Korean Fried Chicken (치킨)

• servings: 3-4
• active time: 45 minutes
• total time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients

Chicken Marinade:

2 lbs boneless chicken thighs, cut into desired piece size (or do ~3 lbs for bone-in wings)

1½ tsp salt

1 tsp ginger, grated

Pinch black pepper

Wet Batter

¾ cup water

½ cup all purpose flour

¼ cup potato starch (or cornstarch)

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp garlic / onion powder

¼ tsp salt

High heat frying oil (canola, avocado, vegetable)

Directions

Combine all of the chicken marinade ingredients in a bag or container. Seal and put it in the fridge to marinade for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.

When you’re ready to fry, combine the wet batter ingredients in a large bowl and whisk well until it’s smooth with no visible lumps. Set up your frying station to have easy access to both the batter and the marinated chicken.

For the first fry, heat enough high heat oil in a deep pot to 320 F (go a little above since adding the chicken will drop the temp). Once the oil is up to temperature, dip each piece of chicken into the wet batter with tongs and shake off the excess, then drop it in the oil. Fry in batches so as to not overcrowd until the pieces are lightly golden, about 6 minutes, depending on the size of your pieces. Remove them from the oil and allow them to drain on a wire rack to remove excess oil.

Once everything has gone through the first fry, increase the oil temperature to 360 F. Once the oil is up to temperature, add in all of your previously fried chicken and cook until the pieces are all golden brown, about 5 minutes. You can also do this in batches if your setup doesn’t allow them to all be fried at once.

Drain on a wire rack to remove excess oil, then toss with the sauce of your choice while they’re still hot. For dry seasoning, place all the chicken in a large bowl just after frying, add the seasoning, then toss while still a little oily, then you can drain.

Notes

An incredibly satisfying and crave-worthy dish that combines aspects of Korean and American cooking. It’s evolved into much more of a Korean-specific thing in the late 20th century, and is commonly served alongside drinks in a pairing called “chimaek” (치맥, lit. “chicken & beer”). This variation of fried chicken uses a wet batter made with potato starch, flour, seasonings, and baking powder. The chicken is fried twice to get an extra crispy coating. This is just a recipe for the chicken itself, which isn’t that strongly flavored by itself. If you’re serving this by itself, add some more seasonings and serve with fresh lemon, otherwise serve with the sauce of your choice. Typical choices in Korea are yangnyeom (red spicy), dakgangjeong (sweet & spicy), or garlic soy.