- Dairy free
- Egg free
- Lactose free
- Nut free
- Peanut free
- Shellfish free
- Seafood free
- High in protein
You won’t be able to resist this deliciously sticky, spicy and crunchy Korean fried chicken with gochujang sauce. It’s the ultimate crowd pleaser.
- Serves4
- Cook time10 minutes
- Prep time10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbs Chinese rice wine or rice wine vinegar
- 1 pkt (approx. 800g) Coles RSPCA Approved Chicken Wing Nibbles
- 2/3 cup (100g) cornflour
- Vegetable oil, to deep-fry
- 2 tbs hot chilli sauce or gochujang sauce
- 1/4 cup (60ml) honey
- 1/3 cup (75g) brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) salt reduced soy sauce
- 2 tbs Chinese rice wine or rice wine vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp ginger paste, extra
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- Toasted sesame seeds, to serve
- Spring onion curls, to serve
- Sliced cucumber and red chilli, to serve
Nutritional information
Check ingredient labels to make sure they meet your specific dietary requirements and always consult a health professional before changing your diet. View dietary information here.
Percentage Daily Intake information on our recipes is calculated using the nutrition reference values for an average Australian adult.
Method
Step 1
Combine the salt, black pepper, ginger, garlic powder, rice wine and chicken in a large bowl. Place the cornflour in a large bowl. Toss chicken pieces, one at a time, in cornflour, shake off excess and place in a single layer on a baking tray or plate.
Step 2
Heat enough vegetable oil to come 5cm up the side of a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Deep-fry chicken, in three batches, for 4 mins or until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel. Return chicken to hot oil, in batches, and cook for 3 mins or until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.
Step 3
Meanwhile, combine the chilli sauce, honey, sugar, soy sauce, wine, garlic, ginger and sesame oil in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 mins or until sauce thickens slightly.
Step 4
In a large heatproof bowl, toss chicken with sauce to combine. Transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with sesame seeds and spring onion curls. Serve with sliced cucumber sprinkled with chopped red chilli.
Recipe tip
COOK. STORE. SAVE.
Use it up: Gochujang sauce can be stored in the fridge and used in a number of Korean-style dishes, including kimchi fried rice, tofu stew and bibimbap.
Why Korean fried chicken tastes so good
Walk down any major street in Seoul and you’re bound to find a restaurant serving Korean fried chicken. This Korean food staple features crispy, deep-fried chicken pieces coated in a sweet, sticky and sometimes spicy sauce. It’s best eaten with your hands and served with daikon pickles and an ice-cold beer. What sets Korean fried chicken recipes apart is how the chicken is fried twice to achieve a deliciously crunchy layer and the glossy gochujang sauce brimming with flavour.
Where was Korean chicken invented?
Did you know that Korean fried chicken came about thanks to the U.S. military during the Korean War? The American troops stationed in Korea in the late 1940s didn’t have turkey to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, so instead they fried chicken.
How to make Korean fried chicken
When it comes to the cut of chicken for the best Korean fried chicken recipe, use chicken wing nibbles. They’re essentially chicken wings that have been cut to form three distinct pieces: the drumette, the flat (or wingette) and the tip of the wing, which is discarded. The drumette and the flat is what is used in this recipe. For best results cooking fried chicken Korean-style and ensure it is crispy:
Be sure to season your chicken well to impart as much flavour as possible.
You’ll know the oil is ready when you place a chopstick directly into the oil and small bubbles begin to appear.
Deep fry the chicken in three batches so you’re not overcrowding the pan and dropping the temperature of the oil, which can result in greasy chicken.
What is gochujang sauce made of?
In our Korean fried chicken recipe, gochujang sauce is responsible for that finger-looking goodness! The sticky, sweet, spicy gochujang (a fermented Korean chilli paste) sauce that coats each wingette helps to make this the best Korean fried chicken recipe. Don’t have gochujang? An alternative ingredient you can swap it for is hot chilli sauce.
How to serve spicy Korean fried chicken
Crispy Korean fried chicken is the perfect dish to enjoy at any occasion. Take it to the park for a picnic, eat it on the couch in front of the TV for movie night, serve it as a starter entertaining friends for the ultimate party feed or feed your family at your next barbecue. For a casual weeknight meal, plate it alongside steamed white rice and a simple side salad or slaw.
Love this Korean crispy fried chicken recipe?
Now that you’ve mastered Korean spicy fried chicken, try your hand at other styles, including southern fried chicken with slaw and corn, Curtis Stone’s ‘fried’ chicken with iceberg wedge salad or Japanese karaage chicken.
