Maekom-dak-gangjeong
Deep-fried Chicken with Sweet and Spicy Sauce | 매콤닭강정
Deep-fried Chicken with Sweet and Spicy Sauce | 매콤닭강정
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)
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.