Korean Fried Chicken Recipe

Servings: 6

When John and I are in New York, shopping at the H Mart in our neighborhood is a huge fun outing. We shop for all our favorite Asian ingredients to cook with at home and BONUS we get their Korean spicy-sweet fried chicken while we’re there. When we are in Upstate or Italy, H Mart is not an option, so I came up with a mash up after studying up on this delicious dish!

DOUBLE BONUS: I studied up on pickles, too! I love to serve pickles and sliced bread or sweet rolls with any type of fried chicken dinner. The pickles taste even better when they’re made ahead of time and can be stored in the fridge for weeks in airtight containers. I usually get store bought kimchi to serve along with the pickles but I also have a kimchi pot. In the summer I will make my own kimchi and leave it to ferment in the sun, but I gotta say, buying it is easier!

Recipe featured on Rachael Ray's Meals in Minutes.

Ingredients

For the Chicken and Marinade:

3 pounds of bone in skin on white and dark meat chicken cut into similar sized pieces
Salt and pepper
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
1 ½ inches of ginger, grated
4 cloves of garlic, crushed

For The Sauce:

½ cup tomato ketchup or tomato sauce
⅓ cup gochujang
¼ cup honey or light agave
¼ cup pourable light brown sugar
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, grated
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

For The Cucumber Pickles:

2 cups water
¾ cup cider vinegar or white vinegar
2 inches ginger root, sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons kosher salt for brine, plus more to sprinkle on cucumbers
Juice of 1 small lemon
2 pounds Persian or seedless cucumbers, sliced ¼ inch thick

For The Pickled Daikon:

1 ½ cups water
½ cup white vinegar or cider vinegar
½ cup sugar
2 T salt
1 large daikon, peeled and diced

Directions

For The Chicken and Marinade:

Pat chicken completely dry and season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl or zip top bag, add the chicken and remaining ingredients and mix to thoroughly coat the chicken. Let marinate for 1 hour.

For The Sauce:

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Simmer sauce to combine flavors and slightly thicken, cover to keep warm and hold until chicken has been fried.

To Fry The Chicken and To Serve:

1 ½ cups cornstarch or potato starch for dredging

Neutral Oil for frying, like soy oil
Kimchi, to serve

Pickled cucumbers and daikon, to serve

Sweet rolls, to serve, for this recipe I like to use King's Hawaiian Jalapeno Rolls

Add 4 inches of oil to a deep, large frying pot. Heat oil to 350 F (175 C). Preheat the oven to 300 F.

Add cornstarch or potato starch to a large bowl. Toss chicken in starch and fry in batches and stages: fry 5 minutes then drain on a rack, return to temperature of the oil back to 350 and fry for a second time for about 3-4 minutes more.

Toss chicken and sauce together in a large bowl to coat completely. Transfer fried and sauced chicken to a drying rack set inside a sheet tray and keep warm in the oven while you fry the chicken in batches.

Serve with kimchi, pickles and sweet rolls!

For The Cucumber Pickles:

Combine water, vinegar, ginger, garlic and salt in a small saucepan. Dissolve the brine ingredients over medium heat. Add lemon juice off of the heat and chill.

Salt cucumbers and drain for 30 minutes, rinse and place in an airtight container, cover with chilled brine and let stand at room temp 3-4 hours. Serve alongside Korean Fried Chicken.

For The Pickled Daikon:

Combine water, vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and heat over medium to dissolve the brine. Fill a deli container or other airtight container with the diced daikon and cover with brine. Chill overnight and bring to room temperature, serve alongside Korean Fried Chicken.