This Korean fried chicken (KFC) is double fried until extra crispy, then tossed in a sticky, sweet and spicy sauce. The only Korean Fried Chicken recipe you’ll ever need!
Yangneyom chicken (양념치킨) is a crispy and tender Korean fried chicken smothered in a sticky, spicy red sauce. It literally translates to seasoned chicken, and along with dakgangjeong, it’s one of many variations of spicy chicken dishes that are made popular by fast food chains in Korea.
Its popularity also seems to grow fast outside Korea. In the U.S., Korean fried chicken is called “the other KFC” by some people and I think it can easily compete with its American brother.
Korean fried chicken – the other KFC
If you like deep-fried chicken, you should really give this Korean fried chicken recipe a try, especially if you haven’t tried “the other KFC”. The thin crust is extra crispy from double frying, and the sweet and spicy sauce is simply amazing!
How to prepare the chicken
For this Korean fried chicken, I used chicken wings here, but any cut of chicken will work.
I marinated the chicken with a little bit of salt, pepper and ginger, and then lightly coated it with the potato starch. This gives it the nice thin crust. You can also use a deep-frying mix to coat the chicken if you want.
To deep-fry wings nice and crispy, the Korean technique usually calls for frying them at a relatively low temperature and then fry them again at a high temperature. The first frying can be done ahead of time.
Sweet and spicy sauce for Korean fried chicken
The sweet and spicy red sauce is what makes this Korean fried chicken recipe so special. The main ingredients typically include gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste), ketchup, garlic, and corn syrup. gochujang and ketchup pair very well!
In this Korean fried chicken recipe, I used Heinz chili sauce instead of ketchup. The chili sauce has more spice, so it gives an extra bite and depth to the sauce. I also used Frank’s hot sauce for its unique acidic flavor and heat. The sauce can be easily modified with the ingredients you have in your pantry or fridge.
For a kid-friendly version of this Korean fried chicken, just use ketchup and omit the gochujang.
I like to serve Korean fried chicken with light and refreshing side dishes like my sweet and sour radish salad.
Have you tried this Korean Fried Chicken recipe? Please rate the recipe below by either clicking the stars in the recipe card or in the comment section! And make sure to share your creations by tagging me on Instagram! Stay in touch by following me on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Try this finger-licking-good recipe for spicy Korean fried chicken (KFC) - double fried until extra crispy, then tossed in a sticky, sweet and spicy sauce.
- 2 pounds chicken about 16 drumettes and wingettes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pinch black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1/2 cup potato starch or corn starch (or deep-frying mix)
- 5-6 cups oil for frying
- 2 tablespoons grated onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons rice wine or mirin
- 2 - 3 tablespoons hot sauce I used Frank’s Original
- 4 tablespoons chili sauce or ketchup I used Heinz chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons gochujang Korean red chili pepper paste
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup or honey
- 1 tablespoon sugar or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon honey dijon mustard - optional
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
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Wash chicken wings, and drain thoroughly. Mix with the salt, pepper, and ginger. Marinate for 20 to 30 minutes.
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Heat a pan over medium-low heat. Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and then the onion, garlic, and ginger. Stir for a minute until fragrant. Add all other sauce ingredients, and stir well. Simmer until it thickens slightly, about 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the heat off.
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Remove any excess water from the marinated chicken. Add the potato (or corn) starch to the chicken, and toss well to coat evenly.
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Add the oil to a deep fryer, wok, or large pot. Heat the oil to 320°F. Using tongs or chopsticks, drop the chicken in the oil, one piece at a time. Fry them in two batches. Cook until lightly golden, about 5 to 7 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken wings. Remove them with a wire skimmer or a slotted spoon. Drain on a wire rack or in a large mesh strainer set on a bowl.
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Reheat the oil to 370°F. Add the chicken (you can do this in one batch for the second frying), and deep fry again, for 2 to 3 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Drain on a wire rack or in a large mesh strainer set on a bowl.
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Heat the sauce over medium-low heat. Add the chicken, and stir well until the chicken wings are evenly coated. Sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve.
Add 1 teaspoon gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes), preferably fine grounds, to the sauce ingredients, if you like it very spicy. You can grind coarse gochugaru in a spice grinder if you don't have fine grounds.
If you let the oil temperature go up too high, turn the heat off until it cools down to the desired temperature.
How would I adapt this recipe to bake the chicken instead of frying it?
Just bake the wings in the oven once coated with starch, and then coated with the sauce. Or see this for the baked wings: http://www.koreanbapsang.com/2011/02/chicken-wings.html
Just wanted to say how much I’ve enjoyed reading your blog. I discovered it a few days ago. I hope you get that cookbook published!
Welcome to my blog! And thank you! I’m glad you’ve found my blog and hope you enjoy my recipes.
This was amazing!!! Thank you for the recipe.
Great! Thanks for letting me know. Cheers!
Hi i just subscribed to ur blog and I love reading your description of each food. Makes me droll just reading it. How can I make this suitable for my 3 smaller kids?
Hi ivy – Thank you for subscribing! Just use ketchup and omit the gochujang, Korean red chili pepper paste. Hope your kids like it.
Thanks for your recipes – what an amazing blog! I made this fried chicken dish and it was so delicious – thank you. I posted about it on my blog and I also gave your blog a name check on my radio show (you can listen here: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/lucky-cat-25th-april-2015/). I look forward to trying other recipes. Best Wishes, Zoë
That’s awesome! I heard it. It was at a point about 12 minutes remaining. Thank you so much for mentioning on your radio show and for the nice words! Best wishes to you as well!
Hi! I really enjoyed your recipe, it looks detailed and neat~ I wonder is there any other way of deep frying or baking it? (i’m a newbie cook). 감사합니다! ^^
Thank you …i just this site …i love Korean food
You are my saviour! Finally found recipe for Yangnyeom recipe. Beautiful!!
just found out about your blog ! really enjoyed reading your blog and seriously gonna try this recipe ! and i wanna asked what type of soy sauce did you used ? is it sweet soy sauce or is there specific type of soy sauce ? hehe
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I just made this today and it tasted soooooo good! Can’t wait to make another batch of this!
You’re welcome! I am happy to hear it turned out well for you. Happy Korean cooking!
I am soooo excited to try this! I ordered Korean spices like gochujang, gochugaru and doenjang online and they arrived today ? thanks for this recipe ?
That’s great! Hope you enjoy this recipe and many others using those Korean staples.
Sounds delicious & easy. I’ll try it!
Thank you,
arol
How about Korean Barbeque recipe?
There are plenty on the blog. See here: http://www.koreanbapsang.com/2017/07/10-korean-bbq-recipes.html
I’m I missing something? You call for a teaspoon of salt and pinch of black pepper with a 1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger. Then you call for 2 pounds of chicken to marinate in those 3 ingredients! That is not make a marinade.
mar·i·nade is
a sauce, typically made of oil, vinegar, spices, and herbs, in which meat, fish, or other food is soaked before cooking in order to flavor or soften it.
verb
This chicken dish is deep-fried chicken smothered in a sticky, spicy red sauce. Those are just to season the chicken pieces before frying, and there are sauce ingredients right below them in the recipe.
Great recipe, made it last night and it was so yummy! Question: how advance can the first frying be? Could I do the first frying the night before, refrigerate and fry the second time the next day? Thanks!
Thanks Lizzie! Yes you can do the first frying the night before. Bring the chicken to room temp before frying it again. Enjoy!
Tried it today, it is AMAZING. Thank you so much! I added more chilli sauce and chopped 1 onion bulb instead of grating it because i love onion, still came out perfect. This is my first attempt at making korean food in general, I am so pleased that it came out so good. Thank you!
hi, can the gochajang cili paste be replace with other chili paste? example dry chili paste?
This recipe is a treasure and definitely our favorite!! Thank you for sharing.
My pleasure! Thank you so much for stopping by and for the generous words!
this was so helpful thanks btw love you recipes
Kamsahamnida!
I am making the wings now. The sauce is amazing!!
Great to hear! Thanks for the great review!!!