Meat & BBQ
Korean Fried Chicken (Yangnyeom Chicken)
Prep
30 min
Cook
25 min
Servings
4
Steps
- 1
Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and ginger, and let it sit 15-20 minutes.
- 2
Toss the chicken in potato starch until fully coated.
- 3
Heat oil to 325°F (165°C).
- 4
Fry the chicken in batches for about 8 minutes, until cooked through but pale — this first fry is about cooking it, not browning it.
- 5
Remove and let rest on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes.
- 6
Raise the oil temperature to 375°F (190°C).
- 7
Fry the chicken again, in batches, for 2-3 minutes until deeply golden and audibly crisp.
- 8
While the chicken rests, whisk together the gochujang, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, and ketchup in a saucepan and simmer 2-3 minutes until glossy.
- 9
Toss the double-fried chicken in the warm sauce until every piece is coated, and finish with sesame seeds.
Did you know — Korean culture
Korean fried chicken has American soldiers to thank for the deep-frying method, brought over during the Korean War in the 1950s. But chimaek — chicken and beer, now a Korean cultural institution — didn't fully take off until the 2002 FIFA World Cup, when Korea's run to the semifinals had the whole country celebrating with chicken in one hand and a cold beer in the other.
The double fry is the entire trick, and it's not optional if you want the sauce-coated pieces to stay crisp instead of turning soggy the moment they hit the glaze. First fry cooks the chicken through at a lower temperature. Second fry, hotter and shorter, is purely about the crust — it drives out extra moisture and locks in a shell that can survive being tossed in sauce.
Potato starch, not flour, is what gives Korean fried chicken its particular thin, glassy crunch. Flour-based batters go soft under a wet glaze in a way starch-coated chicken just doesn't.
Let the chicken actually rest on a rack between fries. Skipping that rest and going straight into the second fry is the most common reason home versions come out greasy instead of crisp.
Troubleshooting
Chicken went soggy after saucing? Either the second fry wasn't hot enough, or it sat too long before the sauce went on. Toss it in sauce right before serving, not ahead of time.
Coating falling off? The chicken was probably still wet when it hit the starch. Pat it dry first — starch needs a dry surface to actually stick.
Sauce too thick or too thin? A splash of water thins it out; a couple more minutes of simmering thickens it up. It should coat the back of a spoon, not run off it.