I love these! This recipe is one of my very favorite new recipes this year. I have my daughter, Abby, to thank for it. She’s been to a lot of Korean BBQ restaurants (I’ve been to none) and she fell in love with these wings. She then searched out a fabulous recipe and cooked them for me a few times, then I got addicted, which is odd since I don’t particularly like chicken or chicken wings. This recipe is based on one found in “Our Korean Kitchen” by Jordan Bourke and Rejina Pyo. These little pieces of heaven won me over though! These wings have a little bit of everything yummy, a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy, a little bit crispy, a little bit saucy and a little bit sticky and they are so very addicting. I think I had a dream about them once…
The recipe has a lot of steps, but they are all easy (and well worth it!). You’ll probably need to visit a Korean grocery store for a few items, but once there you’ll find everything and be able too cook multiple batches of these wings before needing a return trip. The wings are very easy to pull together after making them the first time. Honest, they are easy! You’ll want to make them for all your friends.
Here’s a picture of the not-so-common items you’ll need for these wings. Helpful note, Glutinous Rice Flour is also known as Sweet Rice Flour.
Korean Fried Chicken Wings
Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- ¼ cup Rice Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Gochujang (available at Korean grocery stores)
- ¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp Honey
- ½ cup Ketchup
- ¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 Tbsp sesame oil
Flour Coating for Wings
- ¼ cup potato flour
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup glutinous rice flour (AKA Sweet Rice Flour-available at most Asian markets)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground pepper
To Cook Wings
- 3 pounds party wings
- Vegetable Oil for frying
Garnish (optional)
- 1 tsp toasted black sesame seeds
- 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds
Make the sauce
- Combine first six sauce ingredients (except vegetable oil, garlic, and sesame oil) in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Place vegetable oil in a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Once garlic is golden, add all the combined sauce ingredients to the pan, and cook until it has thickened and is glossy, approximately 4-5 minutes.
- Add sesame oil, mix thoroughly.
- Set aside until ready to use.
Make the chicken
Pour vegetable oil into a deep, medium-size pan, with at least two inches between the surface of the oil and the rim of the pot. Place pan over medium-High heat, and using a deep-fat or candy thermometer to guide you, bring oil to 325 F.
- Meanwhile, place the ingredients for the flour mix in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add chicken to the flour mix, coating every part evenly. (Shaking wings with flour mixture in a Ziploc works well)
- Shake excess flour off wings and set on a baking rack to dry slightly. If flour soaks into wing and looks a little gummy, shake in flour mixture again.
- When oil has reached 325F, add the chicken in batches and fry for about 7 minutes.
- Remove and drain on paper towels.
- OK to keep cooked wings warm in 250 degree oven until needed.
To Serve
- Once all chicken is fried, reheat sauce and toss hot wings in warm sauce.
- Sprinkle saucy wings with sesame seeds if using
- Share and enjoy!