Fried Chicken

Fried Chicken

Flour: Cornstarch when mixed with all-purpose flour works wonders in achieving the ultra crispy and light texture that we aim for in the fried chicken dish. 

Korean Fried Chicken a gastronomic delight that has swept the world in recent years, especially for its tantalizing crunch, pleasant sauces and distinct processing techniques that add flavor to the regular fried chicken variants. Whether you have tasted it at some outlet or explored it in your favorite K-drama, it must make you crave for that fried chicken perfectly coated in crispiness at home. In this step by step, we will help you learn to prepare real Korean fried chicken where important aspects such as the techniques and sauces for the crisp skin as well as other relevant recipes will be available.

What Makes Korean Fried Chicken Special

Before getting straight into the thick of the recipe, it would be wise to consider the aspects that gyrate Korean Fried Chicken to the next level. Most American styles feature something of a substantial batter coating or breading, but unlike the conventional fried chicken, Korean Fried Chicken is characterized by a very thin battered, almost non-existent airy fried skin on the chicken. The essence of the crunch lies in the technique which involves deep frying the chicken twice for which excess fat has to be rendered enabling one to achieve a texture that is both airy and crispy at the same time.

Also, used to be a diversion, after frying the chicken, any Korean fried chicken restaurants in Korea, would pour sweet, spicy savory sauces over the fried chicken. The specifics of these differ from region to region, yet they usually consist of a combination of gochujang, soy sauce, and garlic and ginger with some honey or sugar for a sweetening effect. It is the crispy chicken along with the rich and tasty sauce that has made this dish a favorite over the years.

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Core Ingredients of Making Fry Chicken Korean Style

If you want to make heat and serve Korean fried chicken style takeaway food at home, the following basic ingredients will be needed. Here is a summary of all the main materials that will be used:

1. Chicken: Normally people make use of wings, drumsticks or boneless pieces. However, for the preparation of Korean fried chicken, more murky and unclean pieces such as wings, and boneless thighs are used that contain considerable amount of fat and flavor.

2. 2. Cornstarch and All-Purpose Flour: The extraordinary crunch in KFC lies in the use of corn starch and flour in the right proportions. Cornstarch is responsible for the extra crispy coating while all-purpose flour serves the purpose of helping to glue the coating onto the chicken.

3. Baking Powder: This assists in the preparation of lighter batters to improve the batter’s crispiness.

4. Gochujang (Korean Chili Paste): Sweet and spicy very much describes this paste that is present in many Korean Fried Chicken sauces adding the heat and umami flavors to the chicken.

5. Garlic, Ginger, Soy Sauce: These are used to make the base for most of the sauces that are used to coat the chicken.

6. Honey or Sugar: It balances the pungency and also sweetens the sauce.

7. Sesame Oil: Is usually added in the batter and sauce in small quantities to provide more flavors.

Required Tools for Cooking Korean Fried Chicken

To reach that impeccable flavor and crunch, as few tools are required:

Deep Fryer or Heavy Pot: Correct frying temperature is the main reason behind the moisture retention in Korean Fried Chicken. A deep-frying pan or a heavy pot will maintain the oil's temperature.

Thermometer: Using a cooking thermometer will ensure that the frying oil is maintained at 350 °F which is the best frying temperature. If the temperature is lower, the chicken will turn out oily; if it is high, the outside surface will burn while the insides remain uncooked.

Cooling Rack: After frying the chicken, most people put it in a cooling rack instead of paper towels. This is because air gets to reach all parts of the fried chicken making its coating remain intact.

Large Mixing Bowl: For whisking the batter and combining the chicken with the sauce.

A Simple Walkthrough Recipe for Korean Fried Chicken.

Well, archetypes and hardware are introduced! Now, straight to the recipe! We will divide the procedure into steps that are easy to comprehend.

Step-by-step Directions for Executing the Recipe to Make Korean Fried Chicken

After learning about the necessary items for cooking, let us now proceed to the cooking steps. Due to the length of the procedure, some sections will be presented in detail to prevent inconsistency in crunch and flavor.

Step 1: Coat and Fry the Chicken

1. Choose Chicken Pieces: If you are buying wings, you can leave them as it is or cut into smaller portions. You may also buy boneless pieces. But fried chicken has bones because such chicken is more tasteful and moisture is retained in the meat.

2. Marinate the chicken:

For this, mix in a bowl 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon minced ginger, and a chicken with a little salt.

Toss to coat and then cover the bowl and place the chicken into a refrigerator for at least 30 minutes up to 1 hour. This process helps to cure the meat and also spice it up.

Step 2: Preparation of the Coating and Battering Ingredients

1. Prepare the Dry Coating:

In an extra large mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup all-purpose flour with ½ cup of cornstarch. Then ad, d 1 teaspoon baking powder, and salt and ½ teaspoon of black pepper.

2. Make the Wet Coating:

In another bowl, take 1 cup cold water and add it into the flour and corn starch mixture. The mix should be batter-like but not runny.

Batter made with iced water helps to make the coating crisper since the temperature of the oil is brought down when the chicken is dropped in.

Step 3: Cooking the Chicken

1. Prepare the Oil in a Pan:

Fill a deep fryer or a large heavy pot with vegetable oil (or any suitable neutral oil) and heat it to 350 °F (175 °C). This can be done by using a thermometer. In the absence of a thermometer, place a small amount of the batter into the hot oil; if the batter sizzles and comes up, the oil is ready for frying.

2. Coat the Chicken:

Now take the marinated chicken piece and immerse it into the wet batter and allow dripping off the excess. Then dip the chicken into dry flour

3. e, 1 tablespoon of water, and 1 tablespoon of sugar to the pan and stir to mix.

Cook for a couple of minutes until the liquid is reduced and thickens into a syrup. Take off from the heat and let it cool slightly before use.

Step 5: Coat the Chicken with the Sauce

The prepared sauce is poured into a bowl large enough to hold the fried chicken pieces. So sized that all chicken pieces can easily be tossed in the sauce, this bowl is easy to pick up and move around.

1. Sweet and Spicy Chicken Sauce:

If you have leftovers, which you probably won’t, unleash the power of the tupperware and keep it in the fridge. The goo will harden in the refrigerator and subsequently melt when taken out, ready for use as dipping sauce with gyoza; it can also be cooked again and slathered onto dishes and meat.

2. Soy Garlic Chicken Sauce

Place a pot on the stove on medium low heat and add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. After a minute and a half, add 3 minced garlic cloves frying them together for an additional 30 seconds.

Once the instruction shows the exact amount in ml or gm, pour the soy sauce i.e. 45 ml in this pan. Stir in properly. 1 tablespoon of corn flour is also added in the pan without mixing properly.

Cook for a few minutes and turn off the stove when the Semi dry soy garlic sauce is ready.

Step 5: Coat the Chicken in Sauce

1. Toss the Chicken:

When you have prepared the sauce, it is time to put the fried chicken pieces into a big bowl. Then, pour the sauce over the chicken and toss them gently until all chicken pieces are covered. Make sure that the crispy coating does not come apart.

2. Serve:

Next, place the decorated chicken onto a serving dish and sprinkle some sesame seeds and chopped green onions on top for more taste and crunch.

Tips for the Perfect Korean Fried Chicken

Double Frying Is Essential: Don’t skip the second fry! It’s the key to getting the chicken extra crispy and golden.

Use Cold Water in the Batter: Cold water helps create a lighter, crispier batter when it hits the hot oil.

Don’t Overcrowd the Oil: Frying too many pieces at once can lower the oil temperature, which may cause the chicken to be greasy. Frying in small batches is more effective.

Have Fun and Play with Different Sauces: Korean Fried Chicken can be too boring, sauce it up with other sauces like sweet chili, garlic soy, spicy mustard sauce, etc.

Conclusion

Though learning how to cook Korean Fried Chicken will require some time and effort if done from home, the outcome is extremely rewarding. The humor in the right kitchen combination of raw materials, utensils, and methods is that one can be able to achieve the distinct crispy crunch and rich sauce that most people love about the dish. Korean Fried Chicken is, of course, best balanced with a glass of cold beer topped alongside refreshing sweet pickled radish slices or spicy kimchi dip, but even without these adjuncts, one will still savor the authentic Korean goodness through homemade Korean Fried Chicken.