Marinate chicken: Place chicken pieces in a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle with pepper and salts and toss. Add buttermilk, stir, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Prepare sauce: Right before cooking the chicken, prepare the sauce. Place all of the ingredients for the sauce into a small saucepan. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer while chicken cooks.
Prepare breading: Place all of the ingredients for the breading into a medium-sized bowl and whisk together to combine thoroughly.
Cook chicken: Preheat oven to 250°F. Pour cooking oil out into a large, deep pot. Heat on moderate-high heat until oil is 350°F (175°C). Lift chicken pieces out of buttermilk allowing excess liquid to drain away. Drop into dry breading mix, dredging pieces until evenly coated. Place on a tray and repeat until all of the chicken is breaded.
Add pieces of chicken, about 10 at a time, into hot oil and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer cooked pieces to paper towel-lined tray to drain oil, then place tray in oven to keep warm. Cook remaining pieces of chicken in same fashion.
Serve: When all of the chicken is cooked, transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle sauce over chicken and toss gently until pieces are evenly coated. Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with chopped cilantro, sesame seeds and chili peppers, if using. Serve with steamed rice.
Easy Crispy Korean Chicken
Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 cups canola, peanut or vegetable oil
For the marinade:
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup of buttermilk
For the breading:
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon chili flakes
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons gochujang paste
1 tablespoon honey
4 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2-inch knob of ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons sesame oil
To serve:
chopped cilantro
bird’s eye peppers, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
Directions
Marinate chicken: Place chicken pieces in a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle with pepper and salts and toss. Add buttermilk, stir, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Prepare sauce: Right before cooking the chicken, prepare the sauce. Place all of the ingredients for the sauce into a small saucepan. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer while chicken cooks.
Prepare breading: Place all of the ingredients for the breading into a medium-sized bowl and whisk together to combine thoroughly.
Cook chicken: Preheat oven to 250°F. Pour cooking oil out into a large, deep pot. Heat on moderate-high heat until oil is 350°F (175°C). Lift chicken pieces out of buttermilk allowing excess liquid to drain away. Drop into dry breading mix, dredging pieces until evenly coated. Place on a tray and repeat until all of the chicken is breaded.
Add pieces of chicken, about 10 at a time, into hot oil and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer cooked pieces to paper towel-lined tray to drain oil, then place tray in oven to keep warm. Cook remaining pieces of chicken in same fashion.
Serve: When all of the chicken is cooked, transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle sauce over chicken and toss gently until pieces are evenly coated. Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with chopped cilantro, sesame seeds and chili peppers, if using. Serve with steamed rice.
Easy Crispy Korean Chicken
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Chunks of crispy-crunchy breaded chicken tossed in a Korean-style sauce made with pepper paste, soy, ginger, garlic and honey…
Find out why you need to make this EASY CRISPY KOREAN CHICKEN, ASAP!
Frequent visitors to WATC know I often add a suggestion for you to PIN and BOOKMARK our recipes. In this case, I think it also important to remind you to SHARE our recipe for EASY CRISPY KOREAN CHICKEN with your friends, all of them. Why? Because this is payback. A way more complicated version came to us from a friend of a friend of a friend. We then put it through some serious and concerted testing and tweaking. The end result is something we know you’ll love as much as we do.
Here’s how to make this easy and exceptionally tasty EASY CRISPY KOREAN CHICKEN:
CHICK LIST!
Both Carol and I now make this recipe often, and we’re happy to report that either skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs work. Prepping the chicken is easy; we created a marinade using buttermilk and seasoning, including garlic salt which is just the thing to give the chicken lots of flavour.
This recipe has been re-written so you can make it with minimal fuss on a short timeline. That said, we suggest marinating the chicken for an hour – use this timeframe as a minimum. Leaving the chicken to marinate for longer, even overnight, will make it exceptionally tender.
BREADING
The breading for this enhanced fried chicken recipe took some serious finagling; whew, so relieved we finally got it perfect! We discovered two important ingredients that ensure the coating cooks up extra-crispy when deep fried: let’s hear it for corn starch and baking powder.
Because the breading is made using flour, the corn starch helps absorb moisture from the marinade while also preventing the formation of gluten. The baking powder acts as a leavening agent, creating tiny bubbles when the breading hits the marinated chicken. I’m no scientist, but these things work!
FRY DAY
If you’ve ever shied away from deep-frying recipes for fear of failure, this one is about to make your day! Two things help contribute to a perfect fry; using the right oil and keeping the temperature precise. Use a flavour-neutral vegetable or canola oil, which fry clean and have a low smoke point.
In terms of that all important temperature, frying in oil that’s heated to a consistent 350°F / 175°C is your sweet spot. One other little suggestion on the fry is to not overcrowd the pot, even if it takes multiple batches to cook it all. Overcrowding the pot lowers the temperature of the oil which often results in soggy, oily chicken – no one wants that! Move the chicken pieces about in the oil so they don’t stick together or to the pot itself. Also, keeping the cooked pieces warm in the oven works like a charm in terms of maintaining crispiness.
GOCHUJANG
Tracking down GOCHUJANG PASTE for the sauce is key for this recipe. This traditional Korean ingredient is used in loads of recipes and is prized for its sweet, spicy and smoky flavour profile. Look for it at a grocery store with an extensive Asian specialty import section or check the Amazon link below to purchase.
SAUCE
Using GOCHUJANG PASTE as the base for the sauce is a solid start, but we amp up the flavour by also adding other enhancements like garlic, ginger, honey, soy and dark brown sugar. Cooking the sauce before pouring it over the fried chicken pieces is easy work; stir the ingredients together in a saucepan and cook until thickened. The sauce is easy and off-the-charts delicious!
Once the chicken is fried and the sauce is made, the final step before serving is to toss them together. The quantity of sauce to chicken is spot on, so just drizzle it over the chicken and toss lightly until each and every little nugget is evenly coated.
GARNISH
I must confess, I recently was a little surprised after visiting a Korean restaurant in the city. I ordered a dish similar to this and it came to the table in a bowl as is. This got me thinking about our own adventure with this recipe, and I figured let’s make it look as good as it tastes. Adding spicy little flecks of finely sliced bird’s eye peppers, a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds and some freshly chopped cilantro is just the thing.
SERVE
When Carol first told me about her love of Korean chicken she explained, “Plus, you just need to make white rice on the side, that’s it!” Let me echo my business partner’s words of wisdom… that really is it!
My final word on our EASY CRISPY KOREAN CHICKEN – outstanding. It is addictively tasty and I expect you’ll be as hooked on this easy recipe as we are. Don’t forget to SHARE the recipe with friends, and keep this “then I told someone” story going. Make sure to also tag us on photos when you make it using #weekendatthecottage.
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Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 cups canola, peanut or vegetable oil
For the marinade:
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup of buttermilk
For the breading:
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon chili flakes
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons gochujang paste
1 tablespoon honey
4 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2-inch knob of ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons sesame oil
To serve:
chopped cilantro
bird’s eye peppers, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
Directions
Marinate chicken: Place chicken pieces in a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle with pepper and salts and toss. Add buttermilk, stir, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Prepare sauce: Right before cooking the chicken, prepare the sauce. Place all of the ingredients for the sauce into a small saucepan. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer while chicken cooks.
Prepare breading: Place all of the ingredients for the breading into a medium-sized bowl and whisk together to combine thoroughly.
Cook chicken: Preheat oven to 250°F. Pour cooking oil out into a large, deep pot. Heat on moderate-high heat until oil is 350°F (175°C). Lift chicken pieces out of buttermilk allowing excess liquid to drain away. Drop into dry breading mix, dredging pieces until evenly coated. Place on a tray and repeat until all of the chicken is breaded.
Add pieces of chicken, about 10 at a time, into hot oil and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer cooked pieces to paper towel-lined tray to drain oil, then place tray in oven to keep warm. Cook remaining pieces of chicken in same fashion.
Serve: When all of the chicken is cooked, transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle sauce over chicken and toss gently until pieces are evenly coated. Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with chopped cilantro, sesame seeds and chili peppers, if using. Serve with steamed rice.
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