This Korean fried chicken recipe makes crispy fried chicken coated in a spicy sauce. The chicken skin quickly soaks up the Korean fried chicken sauce and while that means it’s no longer super crispy, the spicy goodness makes up for it. If you can stop yourself from eating it all, the spice-soaked chicken skin tastes even better the next day.
One of our best Korean recipes, this Korean fried chicken recipe will make you crispy fried chicken that’s brushed in a special spicy Korean fried chicken sauce. The chicken skin soaks the sauce right up so you’ve got fried chicken with a super flavourful skin. While no longer crunchy, it’s incredibly delicious. And it tastes even better re-heated the next day.
If you enjoy this try our Japanese fried chicken recipe, which, while not spicy, is super-crunchy. And do check out our collection of best fried chicken recipes if you’re looking for recipes for a casual weekend get-together or a game day gathering. Fried chicken is fantastic for feeding a crowd, as you can fry up a big batch, it’s fantastic hot or cold, and you can serve it with a big bowl of potato salad, a basket or soft bread rolls, and garlic mayo.
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And if you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, we have many hundreds of recipes from around the world in our archives from places we’ve lived, travelled and loved. Note that you can save your favourites by clicking on the heart on the right of any post to create your own private account. Now let me tell you all about this Korean fried chicken.
Korean Fried Chicken Recipe for Crispy Fried Chicken in a Spicy Sauce
If you’re a lover of fried chicken and you love Korean food, particularly the spicy flavours of the Korean fermented hot chilli paste known as gochujang, then you’re going to love this Korean fried chicken recipe.
If you’re comfortable with deep-frying, it’s also an easy Korean fried chicken to make. And if you’re making this Korean fried chicken for a party, a great trick is to do the first fry before your guests arrive and then finish the chicken off with the second fry soon before serving.
You can cook the fried chicken twice and keep the pieces warm in an oven, but I prefer to do the chicken at the last minute. I’ve got a few more tips to making this Korean fried chicken recipe below.
Tips to Making this Korean Fried Chicken Recipe and Korean Fried Chicken Sauce
I only have a few tips to making this Korean fried chicken recipe and Korean fried chicken sauce.
Korean Fried Chicken
When you’re making this Korean fried chicken, please always use a candy thermometer to keep track of the oil temperature. The “drop a piece of bread in and see if it bubbles” test is silly when thermometers are so inexpensive these days.
As always with deep frying, it’s safety first. Have a fire extinguisher handy and wear closed shoes. Always use sturdy metal tongs, I’ve found the silicone tipped ones are not great for grabbing sizzling hot pieces of any meat.
Korean Fried Chicken Sauce
One of the key components of this Korean fried chicken recipe is the Korean fried chicken sauce. The secret to this spicy sauce is the Korean fermented hot chilli paste known as gochujang – and there is no substitute.
If you know Korean cuisine well, you’ll know that spicy stir-fried pork with gojujang is a favourite dish. Lara uses gochujang in a few of our Korean recipes on the site.
To make this Korean fried chicken sauce, we combine the gochujang with honey, fresh garlic and ginger, soy sauce (Japanese soy sauce is preferred for its depth), rice vinegar, and sesame oil.
There’s no real trick to making a Korean fried chicken sauce, as long as you break down the pieces of garlic and ginger well when blending – you don’t want someone getting a chunk of garlic with their chicken.
Some cooks heat the sauce a little to reduce it, but this is not really necessary. Once you brush it on the chicken, the consistency isn’t important as the crispy skin soaks it right up. It’s so good!
Serve this Korean fried chicken with crispy Korean coleslaw, a Korean potato salad, classic Korean cucumber salad, or Korean corn cheese. If you’re cooking up a Korean food feast for a gathering of friends, you could also serve these Korean meatballs, spicy Korean kimchi fried rice and japchae, stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables.
Korean Fried Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g chicken mini drumsticks
- Vegetable oil - for frying
Sauce
- 25 g cloves garlic - crushed
- 35 g ginger - peeled and chopped
- 3 tbsp Gojujang - Korean fermented hot chilli paste
- 3 tbsp soy sauce - Japanese preferred
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp honey
For the Chicken
- ¼ cup plain flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
Garnish
- 1 tbsp chives - chopped finely
Instructions
- Add all the sauce ingredient to a food processor. Pulse until the sauce is smooth. Put the sauce into a bowl.
- Pour enough oil into a large pot (or deep fryer) to cover the chicken pieces and heat to 175˚C (350˚F).
- Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, garlic and onion powder in a bowl. Add the chicken pieces and coat well so the flour mixture firmly sticks to the chicken pieces.
- Fry the chicken in batches to not crowd the pot. They should be golden after 6-8 minutes. Remove, drain and allow to cool.
- Reheat the oil to 180°C (355°F) and refry until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes. Drain again and quickly coat the chicken with the sauce, either by tossing in a large bowl or brushing with a pastry brush. Garnish and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Please do let us know if you make our Korean fried chicken recipe, as we’d love to know how it turns out for you.
