Spring Onion Korean Fried Chicken. This is hands-down my favorite KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) recipe!
This recipe went viral in Korea a few years ago - virtually all chicken shops put it onto their menu. In Korean, it is called Pa-dak! Padak is chicken that is double-fried for an extra crispy skin. It is topped with thinly sliced spring onion and dressed in a sweet and tangy Asian dressing.
What I love about this recipe is the mixture of flavors. First, you get the juicy chicken. We all know what that taste like. Then a refreshing kick from the spring onions. These spring onions strips help to offset that repetitive flavor of fried chicken. Finally, you will taste the sweet and tangy sauce. This combination of flavors makes this fried chicken dish one of my favorite.
Note: There are variations of the dressing sauce in Seoul. One type is a light wasabi sauce - but I find it to be overwhelming. The other style, which we will use today, is a vinaigrette sauce. It taste similar to Asian sesame salad dressing.
Thank me later for this recipe 🙂
Spring Onion Korean Fried Chicken - My Favorite KFC!
Ingredients
- Chicken - 1 whole 600 grams, or use any thigh, drumsticks
- Salt - 2 teaspoon
- Minced garlic - 1 teaspoon
- Black pepper - ½ teaspoon
- Egg - 1
- Flour - ¾ cup if you have Korean frying mix 퇴김가루, use that
- Potato starch - ¾ cup
- Spring onion - 1 stalk
Vinaigrette Sauce
- Soy sauce - 3 Tablespoon
- Water - 1 Tablespoon
- Lemon juice - 1 Tablespoon
- Vinegar - 2 Tablespoon
- Honey - 2 Tablespoon
- Olive oil - ½ Tablespoon
- Minced garlic - ⅔ Tablespoon
Instructions
Prep Chicken
- Score the chicken and place into a mixing bowl. Place in salt, minced garlic and black pepper.
- Give a thorough mix and rub onto the chicken (careful not to tear-off the skin from the chicken).
- Let it rest for at least 15 min.
Prep Marinade
- Pour soy sauce, water, lemon juice, vinegar, honey, olive oil and minced garlic together.
Spring Onion Prep
- Split spring onion strips in half (white stalk portion). Separate each layer from each other.
- Fold in half. Make thin Julienne cuts (reference video).
- Fill a bowl with very cold water and let the strips soak in the water for 10 minutes. This will help get rid of the strong onion taste.
Battering
- Drop an egg into the mixing bowl with the chicken pieces.
- Then take out a separate mixing bowl and put-in the flour and potato starch. Mix this together. Then pour this mix back into the bowl with the chicken (from step above). Mix everything together and get each chicken piece thoroughly coated.
- Shake off the excess flour and place each coated chicken strip onto a separate rack or plate for frying.
Double-frying
- Take out a frying pot or work and fill with cooking oil. Bring the oil up to 150 degrees Celsius (~300F). Gently place each chicken piece into oil and let it cook until light brown (10-15 min). Take the chicken out and let them rest. Technically, you can finish here!
- If you would like to double-fry for an extra crispy texture, raise the oil to 180 degrees (~350) and double-fry until golden brown.
Assembly
- Place fried chicken on plate. Place spring onion strips on top. Place spoonfuls of sauce over spring onion and chicken! Enjoy!
Notes
- I am a using a whole chicken (with bone-in). But feel free to use any chicken cut - thighs, drumsticks, breasts
- Make sure to use potato starch - this is what makes it extra crispy
- See video below for more details
Elaine says
Absolutely loved this recipe! I had this is K-town NYC, and I fell in love. I've been trying to find a recipe to make it, and I stumbled upon your recipe. It was perfect. Thanks so much for sharing!