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Best Korean Fried Chicken Recipe (Yangnyeom Dak)

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Korean fried chicken

Some people comically call Korean fried chicken “the other KFC” but Colonel Sanders would not recognize these super crispy pieces of deep fried wonders coated in spicy-sweet-tangy-sesame-seed-inflected-goopy sauce. I’ve been hooked on perfecting this chicken dish over the past two months, making it eight (8) times altogether. (I had to pace myself in between attempts, or I’d become as big as a house!)

The source of my obsession? I first tasted Korean fried chicken in 2006 but recently focused on coming up with an excellent rendition because frankly, I was trying to use up a big tub of Korean chile paste (gojuchang) that I’d purchased during a Korean market tour with some friends. I’d made Korean-Vietnamese grilled pork belly and lettuce wraps with the chile paste multiple times but those meals barely put a dent in the kilo of gojuchang in my fridge. Don’t get me wrong because I love the stuff and just don’t want to let it go to waste.

Seeking Help
Paging through Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee’s new cookbook, Quick and Easy Korean Cooking, I spotted a Korean fried chicken recipe (titled “Seasoned Fried Chicken”). I adore fried chicken and noticed that the recipe called for a good 3 tablespoons of the chile paste. I tried Cecilia’s recipe out, and her onion and garlic marinade was nice and so was the chile sauce, which I doubled because it was addictively good. The batter, however, didn’t produce the extra crisp coating that’s characteristic of Korean fried chicken. You need that coating for the chicken to stand up to the thickish weight of the sauce.

At a Korean dinner party, I asked everyone to contribute their insights. Linda Lim, the hostess, said that Korean fried chicken is a typical bar snack, served with cubes of tangy Korean radish and lots of soju and/or beer. Korean food expert Hyunjoo Albrecht suggested double frying to get the crispiest coating. Sylvia Lee, a second-generation Korean-American, called up her mom, Mrs. Jo Lee, in Chicago and got their family’s recipe, which Sylvia claimed made fabulous Korean fried chicken.

Korean-African-American-Southeast-Asian Twist
Mrs. Lee’s chicken employed soaking the chicken wings in milk, a technique that she picked up from African-American colleagues at the hospital where she worked. For her chile sauce, Mrs. Lee surprisingly didn’t use the gojuchang chile paste, but instead created a fresh sauce from raw chiles, ginger, garlic, and Korean barley malt syrup, which thickened the sauce; her sauce was akin to a Southeast Asian sambal and proved to be a tasty alternative for people without  access to Korean chile paste. Additionally, Mrs. Lee coated the chicken in a special Korean fry batter coating mix before frying it – kind of like traditional American fried chicken. Her Korean-African-American-Southeast-Asian approach put a smile on my face because it reflected the culinary ingenuity of immigrant cooks in America and the chicken was finger licking good. 

The Korean fried chicken recipe below combines all the Korean-American wisdom that I’ve gathered over the past months to produce a crisp-tender crust on the chicken and nicely nuanced sauce that’s neither cloyingly sweet nor overly spicy. I’ve dissected and mimicked the Korean fry batter mix that Mrs. Lee uses and turned it into a batter. As for the chile sauce, both versions are below for your choosing. Either way, you’ll enjoy the results.

Korean Fried Chicken
Yangnyeom Dak

I like to use bone-in thighs for this recipe as they’ve got extra flavor. If you choose to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs, you’ll need about 2 pounds for this recipe, which would then be enough for 6 people. Korean malt barley syrup and chile paste are available mostly at Korean markets. Siempo brand of Korean chile paste is my preferred brand; to help you find teh paste, check out the photo of the Siempo label in this page (scroll down the page).

Serves 4

8 chicken thighs
1 yellow onion, grated (use largest hole on the grater)
2 cloves garlic, minced and crushed into a paste
Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Batter:
1/2 cup all-purpose bleached or unbleached flour
2/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 cup cold water (ice it before measuring)

Chile sauce option 1:
6 tablespoons Korean chile paste (gojuchang)
6 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup toasted white (hulled) sesame seeds
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Chile sauce option 2:
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
3 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
6 large red chiles, such as Fresno or Holland, seeded and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 to 4 tablespoons light (regular) soy sauce
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons Korean barley malt syrup (mool yut) or light corn syrup
Water

1. Remove the skin from each chicken thigh, then trim off some of the excess fat. Use a cleaver to whack each thigh in half. To do so, lay each thigh flatter side facing up and bone parallel to your cutting board. Visualize a vertical line in the middle and then go for it! Set aside.

Cutting up chicken thighs for Korean fried chicken

2. Combine the grated onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in bowl. Add the chicken and coat well. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to marinate at room temperature for 1 hours, or refrigerate overnight, letting the chicken sit out for 30 minutes to remove the chill before frying. 

3. For the batter, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, pepper, and sugar in a bowl. Make a well in the center and whisk in the water to create a thick, smooth batter. Stop whisking as soon as the ingredients have come together. It will seem somewhat gluey. Set aside.

4. Make the chile sauce of your choice. For option 1, in a large bowl, stir together the Korean chile paste, ketchup, sugar, sesame seeds, and lemon juice. Taste and adjust the flavors as needed to arrive at a spicy-sweet-tangy finish. Set aside.

For chile sauce option 2, combine the garlic, ginger, and chiles in a mini-food processor and chop to a fine texture. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and fry the chile mixture for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the sugar, soy sauce, and barley malt syrup (or corn syrup) and cook for about 30 seconds to combine and slightly thicken. Remove from the heat and set aside.

5. Pour the oil into a 5-quart Dutch oven to a depth of 1 1/2 inches. Heat over high heat to 350F degrees; stick a dry chopstick in and bubbles should immediately rise to the top and surround the chopstick. Meanwhile, pour off the liquid that has accumulated in the bowl of marinated chicken. Set the chicken, batter, and a platter lined with a triple layer of paper towels near the stove.

Fry the chicken in batches of about 6 pieces at a time. Using chopsticks or two forks, dip each piece of chicken in the batter, pausing above the batter to let excess batter drip back down. Gently drop the chicken into the oil and fry for 5 to 7 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown and crisp. Drain on the paper towel-lined platter. Repeat with the remaining chicken, adjusting the oil temperature between batches.

The crispy coating softens a touch during cooling so when all the pieces are done, increase the oil temperature to 375F and refry the chicken in batches for 30 to 60 seconds, until super crisp. Drain once more on the paper towel.

6. Now coat the chicken in the sauce. If you’re using sauce option 1, working in batches of about 4 pieces at a time. Put the chicken pieces in the bowl and use a rubber spatula to coat them in sauce. Transfer to a serving plate before coating more chicken. 

If you’ve made Mrs. Lee’s sauce, reheat the sauce over medium heat until it is liquid again, adding some water to facilitate things if the mixture has thickened too much as it sat. Then add the chicken, about 6 pieces at a time and turn gently with a rubber spatula to coat. Transfer to a platter. Regardless of sauce choice, serve immediately.

Note: Chile sauce option 1 was adapted from Quick and Easy Korean Cooking by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee. Chile sauce option 2 was adapted adapted from recipe by Mrs. Jo Lee of Chicago, IL.

Wine Paring Tip from Roberto Rogness of WineExpo.com:
Try the chicken with some good dry but spicy Rosé / Rosado / Rosato (sparkling even) and achieve enlightenment directly.

Have any personal twists or insights on Korean fried chicken? Got a favorite place to go for the other KFC and a drink? Feel free to weigh in!




Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. hi andrea! last night, i was at david chang’s momofuku ko for his scrumptious pre-fixe dinner. well i was in the bathroom and couldnt help but notice his collection of books in the bathroom… im happy to report YOUR book was in there and perhaps could have explained some of the vietnamese influences i tasted in his courses during the evening.

    Reply

  6. Gastronomer — I’ve been wanting to hear from someone about Kyochon. Thanks for the report. Yep, 8 times. I worked out a lot in between tries. Actually, it’s pretty clean frying.
    Tina — I am VERY VERY flattered that my book is at Momofuku Ko. You lucky gal, to get a reservation for a Sunday night! Having my book in his resto’s bathroom may be the closes that I’ll ever get to dining at Ko. I’ve been to Saam and Noodle bar and those spots never fail the pate.
    Anh — my pleasure.

    Reply

  7. This sounds like something I’ll have to try once I’m over this cold/flu/whatever it is!
    I really do love the posts and recipes you share with us. Thank you 🙂

    Reply

  10. Thanks for the link, Anh. I’m curious about how the curry batter added to the other bold-flavored ingredients. There’s a lot going on in that particular recipe. Do let me know.

    Reply

  11. Wow! I’ve been dying to try KFC for years, and now you’ve given me the perfect excuse. Plus I’ve been trying to come up with a reason to visit the Korean markets near my home in Mexico City. (My first question when I walk in will be, “Tienen mool yut?”) Thank you!

    Reply

  13. oooohhhhh.
    A Korean place near where I live makes a super-crusty version – as far as I can tell, I think they dip the chicken in batter, then press on a thick coating of cake flour, so it fries up into a flaky and crunchy crust that doesn’t sog out when the sauce goes on.
    When I make this at home I use gochujang, soy sauce, crushed garlic, mirin, honey and lemon juice for the sauce.

    Reply

  14. This is the reipie that I use:
    Ingredients:
    Wings
    Milk
    Sea Salt and White Pepper
    Corn Starch
    Oil
    2 tbsp onion, finely diced
    1 tsp ginger
    For Sauce:
    2 tbsp Hot Pepper Paste (Kochujan)
    2 tbsp Ketchup
    1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
    1 tbsp soy sauce
    1 tbsp sugar
    1 tbsp garlic
    ½ tbsp Korean red pepper (Kochukaru)
    ½ Korean green hot pepper finely diced
    ½ tbsp sesame oil
    1 green onion
    Sesame seeds for garnish
    Soak wings in milk for ½ hour.
    Mix Sauce.
    Drain wings then season with salt and white pepper.
    Coat with corn starch, shake off excess.
    Fry until the wings in two steps. Fry until they just start to turn brown let them cool on a rack. Then put back in hot oil until golden brown.
    Sauté onion and ginger until tender then add sauce cook until it starts to get thick. Add fried wings and coat with sauce.
    This turned out very good but spicy! To turn down the heat use less Kochukaru and use 1 tbsp Kochujan and 3 tbsp Ketchup

    Reply

  15. James — what a great recipe! Thanks for contributing your ‘secrets.’ So you soak in milk — just regular milk or buttermilk. May I ask why or where you picked that up from? That’s such an interesting practice! I thought that Mrs. Lee of Chicago was alone in following that method.

    Reply

  17. It is a quarter to 12noon in Cebu City, Philippines and I am dying to try this dish! Thank you so much for sharing all this information. You have a really interesting blog which I will be visiting more often! thanks again:)

    Reply

  18. Andrea,
    Sorry about the delay in responding. Normally I use plain milk since that is what I have. I am a southern boy so it was normal to see chicken soaking in butter milk.
    You migh enjoy this blog post on KFC.
    http://ravenouscouple.blogspot.com/2009/09/korean-chicken-wings.html
    Here is my Garlic and Soy version
    Ingredients
    1/4 small onion
    2 garlic cloves (minced)
    1/2 cup soy sauce
    1/4 cup mirin
    2 tablespoons brown sugar
    2 tablespoons ginger
    2 dozen chicken wings
    Directions
    Make sauce with:.1/4 small onion, 2 cloves garlic (minced). 1/2 cup soy sauce. 1/4 cup mirin. 2 tablespoons brown sugar. 2 tablespoons ginger.
    Cook sauce 2 minutes.
    Dredge wings in corn starch (I might switch to Wondra Flour, see link) fry in batches until they start to brown.
    After all wings have been fried the first time fry them again until they are golden brown.
    Coat wings with sauce (reheat and strain before coating wings).

    Reply

  27. Ahhhhh……Very delicious recipe indeed…will try to have a taste.As I’m fond of collecting various kinds of fascinating recipes so I hope of getting more awesome recipes from here.

    Reply

  28. The Nuwave Pro Infrared Oven gives any cook the best and most convenient way of preparing succulent and delicious meats with a crisp, browned exterior and wonderful moist texture. You will be able to enjoy the great taste of naturally good food that has no added oil or fat.

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  31. I really love fried chicken, specially my mom’s home made recipe. I like the blend and chili powder experience. Anyway, I myself know how to cook as well. I like new things and experiments. I will try your recipe. Hope the ingredients are all available in the supermarket. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  33. jerk chicken recipe is perhaps the best known Jamaican style of cooking. Basically it is a technique for cooking meat that gives it a fiery spicy flavor that many people enjoy

    Reply

  36. Learning other ways on how we can prepare chicken meat is not only healthy but it adds interest to the meals that we prepare for family and friends. Aside from fried chicken, we can have it grilled or caked depending on our preferences. We should also try to find other interesting dishes from diners, delis and even Asian recipes like the one given above so that we can see for ourselves that there’s more to chicken than just the usual way that we are used to.

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  39. I seem to keep hearing from Koreans that one should soak chicken in milk before cooking, though the explanation I always get is that it “makes it smell less bad.”
    For a while, there was this new Korean fried chicken chain called BBQ that deep fried everything in relatively fresh olive oil, and their yangnyeom was the best — not evilly overspiced, like most in Korea these days, and not overly sweet either. But they must have changed their oil or are using it for longer, because now I can’t stand the taste of their chicken, and the yangnyeom is overspiced by my standards. So I am looking forward to trying this recipe out myself! (I might go for a little sweeter, and a little less spicy.)

    Reply

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  41. Just found this blog. And just tried the recipe. At first I thought the onion would overpower the chicken in the marinade. But the flavor was perfect! Now I’m working through your other recipes. Thanks for your work!

    Reply

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