Dakgangjeong Chicken Recipe

4.70 from 30 votes

Cut up 400 grams of chicken breast into 3-4 cm pieces and place them into a large mixing bowl. Season with Salt (5 shakes), Black Pepper (5 shakes), Minced Ginger (½ teaspoon!) and Mirim (1 Tablespoon). Use your hands and mix it around together. Let the pieces marinate for at least 1 hour.

Select a marinade to make - either Soy Garlic or Spicy Yangnyeom. Then mix all of the stated ingredients under either marinade. (Note: For the Spicy Yangnyeom, add-in everything EXCEPT for the last two ingredients - vegetable oil & gochugaru. We'll use those two later in the process)

Back to the marinating chicken. After 1 hour of marinating, empty out any residual liquid (if any) that's pooled at the bottom of the bowl. Then add in ¾ cup of water into the bowl. Followed by 2 Tablespoons of potato starch powder. Give it all a good mix with your hand. Set it aside.
Take out another mixing bowl and now let's make the dry batter: Place-in Frying Mix (¾ cup) and Potato Starch Powder (½ cup). Mix it together with a whisk.
Now take out a plastic bag. Open it up. Use your hands and carefully scoop-out the wet chicken pieces and place them into the plastic bag. Then add-in the dry batter mix (from the step above). Twist the bag a few times and give it a very good shake. Open the beg and check that each of the pieces are well coated. Now we're ready to fry!

Place in a good amount of vegetable oil into a large pot or wok. Place the pot on a medium-heat and wait until the oil gets hot. Place a wooden chopstick into the oil to check if bubbles rise (reference video). If it does, carefully place each of the battered chicken into the oil. Fry the pieces for 3-4 minutes. After 4 minutes, scoop-out the chicken. The chicken will still be white on the outside (that's ok). We're going to fry once more. Repeat this steps until all of the chicken pieces are fried.
Now scoop-out any loose batter from the oil. Raise the heat slightly - we want the oil to get hotter. Check to see the temperature by dropping in one of the chicken pieces and seeing if it sizzles alot. If it does, this means its good to go! Carefully, add in the chicken pieces and let them fry until the exterior turns a light golden brown (reference video). Then scoop them out onto a rack or paper-towel lined bowl.

Take out a separate pot. Place it on medium heat. Once the pot is hot, give your Soy-Garlic Sauce a good stir and add it into the pot. Stir-it around for about 20 seconds - or until the sauce begins to bubble up. Once it does, add in the fried chicken pieces. Stir it around in the sauce until the sauce reduces into a glaze. Turn off the heat - plate and enjoy!!

Take out a separate pot. Place on low heat. Once the pot is hot, add in 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil. Then add-in ½ Tablespoon of Gochugaru. Once the gochugaru starts to bubble-up and dissolve into the oil, add in the Spicy Yangnyeom Sauce. Stir-it around for about 20 seconds - or until the sauce begins to bubble up. Once it does, add in the fried chicken pieces. Stir it around in the sauce until the sauce reduces into a glaze. Turn off the heat - plate and enjoy!!