Kkanpunggi is spicy garlic fried chicken stir-fried with vegetables and a sweet, sour, spicy sauce. It’s a Korean Chinese dish, originating in China but modified to suit Korean tastes, with Korean ingredients.
I can remember eating this only a few times as a kid. When we went to a Korean Chinese restaurant, I almost always ordered jjajjangmyeon! But I can remember having it once and admiring the beautiful balls of chicken the restaurant made. In Chinese, kkan means dry, pung means stir fry and gi means chicken.
In my version I infuse the cooking oil with coarse red chili flakes, garlic, leeks to make the lightly fried chicken spicy, garlicky, and leek-y. You can use the oil for other stir-fried dishes featuring vegetables, mushrooms, or meat. Someday I’ll post the shrimp version of this recipe, it’s also delicious. And if you want a nonspicy version, just leave out the spicy stuff.
This dish is fast to make: it fries quickly because it’s made with boneless pieces of chicken. It also creates a delicious aroma that will fill your kitchen. Few people can resist kkanpunggi!
Ingredients (for 2-3 servings)
Chicken:
- ½ pound chicken breast (about 230 grams), cut into bite size small pieces
- ½ teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup potato starch
- 1 egg white (If you use 1 pound chicken, use 1 whole egg)
Spicy garlic- and leek-infused oil:
- ¼ cup vegetable or corn oil
- ½ cup thinly shredded leek
- 4 garlic cloves, cut into halves
- 1 tablespoon coarse red chili flakes
Vegetables and seasonings:
- 1 green chili pepper, deseeded, sliced thinly
- 1 fresh red chili pepper, deseeded, sliced thinly
- 1 green onion, chopped
- ½ medium sized onion, chopped
- 3-4 small dried red chili peppers
Sweet and sour sauce (all mixed together in a small bowl):
Oil:
- 1 cup cooking oil (grapeseed oil, vegetable oil, or corn oil)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Directions
Prep the chicken
- Combine the chicken, ginger, soy sauce, and ground black pepper in a bowl. Mix well with a spoon and let sit for 10 to 20 minutes.
- Add the egg white and ½ cup potato starch. Mix well by hand.
Prep the spicy garlic- and leek-infused oil
- Heat up a small pan with ¼ cup cooking oil. When the oil is heated, lower the heat to medium and add the garlic and leek. Stir them with a wooden spoon for a couple of minutes until the garlic and leek turn light golden brown and crispy.
- Take the garlic and leek out with tongs and put them in a small plate.
- Turn off the heat and add the chili pepper flakes to the hot oil. Stir it and let it cool for a few minutes. Strain the oil.
Fry the chicken
- Heat up 1 cup of cooking oil in a 12 inch skillet or frying pan for 3-4 minutes over high heat (335-350°F).
- Turn down the heat to medium high and fry the chicken. When the bottom of a piece of chicken turns crunchy and light golden brown, turn it over with your tongs. It’s ok if the skillet is crowded, but split the chicken pieces with your tongs if they get stuck together. Keep rotating the chicken pieces and turning them over so they’re cooked evenly, about 5 minutes.
- Take them out and strain, and turn off the heat.
- Heat up a large pan. Add the spicy garlic leek infused oil. When the oil is heated, add the onion, green onion, red chili pepper, green chili pepper, and the small dried red chili peppers. Stir over medium high heat until the onion starts turning crispy for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sweet and sour sauce and stir it for about 20 to 30 seconds. Turn off the heat.
- Reheat the oil in the skillet and fry the chicken one more time for about 3 to 5 minutes, turning over with your tongs until it’s very crunchy and golden brown. Strain.
- Reheat the sauce until it’s sizzling. Add the chicken, the fried leek and garlic, and a drop of sesame oil. Stir and mix to coat the chicken.
Serve
- Serve right away. Goes well with Coke : )
Posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2016 at 8:57 pm.
Last updated on October 17, 2016.
Tagged: 깐풍기, gan poong gi, ggan pung gi, kampungi, kan pung gi, Kang Poong Gi, kkanpunggi, Korean fried chicken, spicy fried chicken, spicy garlic fried chicken, spicy glazed fried chicken
Jun 8th
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Very good! Made with rice and your Kimchi Salad which was also delicious. Thank you for the recipe, super crunchy!
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Yummy!
Yum! I finally made it well! I’ve made it before, but this time, I finally achieved it. It was so good. Thank you for the recipe Maangchi.
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It looks amazing, sweet and crunchy! Congratulations!
Dear I have tried this recipe turned out very nice amazing love ittttt will try more of your recipes
PS: no wonder about the fork lol am from Algeria north Africa we do not have sticks
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Well made kkanpunggi! Congratulations!
If there were an Oscar style award for cooking, you deserve it. I made this tonight and am blown away. You make it look so easy. This was one amazing dish. Thank you.
Wow, thank you so much for the compliment! I’m so happy that your kkanpunggi was a big hit!
Hiii Maanghi-ssi! annyeong! I WANTED TO KNOW WHETHER THERE IS ANY SUBSTITUTE FOR RED CHILLI FLAKES AS I RAN OUT OF THEM. PLZ HELP.
THAAAANKS’ LOVE FROM INDIA
Maangchi, I made this recipe a few nights ago. I quadrupled the recipe and 5x the sauce.and quadrupled the Chili oil. But my chicken didn’t turn out crispy. When I fried it the first time, it used up most of the oil, so the second re-fry I added more oil but it was coconut oil because I ran out of grapeseed oil. It didn’t seem to get any more brown and I cooked it longer than you specified in the recipe to make sure it was crispy. But it wasn’t. What went wrong? Here’s what I suspect: I used 2 whole eggs. Was it too wet? I used 4X the potato starch which should have been the right proportion. But maybe it wasn’t as dry as it needed to be? What do you think? Thanks for your input. The flavor was good though. My husband and son loved it But it did take me 3 HOURS to make it!! I have a photo but it’s too large to fit. Not sure how to make it smaller. By the way, you are adorable <3
“When I fried it the first time, it used up most of the oil” sounds like the oil wasn’t hot enough. And yes, maybe the eggs were too large. You’re definitely on the right track! :-)
– use more oil
– heat it up higher (put in a piece of wood; when bubbles come up steadily, it’s OK)
– reduce the amount of meat you fry in one portion.
Good luck!
Bye, Sanne.
Hi Carrie. The oil must be very hot before adding anything to it otherwise what you add to the oil will only be absorbed and therefore soggy and way too oily. And as Maangchi suggested, fry in smaller batches so the temp of the oil doesn’t drop too much. Good luck
Hi Maangchi
Im a fan to your cooking tutorial on youtube, jinjja jinjja mouth-wathering.
This is my first time tried your KFC recipe (i’ve made your baechu kimchi and kkakdugi ). I’m cooking with my 남자 친구. I used a tablespoon sugar and honey. The combi of spicy, salt, sour and sweetnes of the dish 노무 조하합니다. Serving with lettuce and syrup-squash.
Greetings from an Indonesian girl from Surabaya, who love all about Korean soooooo much.
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Your cooking skill is awesome! The kkanpunggi looks amazing!
Made one for my family today, it tastes sooo delicious Maanchi! :D
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Yes, it looks so crunchy, sweet, and spicy! Yum!
Hi Maangchi!
Is there anything you can replace the leek with? My mother lives in Bangladesh and we don’t have leek.
Cheers
Substitute for Leeks. For 1 cup of leeks substitute 1 cup chopped green onions OR 1 cup dry yellow or white onion or 1 cup chopped shallots.
This was the first recipe from Maangchi that I made. It was crispy and delicious. it was also approved by my partner who can be a little bit harder to impress. I’ve made it several times since I’ve learned how to make it.
Oh my this was so good! I forgot to take a picture before I ate this. I can’t wait to try more of your dishes :)
Hi Maangchi!
I’m a fifteen years old boy who falls in love with dishes you make!
I have some problems about this recipe.
1) Can i use corn starch instead of potato starch?
2) Can i use honey or sugar instead of rice syrup?
Sorry for grammars :( English is not my native language.
Yes, you can use cornstarch instead of potato starch and honey or sugar will work well, too Good luck!
From the moment I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. I had some friends over yesterday for lunch and I made it for them. It turned out great, and they loved it. They only eat kosher meat, so they can’t have this in Korean restaurants. I made them a full Korean meal, with this kkanpunggi, bulgogi, doenjang jjigae, kimchi, side dishes, sikhye etc. It all turned out great and we had a lot of fun. Thanks Maangchi!
This is my first Korean dish ever. I am mostly used to cooking British food. It is very different :)
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Congratulations! It looks crunchy and delicious!
I have been eyeing off this recipe for a while finally got to make it.
It tasted amazing.
I changed it a little,I didn’t use leek just garlic and chilli in the sauce.
And used corn flour instead of potato starch.
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wow, yours looks amazing!
Maangchiiiiiii! I love Ur recipes! I need Ur help finding thin narrow tongs like the ones u use in this video! I have looked EVERYWHERE to no avail. Walmart, target, eBay, Amazon, every online kitchen appliance store and nothing. Please let me know where to buy I would really appreciate it. Hugs and kisses! Love Ur channel.
I bought them at IKEA. Check your local IKEA store. : )