Korean Fried Chicken Wing

Pinterent    Oktober 16, 2023    Comment   

I know you’re reading this because you love Korean fried chicken! It’s such a culinary pleasure to bite through the well-seasoned, crunchy crust that reveals juicy chicken underneath. This Korean fried chicken recipe will give you that thin, crispy and crunchy crust along with two delicious sauce options — soy garlic and red spicy sauce!

Also known as “the other KFC, ” Korean fried chicken is highly popular in and outside of Korea. Over the last three or four decades, the Korean fried chicken industry has grown exponentially. There are fast food fried chicken chains and mom-and-pop places in uncountable numbers, each with their own techniques, secret ingredients and variations.

Among many delicious variations of fried chicken in Korea, yangnyeom chicken is one of the most popular ones. Literally meaning “seasoned chicken, ” yangnyeom chicken is fried chicken smothered in a spicy red sauce. The ingredients used in yangnyeom sauce vary widely, including gochujang, ketchup, hot sauce, strawberry jam, etc. It started out being thick and heavy, but the current trend is a thinner, lighter sauce.

Korean Fried Chicken Recipe & Video

In Korea, Gyochon Chicken is the biggest fried chicken chain, while Bonchon is the best known Korean fried chicken chain in the U.S. Both are famous for their thin, crackly crust and two types of glazes — soy garlic and red spicy.

As I mentioned in my dakgangjeong recipe, another popular type, fried chicken is often enjoyed with beer, and that combination is called ChiMaek (치맥), chi from chicken (치킨) and maek from maekju (맥주, the Korean word for beer). It’s a relatively new term that reflects the casual dining and drinking culture.

For this recipe, I used chicken wings, separated into drumettes and wingettes/flats, but any small cut(s) of chicken works. In Korea, it’s common to cut up a small sized whole chicken for frying.

Korean Fried Chicken Wings Crispiest Chicken Wings

It’s common in Korea to brine the chicken in a flavorful solution for a day or two. I simply season the chicken with a little bit of salt, pepper and ginger. For best results, let it sit for 2 hours or longer (overnight to 24 hours) in the fridge.

Dry or wet batter? In my old recipe, I simply used potato starch (or cornstarch). It’s a simple way to create a thin, crispy and crunchy crust. You can still do that if you like, using 1/2 cup cornstarch or potato starch and rubbing it well on to each chicken piece. It’s a gluten free option. I included this as Batter option 1 in the recipe card.

However, in Korea, fried chicken is more commonly made with wet batter. Some people simply use frying mix (aka tempura mix) to make wet batter, and there’s even frying mix specifically made for chicken. Some use a combination of frying mix and starch to add extra crunch. Frying mix usually is seasoned and contains baking powder, so you can create it with all-purpose flour if you don’t have frying mix. I’ll add a note in the recipe card as to how you can modify all-purpose flour for this recipe.

Baked Korean Chicken Wings (how To Make Ahead, Freeze, Tips, Tricks)

I’ve experimented with different ratios and settled with a 2 to 1 ratio of frying mix to starch, which is 1/2 cup frying mix and 1/4 cup potato starch (or cornstarch) for this recipe.

These dry ingredients mixed with the equal amount of water (3/4 cup) creates a delicately thin crust that’s deeper in color but lighter in texture than that of starch alone. You can use a little more water for a thinner crust. Likewise, use less water for a thicker crust. To create a thin crust, I don’t dredge the chicken in the dry mix before or after dipping in the wet batter.

The crust stands up very well to the sauce. Better yet, the chicken stays crunchy for several hours even after coated with the sauce. Also, since the crust is lightly seasoned from the frying mix, the fried chicken is delicious as is without the sauce.

Korean Bbq Wings (instant Pot + Oven Baked Instructions)

To deep-fry wings, the Korean technique usually calls for frying them at a relatively low temperature (320-330°F) and then fry them again at a higher temperature (350-360°F). Let the chicken cool down for a few minutes in between, so the remaining moisture escapes. The first frying can be done ahead of time. Fry the chicken in two batches for the first frying, but you can fry them all together for the second frying.

Korean fried chicken largely comes in two different types of sauces – mild soy garlic and red spicy, although they are called differently in some cases. You can choose one or make both to have ban/ban (half/half).

You can either toss the fried chicken pieces in the sauce or hand-brush them. The latter is what famous chicken places boast about doing in order to keep the crust crunchy longer. With the brushing method, you can also adjust the amount of the sauce on each piece to your liking.

Crispy Oven Baked Korean Chicken Wings

This sweet and spicy red sauce is slightly thinner and lighter than my original yangnyeom chicken sauce if you tried it. It’s not too spicy, but you can always adjust to your taste. I use gochujang along with some hot sauce for its unique tangy flavor and heat. If you don’t want to add any extra heat, use ketchup instead of hot sauce. If you’re not using a hot sauce, add some vinegar (rice, white, or apple cider).

For the sweetness, I use a combination of honey and sugar. You can use corn syrup or oligo syrup instead. Garlic is a must, but some ginger is good too if you like.

This soy sauce based sauce is great especially for those who are not a fan of spicy food. Soy sauce, honey and garlic are the prominent ingredients for this sauce that creates the crispy candid exterior when glazed on the chicken.

Crispy Korean Fried Chicken

Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and then the onion, garlic, and ginger. Stir for a minute until fragrant. Add all other sauce ingredients, and stir well. Simmer until it thickens slightly, about 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the heat off. The sauce will get slightly thicker as it cools down.

If you want to make the red spicy sauce even more spicy, add 1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) of gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes) or drop in a couple of small dried red chili peppers.

The original Yangnyeom Chicken recipe was posted in Feb 2015. I’ve make significant revisions to update the recipe with different batter and sauce options.What could be tastier than these Korean Fried Chicken Wings. Crunchy, fried chicken wings, coated in a sticky, spicy and sweet gochujang sauce. For totally addictive finger food, these wings are always a winner. 

Korean Air Fryer Chicken Wings

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These Korean Fried Chicken Wings are the perfect crunchy fried chicken wing coated in a tasty, sweet, sticky and spicy Korean sauce and they’re lip-smackingly good. This post will give you all the tips you need to make them simple and delicious.

Love Asian flavours as much as I do? Try these pork gyoza and these sesame prawn toast for more Asian finger food / party food ideas too.

Sweet And Crispy Korean Fried Chicken (dakgangjeong)

Similar to American fried chicken, Korean fried chicken is chicken fried in a crunchy coating, then smothered in a sticky, sweet and spicy sauce. The spicy sauce is made use a Korean chilli paste called gochujang which is flavourful in addition to it’s spiciness.

Just like my Japanese karaage chicken, Korean fried chicken wings are twice-fried. Once to seal and get the outside starting to crisp, then a second time at a higher temperature to get them ultra-crunchy.

The coating is a simple mixture of cornflour (aka cornstarch), salt and baking soda – the baking soda reacts with the moisture in the chicken to blister and get super crispy. If you like a chunkier batter, you can use half plain (all-purpose) flour and half cornflour.

Baked Korean Chicken Wings

There are a number of slight variations of the sauce for Korean fried chicken and after loads of testing this is my favourite. One thing they all must have is gochujang – a spicy Korean chilli paste and the same one I use in my Spicy Korean Chicken Tacos.

These crunchy, sweet and spicy wings are wonderful served as an appetiser or game day food. They don’t require a dipping sauce due to the sticky sauce they’re generously doused in but some of the leftover sauce works well or you could try this gochujang mayo for even more spice.

As a full meal, I serve them with simple steamed rice and sliced cucumber. Though the spiciness in the sauce is adjustable, cucumber and rice are a great way to cool things down if you find them spicy.

Korean Chicken Wings

Those with bones in will have more flavour but will take longer to cook. Those pieces with skin will be more flavourful too. Boneless pieces like chicken tenders work well but be careful not to overcook them. Frying times will vary depending on the cut you choose.

The first fry