Honey butter fried chicken

Heoni-beoteo-chikin 허니버터치킨

I’m very excited to release this recipe today! My previous Korean fried chicken recipes have been loved by my readers and their friends and families for years. Now I’m sure many people will love this recipe, too.

Last year I visited Korea and found so many of my fellow Koreans were crazy about honey butter flavored potato chips. I tasted them I liked them, even though I’m usually not a fan of butter. They were addicting! The company that makes honey butter chips is building a new factory to meet Koreans’ demand, and in the meantime there’s a shortage. It’s became a craze in Korea to give almost any kind of snack a honey butter flavor.

When I got back home to New York, I thought I could make something crunchy and sweet with a honey butter flavor, and I started experimenting with fried chicken. It took a lot of experiments until I was satisfied with the result.

It’s small pieces of crunchy sweet chicken with garlic, honey, butter flavor. So yummy! No wonder so many Koreans love this taste! It’s hard to stop eating them once you start! And this recipe is non-spicy, so everyone can enjoy it. Like my other Korean fried chicken recipes, we need to double fry the chicken to make it extra crispy, flavorful, and light.

Enjoy the recipe!Korean honey butter fried chicken

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds of chicken wings (or chunks of chicken)
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ cup potato starch
  • ¼ cup all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ cup pumpkin seeds (optional)
  • 4 cups cooking oil (corn or vegetable oil)

For honey butter sauce:

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ¼ cup white or brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons honey

Directions

Prepare the chicken

  1. Put the chicken in a bowl and mix with salt and ground black pepper.
  2. Crack the eggs into the bowl and add starch, flour, and baking powder.
  3. Mix well by hand.Korean honey butter fried chicken

Double fry!

  1. Heat up a 12 inch skillet with the cooking oil over high heat for 5 to 7 minutes until it reaches 350° F. You can dip a tip of chicken into the hot oil to see if it is right temperature or not. If several bubbles come up, it’s time to fry.
  2. Put all the chicken pieces into the hot oil one by one. Let cook for about 5 minutes until the bottoms of the chicken turn a little crunchy. Then flip them over with tongs, splitting up any pieces that have fused together.
  3. Let cook another 5 minutes and then turn them all over.
  4. Keep frying and occasionally turning over for another 10 minutes until all sides are nice and crunchy.
  5. Transfer the crunchy chicken one by one into a strainer over a stainless steel bowl.Korean honey butter fried chicken
  6. Let the oil heat up for 1 minute and then put all the chicken back in. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes until all sides are crunchy and look golden brown.
  7. Strain the chicken and turn off the heat.
    Korean honey butter fried chicken

Make honey butter fried chicken

  1. Heat up a large skillet for a couple of minutes. Add butter and garlic and stir it up until the garlic turns fragrant and a little crispy. Add soy sauce, sugar and stir until well melted. Add honey and stir.
  2. Keep stirring until it bubbles vigorously.Korean honey butter fried chicken
  3. Add the chicken and the pumpkin seeds (if used).  Mix and stir well to coat evenly.
  4. Serve right away or let cool to serve later.Korean honey butter fried chicken

Posted on Monday, October 17th, 2016 at 6:35 pm. Last updated on August 14, 2021.
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93 Comments:

  1. Oreo Mexico joined 12/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted December 29th, 2018 at 9:40 pm | or create a profile.

    I cant make the Sauce it always splits or the sugar is to brown what do i do?

  2. sskews UK joined 12/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted December 28th, 2018 at 7:01 am | or create a profile.

    Hi So I’ve made this couple of times and damn it is sooo good! But, would like to tweak it.

    1. How can I make this a bit sweet and spicy?
    2. Can I do the first frying in advance, ie earlier in the day and then do the double fry closer to eating time?

    This second question is most important! Please!

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
      Posted December 28th, 2018 at 6:01 pm | or create a profile.

      You can add more honey and sugar to make it sweeter.
      “Can I do the first frying in advance, ie earlier in the day and then do the double fry closer to eating time?” Yes, you can fry once and keep it in the refrigerator up to a couple of days and fry again before serving it. Good luck!

  3. Tcarter MI joined 11/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted November 18th, 2018 at 9:16 pm | or create a profile.

    Can you save the leftover honey butter?

  4. philopatorkevin New York joined 10/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted October 23rd, 2018 at 10:16 pm | or create a profile.

    Just made it tonight and it was definitely better than some of the chicken I’ve had in Korea! Thank you so much! ^_^


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  5. JBracken Utica NY joined 8/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted August 30th, 2018 at 11:08 pm | or create a profile.

    Me and my group of best friends have been making this for well over a year now. At this point we just eyeball the recipe. It’s always a little different, but it never disappoints. After we finished eating it tonight I decided to finally hop on here and leave you a comment. Such a good recipe, and has been become a staple for our friend get togethers. Thank you so much for this! Excuse the extra sauce in the picture, we might have made a little extra in the batch tonight. ;)

    Sending all our love and positivity – Joshua, Tiffany, Amanda, and Ian.


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  6. shamma Maldives joined 5/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted May 29th, 2018 at 8:09 pm | or create a profile.

    Hi, from the reviews and the looks of the recipe. It looks so delicious. I’m looking forward to make it. However, I was wondering which kind of butter you used. Salted or unsalted? Thank you!

  7. katelin.nguyen United States joined 4/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted April 24th, 2018 at 11:15 pm | or create a profile.

    OMG this is as crunchy as Bonchon chicken! Now, I am not going to waste ~$13 for 10 wings anymore. Can you give me a recommendation on how to make the sauce thin again (after leaving it in the fridge) when I need to heat it up for another batch of frying? It became thickened then hardened after leaving it in the fridge. Thank you!

  8. Mikee B. Philippines joined 3/18 & has 2 comments
    Posted March 17th, 2018 at 10:39 am | or create a profile.

    Thank you, Maangchi for the recipe! Had these today with kimchi fried rice (not in picture) and cheese dip.


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  9. Dvorakx Montreal joined 2/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted February 23rd, 2018 at 11:40 pm | or create a profile.

    hey maangchi, i just learned about you from your video with sean evans and i am loving what you do. I am trying this receipe because people I am cooking for don’t like spicy. I am loving it right now, easy and simple steps. Keep it up!

  10. daphishere Corona, California joined 2/18 & has 3 comments
    Posted February 13th, 2018 at 1:59 am | or create a profile.

    My friends and I made this and we loved it! Only thing is the sauce hardened quite a bit after. Not sure if I didn’t cook the sauce enough or something. Overall would definitely make again


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  11. YoonYul31 Malaysia joined 8/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted August 29th, 2017 at 10:04 am | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi!
    Can i use corn starch instead of potato starch??? It is hard to find potato starch near my area.

  12. Lee Jay Ern Malaysia joined 8/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted August 17th, 2017 at 6:37 pm | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi, I have tried your recipe few days ago! It is so good! I ate 20 honey butter chicken in 1 meal! (Very big appetite). Today I nailed it on making cheese buldak! Cant wait to try more of your recipes!

  13. MaddyCar WA, Australia joined 7/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted July 27th, 2017 at 10:27 pm | or create a profile.

    Hey there :)

    I have been given a school task called cultural banquet. Our task is to choose a dish from a different culture and make it in the span of two lessons. (2 hours altogether) I decided to do Korean and have chosen this dish :) I was reading through the instructions and decided i would be able to handle this, but i am wondering is there anything that i should look out for or common mistakes that can occur with this dish as i have to share it around with the class once i have finished making it, for it to be judged.

    Thank you, Maddy :)

  14. DannyLam Auckland joined 2/17 & has 2 comments
    Posted July 20th, 2017 at 4:44 am | or create a profile.

    I just made this now :) it was delicious. I found another way to keep the chicken kind of crispy! I didnt double fry but immediately transferred to a rack in the oven something to catch oil underneath. I baked them at around 190/200 C until I finished the sauce.


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  15. babychefs New England joined 7/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted July 12th, 2017 at 10:20 pm | or create a profile.

    I made this for my family and it was a big hit :D My parents can’t handle spicy food so this was perfect to make for them. Sweet and crunchy, everyone was so happy with this– Thank you Maangchi!!

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