Korean Style Fried Chicken Wings

Over the last two years Korean food, specifically Korean street food has really moved up on my culinary hit list. I am fascinated by use of traditional Asian flavors with addition of western influences, like deep frying, and willingness to put cheese and corn on pretty much anything. I also adore the insane amount of heat and spice that is packed into simple and accessible Korean dishes like Samyang’s hot chicken flavor instant ramyeon noodles. One of my all time favorites however, is Korean fried chicken- some of the crispiest, juiciest, fried chicken in the world. Here’s my take on a version of Korean fried chicken using a handful of ingredients that are pretty readily available at any Asian market, or can be found easily and ordered online.

ReebzKitchen Korean Fried Chicken

Start with these ingredients as a guideline.

You know by now I rarely use measurements and always encourage you to add or remove items to make this recipe your own. This is just a rough guide.

• Any cut of chicken (I used wings)

• garlic

• miso paste

• gojuchang

• good soy sauce

• siracha

• a pinch of sugar

Marinade:

Finely chop or use a garlic press to mince a desired amount of garlic. I made a dozen wings, and used about 8 pieces of minced garlic in this recipe. I added about 2 tablespoons of miso paste, I like Marukome Boy brand Koshi miso, it’s rich and flavored with dashi but not overpowering, a very balanced miso. Add an equal amount of gojuchang (korean condensed chili paste - note gojuchang is not very spicy at all on it’s own, commonly referred to as “Korean ketchup, it’s mild in spice but packs a delicious chili flavor) about 4 -6 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1/4 cup water with a teaspoon of dissolved sugar, a few squirts of siracha for a desired amount of heat, and the secret ingredient: a shot of vodka. You don’t want this marinade too runny, it should be looser than a paste, but not much.

Why add vodka?

I’ve learned that in a lot of asian protein cooking there is an addition of some kind of alcohol used when marinating before cooking. Vodka happened to be what I had on hand at the time, but soju or sake, even white wine, any neutral spirit would work. When you deep marinade protein for 24-48 hours and use alcohol in the marinade it helps to start breaking down the cellular structure in the protein. The alcohol will cook off with the heat but because of the break down that occurs in the marinating process this technique will leave your meat extra tender and juicy. Do this with steak and pork in addition to poultry for a better mouth feel with the meat.

I marinated these wings for 24 hours, rotating them ever 6 hours or so.

Select the right starch for the batter

I’ve found the a lot of asian deep frying cooking applications use a very fine starch for the batter. Since the chicken was already wet from the marinade I didn’t bother with an egg wash, simply rolled the wings in potato starch. Corn starch or tapioca starch are good alternatives if you can’t find potato starch, but the reason I like using potato is because when it fries you get a slight potato chip flavor in the crunchy breading exterior. These wings were breaded extra heavy, I dipped them in the marinade and starch twice, which is why it was so thick. Once is enough but I wanted to ensure an extra crunchy exterior. You will want to knock off as much loose starch as you can before dropping them in the oil.

Frying

I used canola oil in my stovetop dutch oven this time, but sunflower oil, peanut oil, or corn oil, anything with a fairly high smoke point will work. Make sure your oil gets up to 375º F before dropping the chicken. I had enough room to get a dozen wings done in two batches, and because wings are a small cut of the bird, they only needed to be in the oil for 3-4 min. Cook time may vary depending on which part of the bird you use. They will be floating and golden brown when done. Fish them out and let dry on a drying rack so air can get underneath as well, and to avoid a soggy bottom side.. Don’t worry, the cooking heat gets locked in. The chicken will still be very hot even after sitting out for 10 min before serving.

Have a good dipping sauce

These wings are already packed with flavor from a day in the marinade. You could argue that a dipping sauce isn’t necessary, but who doesn’t love dipping their fried chicken? Isn’t that part of the experience? The options are endless, a sweet and sour sauce or a sweet chili sauce would be delicious. Something briny like a black vinegar with some ginger sliced in would be great, or even a simple soy sauce. Ranch, although not my first choice, would probably be good against the heat if you used a little extra siracha in the marinade. But be creative here, a chance to really kick it up.

I didn’t make a sauce this time because I was lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle of Bull-Dog. This worcestershire sauce may be the best on the market. I know that’s a controversial statement after blogging about the importance of Lea and Perrins Worcester Sauce, but I will totally deflect by simply mentioning just because something is the “standard”, does not mean its the “best”. If you can find yourself some Bull-Dog it is worth every penny of the marked up import tax price, and you will NOT be disappointed.

Insanely crispy, tender and juicy Korean chicken

This simple method with a billion different flavor adjustment options will be sure to impress your friends. The methods are easy and take minimum work on the front end preparation. Combine a bunch of ingredients in a bowl or ziplock bag and let rest in the refrigerator for a day. They were almost too crispy, I will caution that next time I make this I will only batter the wings once, but they were full of flavor and a big hit.

Enjoy, and let me know how they come out in the comments!
#ReebzKitchen!