Korea Spicy Fried Chicken (Yangnyeom-tongdak 양념통닭) - AFF Korea Apr 2014

The other day I was asking hubby in the morning what he wanted for dinner. And his reply was "...the Korean fried chicken that you cooked, quite nice...". Then I recalled I was supposed to try the other spicy version, the Yangnyeom-tongdak 양념통닭!


I think this Korean spicy fried chicken is quite popular among the youngsters in Singapore now? I've heard about brands like Ne Ne Chicken, 4 Fingers Chicken, Woori Nara selling these infamous wings, whether spicy or non-spicy version. Did KFC (as in the fast food KFC not Korean Fried Chicken in short) also come out with something similar as well?

Oh well, I've not tried any of those so I can't comment on how they taste like. But I can declare for sure, this Yangnyeom-tongdak that I made was freaking delicious, literally finger-licking good! I couldn't stop raving about it to the hubby in the afternoon when I was doing a test batch. He too, said it was very good after trying it in the evening. He couldn't decide whether he liked this one better or the Dakgangjeong better. For me, this Yangnyeom-tongdak is the clear winner, because of my favourite magic sauce of the moment, Gochujang!

The chicken wings were crispy, crunchy, sticky, spicy, tangy and sweet, and the addition of chopped walnuts, almonds and sesame seeds added a nutty aroma to the wings. It's hard to describe how tasty it was, you have to try it yourself!

Basically the method of cooking is similar to Dakgangjeong, double-frying the wings to make them extra crunchy and then tossing the wings with special sauce.

Yangnyeom-tongdak used more ingredients to make the sauce and slightly more work, but the effort was totally worth it. I adapted the recipe a little, instead of strawberry jam in the original recipe, I used pomegranate molasses and yuzu jam as these are the only jam I have at home. I also used brown sugar instead of white sugar.

Go ahead, give it a try! Hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!

Korea Spicy Fried Chicken (Yangnyeom-tongdak 양념통닭)
(recipe adapted from Beyond Kimchee)

Ingredients

• 500g chicken wings (about 6-7 pieces, separate into 12-14 drumlets and winglets)
• 1/2 tbsp rice wine
• 1/4 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• Potato starch or corn starch
• Vegetable oil for frying
• Handful of chopped walnut/almond and sesame seeds, lightly toasted

Sauce

• 1/4 large onion or 1/2 small onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp Korean chilli paste Gochujang
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 3 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 tsp yuzu jam
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp rice syrup 

Steps

1. Season the chicken pieces with rice wine, ginger, salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Puree onion, garlic and ginger using blender or mortar and pestle.
3. In a saucepan, add puree and sauce ingredients, mix well.
4. Heat saucepan to medium heat, and bring the sauce to boil. Reduce to low heat and let simmer for 3-4 mins. The sauce will thicken slightly. Set aside.
5. Coat the chicken pieces with potato starch. Make sure each piece is well coated.
6. Heat oil in pot in medium heat. Once oil is hot, fry the chicken pieces until lightly golden. Remove and drain on paper towel.
7. Turn up the heat to medium high and fry the chicken pieces again for another 2-3 mins, or until they look golden brown and feel crunchy (press using tongs). Drain on paper towel.
8. Place all the chicken pieces, chopped nuts and sesame seeds in the pot of sauce and toss well to coat evenly.
9. Best serve hot.

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