Korean Fried Chicken – My Favorite!
I am partial to fried chicken, all kinds of fried chicken. There is nothing not to love about chicken coated in a crispy, crunchy batter and deep-fried to golden perfection. Every bite is bursting with the natural and juicy flavor of chicken!
While I love American-style fried chicken, my true love is Asian fried chicken such as this spicy, savory, and absolutely finger-lickin’ good crispy Korean style fried chicken doused in the classic Korean red pepper paste “gochujang.”
Authentic Korean Fried Chicken Recipe
To make sure that my recipe is spot on, I researched and tried so many of them at Korean restaurants. I then developed the best recipe to share with you!
Trust me, they are exactly like the ones you would get at the restaurants.
Gochujang
Gochujang is Korean red pepper paste. It’s the most important ingredient in Korean recipes. It’s used as a sauce and marinade in many Korean food and lends the iconic red color to many dishes. You can’t make authentic Korean fried chicken without gochujang.
You can buy gochujang from Korean or Asian supermarkets. You can also find them at the international aisle of many supermarkets.
How to Make Korean Fried Chicken
The method is really easy. First, you coat the chicken with potato starch. Make the fried chicken sauce by mixing Gojuchang red pepper paste with honey and other ingredients.
Deep fry the chicken in hot oil (375F) until crunchy and crispy.
What Dishes to Serve with this Recipe?
This meal is best served with main dishes. For a wholesome Korean meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
This Recipe Goes Well with:
Other Korean Recipes You Might Like:
Korean Fried Chicken Recipe
Korean Fried Chicken – the bestT Korean fried chicken recipe that yields crispy fried chicken in spicy, savory and sweet sauce. Finger lickin’ good!
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 lb chicken wings, drummettes and wingettes
- salt
- ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- oil, for deep-frying
- white sesame, for garnishing
Dressing:
- 2-3 tablespoons Korean gojuchang red pepper paste
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
Instructions
-
Season the chicken with some salt and black pepper, then coat well with the potato starch. Set aside.
-
Combine all the ingredients for Dressing together, stir to mix well.
-
Heat up a Dutch oven, deep skillet or pan with 3 inches of oil. Heat the oil to 375F. Coat the wings again and shake off the excess potato starch. Drop the wings gently into the oil and deep-fry until light brown or when they are cooked and become crispy. Remove the wings from the oil and drained on paper towels. Combine the Dressing and the wings, toss to coat well. Garnish with the sesame and serve immediately.
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Renata
Love this Korean fried chicken recipe. It’s exactly like the ones I get in K-Town in Los Angeles. Now I can make them at home!
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks for trying my Korean fried chicken recipe. Please try out more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Street Food Chris
If I was to twice fry the chicken, would the first fry be at approx 140c (lower temp to ensure the chicken is cooked to the bone) and the final fry at 170c (for the final “crunch” element)? thanks.
Rasa Malaysia
Sure you can try! I have never tried though, they are crispy as is, but please share your results with me! :)
Toni Ledgerwood
A bit hot for me, even though I only put half of the pepper paste in. I still couldn’t stop eating them. Yum, yum. Thanks Rasa for another great recipe
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Toni thanks for trying this Korean fried chicken.
Toni
This recipe was delicious. Used half the pepper paste as my kids don’t like anything too hot, but still too hot for them. More for me :-)
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Toni, lol, I love it, they will soon learn to eat spicy and can share with you! Thanks for trying this Korean Fried Chicken.
Amanda
Hi, I’m wondering if I can substitute apple cider vinegar with normal rice vinegar?
Rasa Malaysia
Yes you can.
Dilshad
Hi Rasa the recipe does not mention how much salt and how much pepper and oil to add?
Rasa Malaysia
Just some salt, like a punch and a few dashes of black pepper.
Rasa Malaysia
Oil is the same, about 2 – 3 inches of the skillet so the chicken submerge while frying.
sang tran
I hate to deep fry. does this recipe work with a conventional oven?
Rasa Malaysia
Well, it’s not Korean fried chicken if you don’t fry them.
Michelle
This was seriously some of the best fried chicken we have eaten. We took Aaron’s marinating tip (although for only a couple of hours) but it was so, so tasty. Stuck with the honey for the sauce. Couldn’t believe the way the chicken was so crunchy with potato starch. Will definitely be having these as a pretty regular thing when entertaining/watching the footy/any day ending in “Y”…. Thanks so much for the recipe.
JOSEFINA HITEROZA
KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN, , WE CALLED IT IN THE PHILIPPINES AS CHICKEN WITH SESAME SEEDS…… I LOVE IT ESPECIALLY THE BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS, THE SWEETNESS AND A LITTLE BIT SPICY……..
Rasa Malaysia
That’s awesome, I am so glad you like my Korean Fried Chicken recipe.
Dino
Hi Rasa Malaysia, thanks for sharing your recipe! I replicated every detail carefully and I’ve noticed that it’s very close to what the make in the restaurants however there is a certain sweetness and zing that is missing. I tried adding more honey and it helped, but I think Aaron is onto something. Longer marinating time and brown sugar might be the missing links!
Rasa Malaysia
Sure, sugar always makes everything better. I personally do not like sticky sweet food and I try not to have too much sweetness in my recipes. :)
Aaron
Hello Dee, I’ve been using your recipes for some time and I was ecstatic that you posted on this topic. I’ve tried to recreate Korean fried chicken for a while but it’s been challenging for me. There was a restaurant in Guam called Pochon Chicken that made the most amazing garlicy fried chicken. Never managed to reproduce it until now.
So now I’ll toss in my suggestion for those of you looking for a little twist. Use Dee’s sauce but with brown sugar instead of honey (goes better with the marinade I’m proposing below than honey). But give your chicken a good solid 6 hours marinating in the following concoction (amounts are for ~12-15 wings):
Use just enough liquid to immerse all the wings in a sealable bag then deposit in the fridge for 6 hours or so.
– 2 parts rice vinegar (better for marinating than the apple vinegar, but use the apple vinegar for the glaze for sure, it’s great)
– 1 part soy sauce
– half a part fish sauce
– 10 red ot hiem peppers, sliced thin (10 will result in medium heat by kr standards I believe if you have about 12 wings) – don’t go out of your way to discard seeds.
– half to a full head of garlic depending on your personal taste, crushed
– If you wish, a medium knob of ginger root finely diced, but this is optional
Before frying, remove the wings from marinade and cover in a bowl, allow to sit at room temp for at least 45 minutes and bread them. Now, the marinade makes your chicken more prone to burning so you really don’t want the oil to exceed 375 (it’s actually fine if they cook down at about 340, so heat to 375 and drop all dozen wings in at once then make sure the range is set high). And they will brown more quickly, probably giving you a deeper reddish hue before you pull them out in 6-8 minutes.
Glaze same as before! I toned down on the Gochujang a little bit because they are already quite spicy and I like the flavor better with less corn syrup.
Biting into these wings is like an explosion of taste. It will be rather spicy by western standards if you follow my suggestions though.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Aaron, thanks for sharing your recipe! I will have to try. I love Korean fried chicken!
John
These are the wings you’re looking for.
I made these tonight using the twice deep frying technique. They were crisp with fantastic flavor. Years ago I had dinner at a Korean friend’s house and they served these wonderful wings I’ve always wanted to make. The wings in this recipe are equally good but in a different way. Give these a try, you won’t be disappointed.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi John, thanks for trying my Korean fried chicken recipe!
Camelmirror
This is mouthwatering….Gotta try it tonight :)
CamelMirror
This is mouthwatering….Gonna try it tonight :)
Platt College
This recipe looks good. We should try teaching something like this to our students.
Scott Wong
I consider myself a accomplished cook willing to tackle labor intense dishes like tamales and various Chinese dimsum. One area I continue to struggle is a crispy fried chicken. Love how you can eat a piece of refrigerated Popeye’s chicken the next day and still get crunch. I have tried J. Kenji Lopez’s korean fried chicken but was discouraged by having to dry out the chicken in the frig. Between the Korean and Thai recipes, which chicken is crispier and holds up better after being sauced?
Since you’re on a chicken craze, do you have a recipe for Cantonese style fried chicken? Marinated with soy, rice wine, 5 spice and deep fried. Such a simple recipe, I have not been able to duplicate the flavors that I grew up with.
Rasa Malaysia
Yes. Chinese fried chicken is good, too. I think the Korean fried chicken is crispier. :)
AudOdd
Scott, I think what you’re missing is the fermented red beancurd (Nam Yue) for the Chinese fried chicken. Try adding this and you might be able to mimic the nostalgic flavour you miss.
Tina S
I’ve made the wings with a garlic teriyaki glaze. Ten pounds of wings gone before you know it!
The recipe I used was a cornstarch batter and fried 2x to get the crispiness
Rasa Malaysia
That’s a great idea.
barbara roll
not sure what korean red pepper paste is
Steve
Barbara, it is called “gochujang” and can often be purchased in Chinese grocery stores, and certainly in Korean grocery stores. I searched for it to get pictures of the different brands to help identify them in the store. It generally comes in an oval or rectangular tub, from small size (think like a tub of olive oil/butter spread) to very large. Quality varies greatly by brand, the Korean brands supposedly being the best. There is an island known for growing the peppers used. They dry them on rooftops and then grind them up. So says my Korean boss. LOL.