Crispy and crunchy fried chicken (Dakgangjeong 닭강정) - AFF Korea Apr 2014

I've never tried Korean fried chicken before but I heard that it's very delicious. The chicken wings are double-fried to achieve a very crispy and crunchy texture and then coated with a spicy, sweet and sticky sauce. It sounds tantalising already!

While searching for a suitable recipe, I found 2 created by Maangchi, one version is Yangnyeom Tongdak and the other version is Dakgangjeong. I believe Yangnyeom is the more known or popular version, whereby one of the sauce used for coating is gochujang hot pepper sauce. Dakgangjeong is very similar, except that gochujang is not used. I decided to try Dakgangjeong first and went further to omit all the spice elements such as black pepper, mustard and dried red chilli peppers so that dear son can enjoy this dish as well. In fact, this dish reminds me of the Japanese fried chicken wings Tebasaki, I think methods are almost the same, probably some difference in the sauces used.

The most tedious part of the process was deep frying of the chicken wings because the wings had to be double-fried to achieve the crispiness. The first time at lower temperature and longer duration in order to cook the wings, the second time higher temperature and shorter duration. I don't like to do deep frying at home because in order to save cooking oil, I fry using a small pot and each time can only fry 3-4 pieces so this process took a long time for me :( Moreover, the whole kitchen becomes so oily and the frying pot is also difficult to wash. But this recipe is all worth the effort.

The sauce on the other hand was easy to make and very straightforward. After the chicken wings were deep fried, simply tossed together with the sauce, sprinkle with sesame seeds, viola crispy and crunchy fried chicken ready to enjoy.

It's really finger licking good, especially when still hot, very crunchy indeed and tasted sweet and savoury. The sesame seeds added a nice touch and fragrance to the wings as well. Hubby and dear son also gave thumbs up =D Next time round, I'm going to cook the Yangnyeom Tongdak (yeah, with my favourite magic gochujang hot pepper paste).

Crispy and crunchy fried chicken (Dakgangjeong 닭강정)
(recipe adapted from Maangchi)

Ingredients

Chicken wings

• 420g chicken wings (11 pieces, I used both winglet and drumlet)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ginger, grated
• Corn starch

Sauce

• 1 tsp cooking oil

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice syrup
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp sesame seed, lightly toasted

Steps

1. Separate chicken wings into winglet and drumlet. For the winglet, remove the tip portion.
2. Put the chicken wings in a bowl and season with salt and grated ginger.
3. Coat each winglet and drumlet with corn starch, pressing and squeezing to make sure the corn starch is well coated onto the winglet and drumlet. Set aside.

Make the sauce

1. Heat 1 tsp of cooking oil a non-stick pot/pan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and stir fry till fragrant.
2. Add soy sauce, rice syrup and vinegar. Stir with a wooden spoon and let it bubble for 1-2 mins.
3. Add the brown sugar and continue stirring till all sugar dissolved. Remove pot from heat. Set aside.

Fry the chicken

1. Heat cooking oil (sufficient to cover the winglet/drumlet) in a pot/wok on medium heat.
2. To check if oil is ready, dip a piece of wing into it. If the oil bubbles, it's hot enough to start frying.
3. Slide the coated winglet/drumlet one by one into the hot oil and fry for about 10-12 mins, turning over a few times with tongs.
4. Take the winglet/drumlet out of the oil and drain using strainer or kitchen towel. Let the wings sit for a few mins. Repeat process till all winglet/drumlet are fried.
5. Turn up the heat to medium high and fry the winglet/drumlet again for another 6-8 mins, or until they look golden brown and feel crunchy (press using tongs). Repeat process till all winglet/drumlet are fried second time.

Coat the fried chicken with the sauce

1. When the winglet/drumlet are done, place all of them into the pot with the sauce.
2. Toss well to make sure each piece is well coated with the sauce.
3. Transfer to serving plate and sprinkle sesame seeds generously over the winglet/drumlet. Taste best when served hot immediately. The chicken still remains crunchy after a few hours.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Korea, hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.