Crispy Korean Fried Chicken | Yangneyom Chicken (2024)

Super easy to make and absolutely delicious, this Korean Fried Chicken will have you wishing you made more! Double fried to golden crispy perfection and then coated with a sweet, spicy, and sticky gochujang sauce, you’ll be making this Korean chicken wings recipe regularly!

Korean fried chicken is perfect for all occasions. You can use any cut of chicken for KFC. We usually use chicken thighs but recently started making them with chicken wings as it was a more budget-friendly option, plus who wouldn’t want some Korean fried chicken wings? There are many different types of Korean fried chicken but my go-to’s are this Yangneyom chicken and Dakgangjeong chicken (soy garlic fried chicken).

What Makes Korean Fried Chicken So Good?

Korean fried chicken has a thin crispy exterior that is double deep-fried. Then, it’s tossed in a sticky, spicy, and sweet sauce. Despite being coated in sauce, the chicken stays crispy thanks to double frying the chicken. The method of double frying helps render out the fat that is in the chicken skin, giving the chicken its signature crispy and crunchy exterior.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• chicken wings — you can use a mixture of wingettes and drumettes or just one. It’s up to you.
• mirin — a Japanese sweet rice wine.
• salt
• garlic powder

• potato starch — I prefer potato starch to cornstarch as it gives the skin a thinner, smooth crust that’s light and crispy. While I prefer making Korean fried chicken using potato starch, you can use what you have on hand.
• baking powder — adding baking powder to the coating makes for a lighter, crispier fried chicken.
• olive oil
• minced garlic
• ketchup
• brown sugar — light or regular brown sugar will work.
• gochujang(고추장), aka hot pepper paste. This is a key ingredient that you cannot change. It’s what gives the wings that delicious spicy flavour. You might even call these gochujang chicken as they play a huge role in the sauce.
• oil for deep frying — I like using vegetable oil or canola oil. You want something with a high smoke-point.

What is the Difference Between Wingettes and Drumettes?

Whole chicken wings are made up of three parts: drumettes, wingettes/flats, and tips.

The drumette is the part that is attached to the main part of the chicken and resembles a chicken drumstick. One end is rounded and meaty as it tapers off to the bottom.

The wingette/flat is the part between the drumette and tip. It’s my favourite part as it has the most skin to meat ratio. There are two bones running horizontally with the meat in the middle. This piece tends to come out more crispy since there’s less meat on it.

The tip is…the tip! It’s tiny and pointy with next to no meat on them.

How to Make Korean Fried Chicken

• Pat dry the chicken wings with a paper towel if they are moist.
• Coat the chicken with mirin, garlic powder, and onion powder and set aside in the fridge for an hour.
• Combine the potato starch and baking powder and then coat the chicken wings in the coating.
• Prepare a lined sheet pan with a cooling rack on top.

• To a Dutch oven or large skillet, add just under 2 inches of oil and heat it to 345F/174C.
• Slowly add in a couple chicken wings at a time. Fry for around 8 minutes, flipping the chicken wings at the halfway mark. Transfer to the cooling rack and repeat until you’ve fried all of the wings.
• Increase the temperature of the oil to around 375F/195C and add the cooked chicken back in, again in batches.
• Double-fry the chicken wings for around 2 minutes or until the wings are golden.

• To make the sauce, add the olive oil and garlic to a pan on medium heat. Let the garlic cook for thirty seconds to a minute before adding the ketchup, brown sugar, gochujang, rice wine vinegar, and water. Let the sauce cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring throughout and add more water if you’d like for the sauce to be thinner.
• Toss the fried chicken in the sauce and serve.

Recipe Tips and Notes

• I like using a pan to make my sauce so it’s easier to toss the Korean chicken wings than in a small saucepan.
• The Korean wings are done when they’ve reached an internal temperature of 165F/74C. I recommend using an instant read meat thermometer. You can also use it to check the temperature of the oil.

• I like to garnish my Korean fried chicken wings with toasted sesame seeds and green onions.
• Don’t add too much chicken to the oil at once as that will bring down the temperature of the oil. When that happens, your chicken will absorb more oil than neccessary and be greasy.
• Keep an eye on the sauce as it’s very easy to burn the Korean fried chicken sauce if you walk away from it.
• Keep a wet napkin nearby! These definitely fall under a Korean sticky chicken recipe as the delicious sauce is sticky and thick. I love it!

Make Ahead Tips

More Fried Chicken Recipes You’ll Love

• Korean Air Fried Chicken (Dakgangjeong or Soy Garlic Fried Chicken, pictured above)
• Chicken Katsu
• Taiwanese Fried Chicken (Popcorn Chicken)
• Crispy Sesame Chicken
• Air Fryer Orange Chicken

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