Maekom-dak-gangjeong | 매콤닭강정
Deep-fried Chicken with Sweet and Spicy Sauce
This dish is made by deep-frying chicken and mixing it with sweet spicy gochu-jang (red chili pepper paste) sauce. Franchised deep-fried chicken delivery and takeout restaurants are popular in Korea, with fried chicken and seasoned spicy chicken as their signature items. Seasoned spicy chicken is made by mixing crispy, deep-fried chicken with gochujang sauce or soy sauce. Serving fried chicken and beer together is called ‘chimaek,’ which is one of the most well-known dishes of Korea’s late-night meal culture.
- 1 lb (500g) boneless chicken thigh (7 pieces), ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon rice wine, 2 oz (60g) roasted peanuts, ¼ cup (1 oz, 30g) all-purpose, flour or prepackaged frying mix vegetable oil as needed
Batter
- 2 cups (8 oz, 240g) all-purpose flour or prepackaged frying mix,1 egg, 1½ cup (12 oz, 360ml) water
Sweet and spicy sauce
- 1 tablespoon gochu-jang (red chili pepper paste), 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 table-spoons ketchup, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons corn syrup, ⅓ cup water (2¾ oz, 80g)
- Cut chicken into 1×1-inch (3×3-cm) bite-sized pieces. In a bowl, add chicken pieces, salt and rice wine and mix thoroughly with your hands. Marinate for 30 minutes.
- Chop the peanuts roughly.
- In another bowl, mix ingredients for the batter. The batter will have a runny, crepe like consistency.
- Dredge the chicken lightly with flour or frying mix, dusting off excess. Dip the chicken in the batter and deep fry at 340℉ (170 ). Once
completely cooked, place the fried chicken on paper towels or drying rack to remove the excess oil. - In a wok or a large saucepan, add all ingredients of sweet and spicy gochu-jang sauce. Heat the pan over low heat, stirring to prevent
burning. Add cooked fried chicken pieces into the sauce and toss gently to coat. Add chopped peanuts tossing one more time and then serve.
Chicken is seasoned with salt and pepper. The taste is better when the seasoning is well absorbed by the meat. It is better to adjust the concentration of batter because a thick batter will taste dry. To keep the batter crisp, first deepfry the chicken initially, and then deep-fry it a second time just before mixing it with the sauce.
