Korean style fried chicken

By MooK

Ingredients

• For the marinade:
• 8 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into chunks
• 4 chicken drumsticks, skinless
• 1 medium onion, grated
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
• Ingredients for the batter:
• 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup of cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup of ice cold water
• Ingredients for the sauce:
• 6 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp Korean chili flakes
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 green onion, chopped

Preparation

Step 1

Start by getting your marinade together. When grating the onion, you will get some of the moisture from the onion which will help marinate the chicken. Place everything in a sealable plastic bag, give a good mix, and let marinate for at least 4 hours, if not, overnight.

You can make the sauce ahead of time if you want. Add everything to a saucepan and cook on medium low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring along the way. Remove from the heat, let cool.

When you are about ready to fry the chicken, take the chicken out of the refrigerator, and let it come to room temperature. You can do this while bringing some oil in a pot up to temperature. Add enough canola oil in a pot, about 3 inches deep. Bring this up to 350 degrees. This will take about 20 minutes to heat up, depending on your stove.

Make your batter. Mix your everything but the ice cold water in a mixing bowl. Slowly begin powering in the water, and whisking along the way. You will basically end up with a fairly thick batter. Just make sure it is nice an smooth and no lumps remain.

When the oil is heated, pour off any access liquid from the marinade into the sink and discard. Take a few pieces of the chicken out, and dip them into the batter, making sure to thoroughly coat each piece. Gently lay them into the oil, slowly, then let them submerge. Cook these for about 8 minutes, or until a nice golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon, or spider if you have one, and place them on some paper to soak up any access oil.

Repeat until all of the chicken is cooked.

Once all of your chicken is cooked, bring the oil up to 375 degrees. Take half of the cooked chicken and place it back into the oil. This is the double fry technique and allows for a nice and crispy exterior. Cook for 2 minutes, remove with your slotted spoon, gently shaking off any access oil, and place into a large bowl. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

Now you have some options here, especially if you have kids around. You can take the chicken as is, and plate and serve to the kids, or you can take your sauce, pour it over the hot chicken, and toss to coat.

Now you are ready to plate. Add the nice and crispy Korean fried chicken onto your serving plate. Shower them with some of the green onions, and serve with some nice spicy kimchi.