Hi everybody! Today I’m going to show you how to make dakgangjeong, a crispy and crunchy Korean fried chicken (aka “kfc”).
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. It has an incredible crunch!
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 and my other Korean fried chicken recipes like dakgangjeong with ginger slices (including a vegetarian version), and my yangnyeom-tongdak recipe (aka yangnyeom chicken) which has also been incredibly popular on YouTube! You’ll love all of them. And all Korean fried chicken should be enjoyed with pickled radishes (aka chicken-mu)! If you drink alcohol, it also goes great with beer (“chi-maek” in Korean, which means “chicken and beer”).
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 kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- ⅔ 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 toasted sesame seeds
- Grapeseed oil (or vegetable oil, peanut oil)
Directions
Prepare the chicken
- 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 large bowl and mix with salt, ginger, and ground black pepper by hand.
- Put the 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 Korean fried chicken 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 (if used).
- 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 the mixture. Remove from the heat. Set aside.
First fry:
- 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 temperature is 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 deep fry 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 or let them drain on a wire rack. Turn off the heat, and let the wings sit for a few minutes.
Second fry:
- 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 deep fry them all at once, you’ll have to use more cooking oil.
- If using the peanuts, place them in a slotted spoon or a small mesh strainer, carefully dip them into the hot oil, and fry for 15 to 30 seconds, just until light golden brown. Transfer to a small bowl.
Coat the fried chicken with the sauce:
- When the chicken is done, reheat the sauce until it bubbles.
- Add the hot chicken and peanuts (if using) 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, and you can store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. You don’t need any dipping sauce, but it goes well with white kimchi (baek-kimchi) and pickled radishes (chicken-mu) are the perfect garnish.
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.
Hi Maangchi,
My fried chicken lost their crunchiness after coating with the sauces.
Can you help?
It sounds like the chicken was not cooked enough. Tell your friend to fry the chicken until it looks and feels like a rock so that it won’t lose crunchiness when it’s mixed with the sauce.
Hi! I followed this however my the sauce over the chicken turned too hard :( it tasted like there was too much sugar but I put in 1/2 tablespoon (white).
Hi, your fried chicken is amazing. The sauce is tangy and just nice for me. Thank you so much. Make a video for Kimchi Chige please. Sorry for my spelling.
Hi ljnoah7,
http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kimchi-jjigae
Hi, I can’t find brown sugar, what can I use instead?
I can’t find corn syrup or rice syrup nowhere in Japan, is anything else I can use instead?
You can use sugar or honey. Good luck!
Hi Maangchi
i tried both of your fried chicken recipes today. The sauces taste great but the chicken pieces lost their crunchiness after coating with the sauces.
can you help?
Hi Maangchi!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was a complete hit. My husband and daughter came home a bit early and so i was rushing to get it on the table,,so i skipped some ingredients but it turned out AMAZING!, seriously! i am a very good cook and have very great taste in foods but this was simply delis and everyone, including my fussy daughter ate it up. all you heard at the table was crunch, crunch, crunch. You can’t imagine how good it made me feel to see them licking their lips and smiling. My daughter said she can’t stop eating it….WOW, can you believe that? So crunchy by just using potato starch! that is the secret ingredient in this recipe. If you fry them right you will have great results, like I did. Thank you Maangchi for sharing your secret with us. Never will we be satisfied with restaurant wings again.
hi maangchi,
i made this for the 3rd time yesterday and my mom and friends loved it! i had better results the first 2 times tho, they were crunchier altho they did not stay crunchy & crispy until the next day.
yesterday’s batch somehow turned soggy after a couple of hours. i dipped the chicken in potato starch and fried it twice. is there anything to remedy this, or where did i go wrong that the chicken did not stay crispy?
Yes, fry the chicken longer until very crunchy.
I like the recipe and love the video!! Very good walkthrough. I got one question. Where can I get the blue-check paper? This blue and red combination makes the chicken look better and more delicious. Is it parchment paper or just normal paper? I’d appreciate your answer!
Hi! I loved this recipe! I have tried it on my own. However I realized 1 problem, is that the chicken wings will be very sticky after awhile. The sauce will harden and become sticky. Is there a way to solve this? Or what is causing the stickiness? Hope you could help me!! Thanks!
I think your sauce must have been cooked too long. You can fix it easily. Add a few tablespoons water and boil it again, then it will soften. Good luck!
What’s the alternative for dried red bell pepper?
You can use crushed chili pepper or skip them. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/crushed-chili-peppers
I must have done something incorrectly because I tried this recipe but we were quite disappointed. While the chicken turned out really crispy, the sticky sauce turned out tasting waaaay too much like soy sauce.
I’m wondering if it was because I overcooked the sauce (ie: Reduced it too much) or if it’s because my expectations were incorrect? I was trying to reproduce the chicken I had bought from the Sokcho market (Jungang market) which I believe is called “Manseok Chicken” unless that’s the name of the shop (but I bought it from the shop on the left in this picture http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/cms/resource/18/1814918_image2_1.jpg ) . It’s flavor seemed a lot more complex (and sauce not as dark) as opposed to simply sticky sweet soy sauce with some hot peppers in it which is what I ended up with. I looked at your other recipe for fried chicken but it uses ketchup so that doesn’t seem to be the recipe I’m looking for either..
Now on the bright side my tteokbokki turned out awesome! I want my chicken to turn out just as good because yes, it goes down really well with beer!
Thanks!
This crunchy chicken is great even without the sauce! But it shouldn’t be salty – cook the sauce for a shorter time over lower heat. Good luck!
I made this for some friends yesterday and they LOVED it. I followed your recipe exactly except that I first brined the chicken in water, salt, and sugar for a few hours and I used honey instead of rice syrup. I loved how crispy the potato starch made the wings. Will definitely make this again. Thank you!
Hi Maangchi very nice to know ur site specially ur recipe. Im so excited with ur Dakgangjeong recipe.. may i know what is the potato starch or corn starch? is the same with the tapioca flour? im looking forward for your answer.. thanks so Much :)
Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. It makes your chicken crunchy.
Hi!!! Would it make a difference if I used a canola olive oil blend to fry the chicken? I made this once last year and used grapeseed oil, it turned out perfect!! I want it to come out perfect again, so if the canola olive oil will make a difference, I will go out and buy grapeseed oil tomorrow :)
Thank you!!
Can I use yellow mustard?
yes, you can.
Hi Maangchi, i have a question regarding the measurement for the sauce . I’m planning to cook this for a huge party and make about 150 wings or so. Should i just times the ingredients for the sauce about 6 times. Since the amount for the sauce for the chicken only varies for 24-26 wings in your recipe. Thank you for sharing this amazing Chicken recipe. I been following your recipes on you tube!!
Yes, that’s a good idea! Good luck with making delicious dakgangjeong and get lots of compliments at the party. : )
hello maangchi. have been visiting this site a lot. tried to cook some of ur recipes and they all were delicious so i wanna try this one too. from time to time, u use dried chili pepper. i cant find it in the market. i only see smaller chilli pepper than what i see in ur videos. will drying those chilis under the sun make them look like ur chilis?? if so, how many days will i dry them? or do u have a better suggestion? looking for something not available in my hometown is really a problem. thank you very much. looking forward to ur reply. ☺
“will drying those chilis under the sun make them look like ur chilis??” If you like to dry your own chili peppers, I recommend you choose less spicy ones.
Hi Maangchi! This dish looks soooo yummy. I wanted to make it but i can’t find any rice syrup/corn syrup in stores.. Is there any substitute for rice syrup/corn syrup?? Help please… 😔
You could use sugar or honey.
Hi Maangchi! Made this yesterday for potluck, and it was a hit! My family loved it! May i just say that you are the cutest! I get emotional when I watch you, you have so much passion in the things you do! I will be attempting japchae tonight, my beef and mushrooms are already marinating in the fridge. :))
I hope you made delicious japchae! I’m glad your chicken was a big hit at the potluck! Happy cooking!
Hi Maangchi! I am wondering what you meant by white vinegar, is it normal clear distilled vinegar or white wine vinegar?
Yes, it’s distilled white vinegar.
I made the wings for the Super Bowl party to which I was invited. They were awesome! Fifteen minutes after I set them out, they were gone. I should have made a second batch! Thanks for the recipe, it is going to become one of my staple party foods!
I made the chicken, too. The chicken is always popular at any party. Congratulations! You can make this chicken anytime! : )
Hi Maangchi! Love your website it is amazingly informative, and impresses all of my Korean friends and my partner who is originally from Changwon! Just a question however with this recipe the “mustard sauce” is that like standard English mustard, Dijon or is there a specific Korean mustard? I love to cook Korean food but as i live in a small city in Australia I have to drive to Brisbane which is 7 hours away, however i specifically stock up quite well (last time nearly $500aud worth of korean groceries! Hope to hear from you soon!
Yes, that’s standard English mustard available in any grocery store.
Hi, I am from Malaysia. I love Korea food so so so much. Thank you for showing me how to cook Korea dish. I wish to try this crunchy spicy chicken. May I know instead of rice syrup and corn syrup is there any sauce can replace it? As I cannot found both syrup in my local market. Please reply. Thank you so much!
You could use sugar or honey instead of rice syrup.
Hi Maangchi! I’m new here, but have been cooking your recipes for a while now.. love this one! Was planning on making it for a new years eve party tomorrow night… but I have a question; how do you reheat this? Or would you fry the chicken at home, make the sauce at home, and then reheat the sauce at the party, and reheat the chicken in that? What do you recommend??
Thanks!
Sjoerd
I hope you made good chicken! This chicken will crunchy for a long time up to 7 to 8 hours. You don’t have to keep it in the fridge.
Hi Maangchi! the chicken was absolutely delicious, and everybody loved it, I made 3kg, and it was gone in 5 minutes… :) ^_^
However, what I did now was double fry, and then keep appart from the sauce. At the party, I put the chicken in the oven to reheat, and then put in the sauce. I felt it lost some of it’s crispyness then… What do you do when reheating? Or do you just eat it cold?? Thank you so much!!
Sjoerd
Last year I tried cooking same Korean glazed fried chicken recipe, but to my disappointment my family did not like it. I bravely tried cooking this recipe because of the very detailed instructions, and it became a hit in the family, both young & old made me promise to cook this again when we celebrate this coming New Year. I will also add eomuk to our menu. Thanks so much Maangchi!
Good luck with making delicious chicken on New Year’s Day! Keep it up!
This recipe is a nice & simple with good results. I tweaked and fried for less time (about 8-10 minutes per fry) and looked more for color as well as texture as an indicator of done-frying-ness. When I cooked for 12 minutes, the meat became a bit dried out. I seasoned the chicken a bit more with salt, pepper and ginger too. Also recommend tasting and adjusting the sauce before mixing the chicken to make sure you have the balance of flavors you want. One last note, check the temp and make sure your oil is around 350 degrees, particularly between batches if frying multiple batches. Sometimes, after taking a batch out, the oil needs to come back up to temp before frying the next batch.
Great tips!
Hi Maangchi, may I know if the fried chicken will lose its crunchiness if I heat up in the microwave the next day or should I re-fry?
Hello there,i always love to see your video.and today i make my first 닭강정 and everybody at home like it. Thankyou so much..i’ll make another for christmas at my parents house.
Congratulations! Making dakgangjeong for Christmas is a brilliant idea!
Hello Maangchi,
Would it be okay to use chicken breast instead of wings? I don’t like bones! ):
Thank You!
yes, chicken breast will work well, too! Good luck!
Hello Maangchi! Yesterday i invited my korean friends and made this lovely chicken and japchae too! And it turned out so good and delicious! They are so amazed! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! Nexttime i want to try the spicy rice cakes! And i cant wait! 😊😊😊
When I have a party, I usually make this chicken and japchae, too! : )
I’m very happy to hear that you got good compliments on your food from your Korean friends. Cheers!
hi maangchi! I just made this dish. its so delicious!
my in laws love it (a good way to impress them ahahaa)
Im just starting to learn cooking. When I was still single My papa cook for me im like a princess ahaha. I don’t even know how to fry a chicken like the crispy chicken. ahaha Im so ashamed of my cooking.I was really nervous cooking for my
in laws. Thank you for your simple to follow recipe! it is really
good and save me from my in laws! I will look forward to your other recipe and
more cooking tips! ;) now i love cooking! :) thanks! *i wanted to post a photo to share it but i dont know how. ? hehe
You are an adorable person! You like impress your in-law family with your Korean cooking! They will be very proud of you! Your cooking seems to make your family happy. Cheers!
Upload the photos here. https://www.maangchi.com/photos
Hi Maangchi, I am your new cooking fan ! I tried this crispy chicken dish today and it was really really yummy ! I did not have the corn syrup, I just make do with sugar. I will try out more of your dishes, thank you for sharing ! :)
Fantastic! I feel like making dakgangjeong! : )
Hey Maangchi-ssi
In Denmark we don’t have any corn or rice syrup. I’ve looked in my local Asian store and other stores and left empty handed :(
However I did find some cream soda syrup but I guess it’s not useful for food. Any other suggestions?
– Jerome
Hi Jerome,
You can skip the syrup and use sugar or honey. It will still turn out delicious.
Hi there! I’ve just come across this website googling for chicken wings recipe as I love them and have a huge craving for crunchy ones today – watched your video and I’m totally mesmerised! Thank you for this recipe, I am trying it today, though the only ingredient i do not have are the delicious looking chilli peppers, but I think I will use red chilli pepper flakes instead as I love my spice :)
I have just finished cooking it and made a few more adjustments – I hope you don’t mind :) I’m trying to be health conscious and have used my Tefal Actifryer to fryer the chicken wings (it only requires 1 tablespoon peanut oil rather than 4 cups) and I’ve used 700g chicken wings. I also only had Light Corn Syrup that I made the sauce with and I added a tablespoon of good tomato ketchup and a splash of Sriracha Super Hot chilli sauce. Waiting for it to cool down slightly now!
Thank you for sharing the tips!
Hi Maangchi,I made this recipe but with thighs for my family and they really loved them! I almost cried because I’m really nervous about what my parents think of my cooking and they loved it so much.I put leftovers in the fridge and had them for lunch next day and it was almost exactly the same as fresh out the oil,crispy-crispy~!!! I will definitely keep this recipe with me forever and use it to impress guests.
Thank you for sharing your touching story about this dish! Congratulations!