Spicy garlic fried chicken

Kkanpunggi 깐풍기

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.

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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!

kkanpunggi (깐풍기)

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)

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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 toasted sesame oil

Directions

Prep the chicken

  1. 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.
  2. Add the egg white and ½ cup potato starch. Mix well by hand.prep chickenprepped chicken

Prep the spicy garlic- and leek-infused oil

  1. 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.
  2. Take the garlic and leek out with tongs and put them in a small plate. 
    fried leek
  3. 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.infused-oil

Fry the chicken

  1. 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).
  2. 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.frying
  3. Take them out and strain, and turn off the heat.
  4. 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.
    kkanpunggi (깐풍기) saucekkanpunggi-sauce
  5. 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.double-frying
  6. Reheat the sauce until it’s sizzling. Add the chicken, the fried leek and garlic, and a drop of toasted sesame oil. Stir and mix to coat the chicken.kkanpunggi (깐풍기)kkanpunggi (깐풍기)

Serve

  1. Serve right away. Goes well with Coke : )

Posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2016 at 8:57 pm. Last updated on November 11, 2020.
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

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77 Comments:

  1. Jorobertson Alberta joined 10/18 & has 2 comments
    Posted October 23rd, 2018 at 9:32 pm |

    Very good! Made with rice and your Kimchi Salad which was also delicious. Thank you for the recipe, super crunchy!


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  2. MegaNinja MN joined 4/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted April 16th, 2018 at 11:51 pm |

    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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  3. Jad Algeria joined 2/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted February 18th, 2018 at 4:30 am |

    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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  4. Zzucho Olympia, Wa joined 1/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted January 8th, 2018 at 11:24 pm |

    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.

  5. Abhiiilash Mumbai, India joined 8/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted August 19th, 2017 at 7:16 am |

    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

  6. Carri Lake Forest, California joined 7/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted July 25th, 2017 at 5:22 am |

    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

    • sanne Munich joined 8/14 & has 237 comments
      Posted July 25th, 2017 at 8:16 am |

      “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.

    • Kawibunga San Jose, CA joined 11/18 & has 2 comments
      Posted November 27th, 2018 at 1:50 am |

      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

  7. bae_sike Surabaya, Indonesia. joined 3/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted March 31st, 2017 at 4:01 am |

    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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  8. Deus Ex Potato Philippines joined 2/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted February 21st, 2017 at 12:52 am |

    Made one for my family today, it tastes sooo delicious Maanchi! :D


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  9. FullyKooked joined 7/15 & has 1 comment
    Posted December 8th, 2016 at 5:19 am |

    Hi Maangchi!

    Is there anything you can replace the leek with? My mother lives in Bangladesh and we don’t have leek.

    Cheers

  10. Jeffery Ohio, USA joined 11/16 & has 5 comments
    Posted November 22nd, 2016 at 6:16 pm |

    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.

  11. Dianef Scranton PA joined 11/16 & has 1 comment
    Posted November 20th, 2016 at 9:20 pm |

    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 :)

  12. kokoshi Istanbul , Turkey joined 10/16 & has 1 comment
    Posted October 30th, 2016 at 2:24 pm |

    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.

  13. ahw Los Angeles joined 10/16 & has 11 comments
    Posted October 25th, 2016 at 12:18 pm |

    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!

  14. hangug-eo yeong-gug-in Toronto joined 9/16 & has 2 comments
    Posted September 12th, 2016 at 9:37 pm |

    This is my first Korean dish ever. I am mostly used to cooking British food. It is very different :)


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  15. jenshep Cairns, Australia joined 7/16 & has 1 comment
    Posted July 6th, 2016 at 11:57 pm |

    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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