Dakgangjeong (Sweet & Spicy Korean Fried Chicken)

Dakgangjeong is a delicious Korean fried chicken, covered in a sweet chili sauce. This tasty comfort food recipe can be ready in as little as 40 minutes. 

I want you to imagine this: crispy fried chicken, coated in a sweet and chili sauce. That’s what dakgangjeong is. And we’re going to make a dakgangjeong so good that it would make any Korean grandmother proud. (According to my Korean friends, she would nod in quiet approval, which is basically the same thing.)

And if you’ve not tried this Korean recipe before, let me give you a pro tip. Make extra sauce. You’re going to want to use it on everything. (I certainly do.)

this recipe

What is dakgangjeong

Dakgangjeong (닭강정) is a beloved Korean dish of crispy fried chicken glazed in a sweet, sticky, and slightly spicy sauce. Let’s break down the name: “dak” means chicken, and “gangjeong” refers to a traditional Korean sweet crispy snack that’s typically coated in a sweet syrup.

The sweet, spicy, and sticky glaze is what distinguishes dakgangjeong from other Korean fried chicken recipes (such as yangnyeom).

This traditional recipe can be found all over Korea, from street food vendors to restaurants. It’s popular as an anju (that is, food served alongside alcohol), and has become increasingly popular around the world as Korean cuisine spreads.

Origins

KFC (that is, Korean fried chicken) has an exceptionally interesting backstory with its roots in Busan during the Korean War (1950-1953). Busan was one of the few cities not under military occupation, and thus became a haven for refugees.

The cooks amongst these refugees combined American military surplus ingredients (such as wheat flour and oil) with Korea’s traditional sweet-coating techniques used in gangjeong (a sweet snack made with puffed rice or nuts). And thus dakgangjeong was born.

Ingredients

For the chicken

• Boneless skinless chicken thighs
• Milk
• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika
• Ground ginger
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ¼ cup potato starch

For the sweet chili sauce

• Sesame oil
• Gochujang (Korean red chili paste)
• Soy sauce
• Rice wine (I recommend Korean mirim)
• Honey
• Apple cider vinegar
• Brown sugar
• Fresh ginger, minced
• Garlic cloves, minced

For frying

• Vegetable oil

For serving

• Chopped peanuts
• Pumpkin seeds

How to make Korean fried chicken

Start by giving your chicken thighs a luxurious milk bath – think of this as their spa day. Let the chicken thighs soak for at least two hours, but if you can leave them overnight, even better! Think of it as beauty sleep for your chicken. Once done marinating, drain the chicken. 

While your chicken is living its best life in the milk marinade, we can prepare the coating. Mix the cornstarch, potato starch, salt, pepper, paprika, and ground ginger. Give each piece of drained chicken a generous coating. Do your best to really get in there and make sure every bit is covered – we’re going for maximum crunch potential here!

Time to fry some chicken. Heat your oil to 340°F (170°C). Working in batches (making sure not to crowd the frying chicken), fry until they’re golden brown and crispy, around five to seven minutes. As each batch emerges from the hot oil, set them aside on paper towels to drain any excess oil.

Work on your sauce while the chicken is set aside. Start by warming sesame oil in a pot and throwing in minced garlic and ginger. Once fragrant, add the gochujang and let it mix before introducing the rest of the ingredients: soy sauce, rice wine, honey, apple cider vinegar, and brown sugar. Stir well, and let this mixture simmer and thicken slightly, about two or three minutes. It’ll look a little glossy (that’s a good thing).

Add the crispy chicken pieces to the pot, and toss your crispy chicken pieces in the sauce. Let cook for a minute or two to make sure the sauce coats the chicken. You want every piece of chicken wearing a perfect coat of that sweet-spicy goodness. 

Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle over some chopped peanuts and pumpkin seeds for additional crunch. Serve immediately – this is not the time for patience.

Tips

What kind of chicken to use

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are ideal for this Korean fried chicken recipe. You can use chicken breasts if you need to, but thighs tend to be better as they are juicier, and more flavorful.

Personally, I prefer fried chicken recipes to be boneless, however, if you prefer chicken wings or drumsticks, you can absolutely use them for this recipe too.

What kind of rice wine to use

I recommend using mirim (Korean cooking rice wine) or cheongju. If you can’t find these, Japanese mirin will work as a substitute, though you might want to reduce the honey slightly as mirin is slightly sweeter than Korean cooking wine.

Prepare-ahead

For deeper flavors, I recommend marinating the chicken overnight. Marinating the chicken in milk is a popular way to tenderize and add moisture to chicken in Korea. 

The sauce can also be prepared up to a week ahead of time and stored in the fridge until it’s time to coat the chicken.

Adjust the spice levels

The gochujang paste adds a mild to medium heat to food. If you prefer spicier dishes, you can increase the amount of gochujang, or add red pepper powder or gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes). You can swap out the gochujang for your preferred chili paste, but you’ll lose a lot of the deep flavors that gochujang brings this recipe.

The best oil for deep frying the chicken

I use vegetable oil for this, however you can use any oil with a high smoke point. Canola oil, and peanut oil are two other fantastic options. 

Heat management

Maintaining a consistent temperature (around 340°F for best results) in the oil will yield the best results. If too hot, the chicken’s outsides will burn before the insides are cooked. And if too cool, the chicken will be greasy, having absorbed too much oil. Having a reliable kitchen thermometer is key for this part.

Double-fry the chicken

For extra crispy chicken, you can double-fry it. Fry it once, set it aside to drain the excess oil while you bring the cooking oil back to temperature, fry the same pieces a second time. And then coat the double-fried chicken in the spicy sauce. While this extra step is optional, it does add a little extra crunch to your chicken. 

Variation ideas

Different toppings. The easiest switch here is to swap out the chopped peanuts and pumpkin seeds for toasted sesame seeds or something else you prefer. You can keep it simple by omitting them completely. They’re usually just added to provide some extra crunch.

KFC sandwich. You can add dakgangjeong pieces to a bun with a little spicy mayo to make a delicious sweet and spicy Korean fried chicken sandwich.

No spice. If you’d like a much milder recipe, one of my Korean friends tell me that it’s common to swap gochujang with tomato sauce or ketchup. She used this variation a lot when her kids were younger and couldn’t handle any spice.