about 1.6 kg), washed and drained
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2/3 cup potato starch or corn starch
- ⅓ cup peanuts (optional)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 to 4 large dried red chili peppers, seeded, cut crosswise into ⅓ inch pieces (optional)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup rice syrup or corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon mustard (optional)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- Grapeseed oil (or vegetable oil, peanut oil)
Directions
- Cut off the tip of each wing and chop the wing in half. After this is done you should have about 3 pounds of chicken, with 24 to 26 pieces.
- Put the chicken in a bowl and mix with salt, ginger, and ground black pepper by hand.
- Put 2/3 cup potato starch in a bowl and dip each wing in the powder to coat it, one by one. Squeeze each wing to press the coating to it tightly.
Make the sweet, spicy, and sticky sauce:
- Heat a large non-stick skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons cooking oil, minced garlic, and the dried red chili pepper.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until fragrant for about 30 seconds.
- Add soy sauce, rice syrup, vinegar, and mustard sauce (optional). Stir with a wooden spoon and let it bubble for a few minutes.
- Add the brown sugar and continue stirring. Remove from the heat. Set aside.
Fry the chicken:
- Put 4 cups of cooking oil in a frying pan or pot and heat it up for 7 to 8 minutes over high heat.
- See if the oil’s ready by dipping a test wing into it. If the oil bubbles, it’s hot enough to start frying. Slide the coated wings one by one into the hot oil and cook for about 12 to 13 minutes, turning over a few times with tongs.
- Take the wings out of the oil and shake them off in a strainer. Turn off the heat, and let the wings sit for a few minutes.
- Reheat the oil and fry the wings again for another 12 to 15 minutes until they all look golden brown and feel super crunchy through the tongs. If your frying pan or pot is not large enough to fry all the chicken at once, divide it into batches like I do in the video. If you use a larger frying pot to cook them all at once, you’ll have to use more cooking oil.
Coat the fried chicken with the sauce:
- When the chicken is done, reheat the sauce until it bubbles.
- Add the hot chicken and mix well with a wooden spoon to coat.
- Remove from the heat and transfer the coated chicken to a large platter. Sprinkle some sesame seeds over top and serve immediately. This chicken won’t lose its crunchiness, even by the next day. You don’t need any dipping sauce, but it goes well with Baek-kimchi.
Posted Sunday, January 26th, 2014 at 10:40 pm.
Tagged: crispy crunchy fried chicken, crispy fried chicken, crispy homemade chicken wings, crunchy fried chicken, 닭강정, fried chicken, fried chicken recipe, fried chicken wings, spicy crispy chicken wings, superbowl chicken, sweet spicy crispy chicken
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I’ve always double fried my fried chicken too. But I didn’t really know that it was an Asian thing! When I was double frying some chicken (for family meal when it was my turn to cook for staff), one of the French chefs asked me why I am double frying…I was like, “to make it crispier (duh)!” And then I later realized that many people didn’t use or know about that trick. Your video has me craving some fried chicken!
yes, double frying method also helps cook the chicken thoroughly. Cheers! : )
I’ve always fried my chicken wings just like you. Last night I decided to add a twist and coated it with the spicy sauce. Omg, It was fantastic! My younger girl who don’t usually like wings, polished off 4! Received a thumbs up from everyone. Thanks Maangchi !
“My younger girl who don’t usually like wings, polished off 4!” I’m happy to hear that!
I made this tonight…OMG!!! So yummy!!! Like chicken candy!!! :)
Great!!
안녕 하세요 ㅋㅋㅋ!Well for Ms. Maangchi Kim,honestly I started watching your videos.since yesterday and I’m so glad that i found this site..so fanatic!
Well everybody usually thinks that when you say “KOREAN CUISINE” it sounds pretty hard to prepare and cook for it but through your amazing videos,you mde it very quite simple..
And that’s the best way I can earn more confidence about cooking korean food without complicated process..A big thanks to you…
Been in Korea and.I do really love Korean foods…very awesome…I’ll keep on watching!thanks♥♥♥감사합니다
“…that’s the best way I can earn more confidence about cooking korean food without complicated process..” Thank you so much for your nice words! Good luck with your Korean cooking!
We love your videos. We just made this. However, instead of the dried peppers we substituted gochujang. Korean food is great. There are so many possible variations to Korean recipes, the variety is endless. Thanks for this video!
I used the sauce on baked chicken wings and people demanded the recipe. I had some sauce left over which I put on some salmon. YUM!
ow ow, Congratulations! : )
This is one of my favorite Korean food. I have been trying to find this recipe and luckily just found it here.
I would love to try it soon.
Hi Maangchi!
I’m here to thank you for this great recipe. I made this for dinner and it was still very crispy and crunchy after it was cooled. A definite keeper! <3 thank you very much!
I removed all the seeds from the dried chillies and after taste testing I realize there wasn't enough heat. So I added hot pepper flakes to the sauce. Gave the dish a even redder colour too.
Hi Maangchi,
I made 10lbs. of these wings tonight for my super bowl party tonight and they were “so delicious.” Everyone said that they were the best wings that they had ever had in their life! They were so crunchy, I guess it was the double frying. Thanks!
Chris
Chris!
I’m so happy that I’m almost crying! I’m glad everybody liked them!
I made this tonight for the game tonight. My husband doesn’t like chicken wings, but he ate SOO many tonight! Thank you so much for a great website and great recipe.
Maangchi , may I know 양념통닭 and 닭강정 have any different ? I saw the ingredients and cooking process almost same.
This looks great! When I buy 닭강정 from a restaurant sometimes it comes with rice cakes. How would I cook/add rice cakes to the recipe (to make it crunchy but chewy in the middle)?
Fry some rice cake after the chicken is fried for about 1 or 2 minutes until its outside turns a little crunchy but soft inside.
I will definitely be making this soon. But I need to ask, where did you get your tongs?
I found some at Daiso. Its a Japanese dollar store all over the West Coast, maybe on the East Coast too?
Hi Maangchi, I tried the recipe but I used a lot of substitute like Honey and Dried chili. But still it tastes awesome! Hope to get more recipes from you!
Look yummy! Better than 4fingers in Singapore. I would try it with my mum after Chinese New Year!
Great! Let me know the result when you make it later.