Soy Garlic Korean Fried Chicken

Hi everyone !

I've been baking a lot these days, which I really love. 

But I actually forgot how I extremely enjoy cooking. It's mind boggling. 

I haven't cooked for SUCH A LONG TIME because mom does all the cooking at home. I know, I know I'm supposed to help her in the kitchen but my kitchen is SO TINY. It's just a small square area with stove infront, an ant-sized prep table on your left and the sink on your right. You basically pivoting around to navigate. So, no. 

Today I got to do everything I love in the kitchen, which includes cutting chicken wings. 

I'm a sucker for KFC - and by this I'm not talking about the one from Kentucky, but the one from Korea ! I first tried this back in Melbourne and it's literally the BEST version of fried chicken I could ever asked for, I like to pair mine with Soju (but a lot of people actually prefer beer). 

This fried chicken has a thick, sticky, sweet & savoury - with a little bit of heat - coating all over their remarkably crunchy exterior that comes from double frying method. woot woot.

I adapted the recipe from the fabulous Maangchi. Her website and Youtube channel are basically the holy bible of Korean cooking. I have tried several dishes from her website and they're all awesome! 

Mangchi has several Korean fried chicken recipes on her website. There's the one with the red gochujang sauce and even 2 versions of her soy garlic one. Since there's two recipes for the soy garlic chicken, I mixed & tweaked a little bit of both recipes and it worked well! Here you go!

Soy Garlic Korean Fried Chicken

Adapted from Maangchi Korean Kitchen

Makes : 4-5 portions (30 pcs in total)

Ingredients:

• 1 kg (15 pcs) chicken wings (washed, drained)
• 1 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic , minced
• 3-4 birds  eye chillies, sliced thinly
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• Lots of cooking oil - Mangchi uses 4 cups (for frying & a little bit for the sauce)

Chicken coated in flour

1. Prep the chicken. Cut the tip of the washed chicken wings and then cut the wings into two (seperate in the middle joint between the drumstick shaped meat & the wing shaped area), set aside. 

2. In a large shallow bowl, mix together corn starch, rice flour, salt and pepper. set aside. 

3. Heat A LOT of oil in a largest deep pan you have over high heat

4. Coat all the chicken with the flour mix, tap them well to remove excess flour. 

Chicken after first frying

5. Check the temperature of the oil by throwing a little bit of the four into the oil, if it starts to bubble vigorously, it's ready. 

6. Carefully, slide the chicken wings into the hot oil & do not crowd the pan too much. If your pan is small, fry them in batches. 

Cook for around 10-12 minutes, turning the chicken a few times to cook them well. 

Drain the cooked chicken, set aside for a few minutes. (DO NOT BE ALARMED if your chicken still looks pale and not golden brown. Remember we will be frying them one. more. time)

7. With the same hot oil, fry the chicken wings again for 8 minutes until they turn golden brown and super crunchy (it should have a hard crunchy exterior). Drain the chicken and set aside. 

1. In a skillet, heat some oil on medium high heat. 

2. Add minced garlic & sliced chillies. Cook until fragrant

3. Add in soy sauce, corn syrup, white vinegar and brown sugar. Mix well. Cook until it turns bubbly all around. 

4. While the heat is still on, bung in all the warm crispy chicken wings into the hot sauce. Stir until all the chicken is coated with the sticky sauce. 

5. Serve warm with some rice or just by itself !

Try this one! It's really good!

Becareful though, it's super addictive.
My mom can't stop munching on them !