Chicken

Dakgangjeong

Name: Dakgangjeong
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 3 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: 700g Chicken Breast; 180g Cornflour; 2L Vegetable Oil; 1 Red Chilli Pepper; 1 Green Chilli Pepper; a pinch of Salt; a pinch of Black Pepper; (to garnish) Sesame Seeds; 1 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce; 2 Tsp Crushed Garlic; 1 Tbsp White Wine; 1/4 Onion; 1 Tsp Gochujang; 1 Tbsp Chilli Oil; 2 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce; 2 Tsp Pineapple Juice; 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup; 1 Tbsp Sugar; 10 Garlic Cloves

닭강정

Sweet & spicy Korean fried chicken. Delicious!

Prep: 30m
Cooking: 20m
Total: 50m

Dakgangjeong (닭강정) is basically fried chicken, Korean style! It’s made from bite sized chicken breast pieces that are then deep fried and coated in the most marvellous sweet & spicy sauce. It’s an irresistable dish and is impossible not to finish after you’ve had one bite.

This recipe uses standard green and red chilli peppers found in all UK supermarkets. These are generally not too hot and, while they add some spiciness to the chicken, they will not over power the taste with heat. If you prefer your food with a bit more heat you can substitute these chilli peppers with your own choice. Scotch bonnet chilli peppers work really well if you’re up for the challenge.

If you’d prefer a milder version of the dish you can replace the chilli oil and gochujang chilli paste with a splash of lemon juice and leave out the chilli pepper slices completely.

As with many Korean dishes there are other variations of this recipe. But, after cooking this many times over the past few years this is the version I’m happiest with and it’s generally easy to source the ingredients for here in the UK.

As with all ingredients within my recipes, if you’re not sure what something is – or where you can find it – just click on its name in the ingredient list on the left to find out more!

Ingredients

Makes 3 servings

700g Chicken Breast
180g Cornflour
2L Vegetable Oil
1 Red Chilli Pepper
1 Green Chilli Pepper
a pinch of Salt
a pinch of Black Pepper
(to garnish) Sesame Seeds
FOR THE MARINADE
1 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
2 Tsp Crushed Garlic
1 Tbsp White Wine
1/4 Onion
FOR THE SAUCE
1 Tsp Gochujang
1 Tbsp Chilli Oil
2 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
2 Tsp Pineapple Juice
2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1 Tbsp Sugar
10 Garlic Cloves

Method

1

Cut the chicken breast into bitesize pieces, place into a mixing bowl and season with a generous pinch of salt and black pepper. Remove the seeds from the green and red chilli peppers and slice thinly lengthways.
2

Finely chop the onion and add it to the chicken along with the white wine, dark soy sauce and crushed garlic. Mix well and leave to marinate for 20 minutes.
3

Tip the cornflour into the bowl and mix it well, making sure to cover the chicken evenly. I find using hands to mix the cornflour into the chicken is the best way....
4

Fill a wok or large pan with the vegetable oil and heat up to 170°C over a high heat.
5

Once the vegetable oil is up to temperature carefully add the chicken pieces, and some of the onion if you like, and deep fry for about 5 minutes or until the outside turns golden brown. If the pan you are using is fairly small it may be better to fry the chicken in 2 seperate batches.
6

Remove the chicken from the oil and place onto kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.
7

Mix the chilli oil, gochujang, dark soy sauce, pineapple juice, garlic cloves (whole), maple syrup and sugar in a pan. Heat over a medium heat until the sauce starts to bubble.
8

Add the chicken to the pan and stir to coat the meat with the sauce. Add the green and red chilli peppers and leave to simmer until the sauce has formed a sticky glaze over the chicken.
9

Serve the dakgangjeon on top of freshly cooked white rice, garnish with sesame seeds and enjoy :)