Korean Fried Chicken. Juicy fried battered chicken with a golden brown crispy coating. An easy Korean recipe made with simple ingredients!
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What is Korean Fried Chicken?
Korean Fried Chicken is made of flavorful fried chicken with a crunchy crust that is juicy on the inside. The chicken is seasoned in a soy marinade and a hint of curry (the secret ingredient that sets it apart from American fried chicken).
In the 1940's during the Korean war, the idea of fried chicken was brought to South Korea from the United States by African-American troops. This Korean dish is popularly sold at many Korean restaurants. In fact there are chicken restaurants specializing in this dish.
This popular Korean food is often enjoyed with a cold beer. It's important to note that there are variations of this dish like yangnyeom chicken, which has spicy sauce. There's a version with a soy garlic sauce. Today, we're making the sauceless one which is my personal favorite!
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Chicken drumsticks: or substitute with bone-in skin on chicken thighs or chicken wings but please refer to recipe card for instructions.
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil or heavy scented oils.
Chicken marinade
- Rice Vinegar, Dry Sherry or White Wine: or substitute with apple cider vinegar as a last resort
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- Garlic
- Black Pepper & Salt
Wet batter
- Tapioca flour: or sub with potato starch or cornstarch. Avoid using all purpose flour or it won't be crispy
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Curry powder
- Salt & Black Pepper
- Baking powder: don't skip as it makes the chicken extra crispy
- Cold water: this makes the coating light and flaky!
Note: Your grocery store or Asian market should carry most of these ingredients.
How to make Korean Fried Chicken
Marinate Chicken
In a large bowl or Ziplock bag, combine Marinade ingredients as listed. Add chicken to marinade and mix well. Cover or seal the bag and let this sit for 10 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the fridge for best results.
Prepare Wet Batter
In another large mixing bowl, combine Wet batter ingredients as listed until you have a thick but runny batter. The batter will settle and almost "solidify" but that is normal. You will just need to mix it again when you're ready to batter the chicken.
Batter Chicken
Once your chicken has marinated, add it to your batter and mix. You'll need some arm strength here to evenly coat the chicken.
Heat Oil
In a wok or deep pan or heavy bottom pot, heat your cooking oil over medium heat (oil temperature should be around 350 degrees F). You can check the temperature by using an digital instant read cooking thermometer or place a wooden chopstick in the oil to check if the oil is hot enough by looking for bubbles. Once you see bubbles form at the tip of the chopstick, your oil is hot enough.
Fry Chicken
Carefully lower battered chicken pieces into hot oil away from you to avoid splash back. The batter will run off the chicken a bit but that's normal. Do not overcrowd the pan or cover your pot with a lid.
Cook your drumsticks for 10 minutes on each side, 20 minutes in total, flipping around every now and then. Cook until golden crispy brown and juices run clear. The internal temperature of cooked chicken is 165 F with a meat thermometer.
Let Excess Oil Drip
Transfer to a cooling rack or a pan lined with paper towels so excess oil can drip off to maintain the crispy exterior (extra oil creates a soggy exterior).
Storage & Reheating
This will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
To reheat, you can bake in the oven or air fry at 350 degrees F for 5-7 minutes until hot throughout. Or microwave for 2-3 minutes.
Expert Tips
- Marinate the chicken for longer if possible for best flavors!
- Opt for bone-in, skin-on dark meat for juicy chicken!
- Batter will be runny and will solidify – that’s totally normal! Just mix it again when you batter the chicken.
- Fry in a heavy bottom pot or a deep fryer. This helps maintain the oil temperature.
- Rest chicken on a wire rack or paper towel lined plate to soak up excess oil which can cause chicken to go soggy.
FAQ
Yes! Please find deep frying instructions for each cut in the recipe card below.
Yes, I share a recipe on how to make it the air fryer, check it out here.
Other chicken recipes you may like!
If you enjoyed this easy Korean fried chicken recipe, check these out:
- Sweet Spicy Gochujang Chicken
- Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken
- Japanese Chicken Katsu
- Sweet And Sour Chicken
- Chicken Karaage
- General Tso Chicken
📖 Recipe
Easy Crispy Korean Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 chicken drumsticks
- 4 cups vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Chicken Marinade:
- 1 tablespoon dry sherry or sub with white wine
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1.5 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
Batter (for 8 drumsticks):
- 1.25 cups tapioca starch aka tapioca flour or sub with potato starch or cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1.5 teaspoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp water cold
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine marinade ingredients as listed. Marinate your chicken for 10 minutes or overnight for best results.
- In another large mixing bowl, combine batter ingredients until you have a thick but runny batter. The batter will settle and almost "solidify" but that is normal. You will just need to mix it again when you're ready to batter the chicken.
- Add marinated chicken it to your batter and mix. You'll need some arm strength here to evenly coat the chicken.
- In a large wok, deep pan or heavy bottomed pot, heat oil or neutral oil in a pot over medium heat (around 350 degrees F). Place a wooden chopstick in the oil to check if the oil is hot enough by looking for bubbles. Once you see bubbles form at the tip of the chopstick, your oil is hot enough.
- In small batches, carefully lower battered chicken into hot oil away from you. The batter will run off the chicken a bit but that's normal. Do not overcrowd the pan (about 4 pieces per batch).
- Fry drumsticks for 10 minutes on each side for a total of 20 minutes. Flipping around every now and then until golden crispy brown. The internal temperature of cooked chicken is 165 degrees F with an digital cooking thermometer.
- Transfer fried chicken to a cooling rack or paper towel lined baking sheet to allow excess oil to drip off. Enjoy!
Michelle | Sift & Simmer
I love Korean fried chicken! This looks so crispy and delicious!
Katherine | Love In My Oven
We love fried chicken and I love this Korean spin! It sounds so flavorful!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
Your fried chicken batter is absolutely wonderful... talk about the perfect base to a totally tempting fried chicken dinner. Yum!
Katerina | Once a Foodie
Gosh this fried chicken looks absolutely amazing, Christie! I can just imagine the crunch! And pairing it with some beer sounds like a fab idea - I loved the tidbits about the Korean names for the meal - so interesting! Hope you've been well x
Tasia ~ two sugar bugs
Your fried chicken looks so CRISPY!! I love the addition of curry to the batter and I bet it's so flavorful! Perfect with a cold beer!
Jonathan
Tried this recipe and it's like being back in Korea eating BBQ Chicken with a beer.
Corgionfleek
This is on fleek
Olivia
Yum, this fried chicken recipe came out so well!! I was looking for a good Asian-style fried chicken recipe, but a lot of the results I found called for potato starch and I only had tapioca starch on hand, which is how I found this one. I'm glad I did! I love the addition of curry powder into the batter - the resulting chicken doesnt taste strongly of curry, but the crispy shell is super nicely seasoned and crispy. I actually made double the amount of drumsticks and still had plenty of batter left over, so keep that in mind if you plan to scale up this recipe!
christieathome
So glad you enjoyed this! Thank you for making my recipe! I love using potato starch for that crispy texture!
Pam
Could these be cooked in the air fryer? If so, how would you adjust?
christieathome
Hi Pam, unfortunately not since it's a wet batter, it will slide off into the air fryer. I will be developing an air fryer recipe for these in the near future so stay tuned. - Christie
Carol
My daughter and I are making this, but with chicken breasts cut into strips. I wonder if the cooking time is different?
christieathome
Hi Carol, yes the cooking time would be reduced since there is no bone. I would suggest cooking for 5-6 minutes and then checking the middle of one piece to see if it's cooked through and if not, cook it for another few more minutes until it is. Good luck!
ain
hai.. is there any non alcoholic substitute for sherry or white wine??
christieathome
Please use rice vinegar.
Sheryll
I don’t usually comment on recipes, but this chicken recipe is like chicken on crack! It’s so crispy and delicious. The curry powder definitely elevates the flavor. Your recipe for the batter goes a long way. I was able to coat about 4 dozen chicken wings with some to spare. Thanks for sharing this - it’s a big hit with my family and I’ll definitely be making it again many times!
christieathome
Thank you Sheryll for the kind review! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and happy the batter went event further! I hope you continue to like it as much as the first time 🙂
Kim
Hi just wanted to clarify before I try this recipe. In the beginning of the post you mentioned “tapioca flour” but in the recipe it says to you “tapioca starch” which one is correct? I can’t wait to try this.
christieathome
Hi Kim, tapioca starch and tapioca flour are essentially the same thing depending on the manufacturer. Thanks!
Katy
Yum! We made this tonight, never had Korean fried chicken before. This was delicious!
christieathome
So happy you enjoyed it Katy! I appreciate you making my recipe and for sharing these kind words 🙂
Sandra
Great instructions and great recipe. My wings came out superbly.
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe! I am really happy to hear that they turned out superbly!
Lisa
I absolutely LOVE Korean cooking. I think that people in the US know so very little about Korean recipes. If they did more people would try it and love it! While I have not yet tried this recipe it is definitely on my list for next week! So looking forward to trying it! Thank You for posting! 🙂
christieathome
Thanks Lisa, I hope you enjoy my recipes!
Kristen Cayce
Made this tonight with boneless skinless chix thighs cut into nuggets. My family flipped out for them. They were so flavorful and juicy. Very easy recipe. Thank you.
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe, Kristen! So happy your whole family enjoyed it!
Garry
This looks amazing & I will try very soon.
Thanks Christie
Tom
incredible recipe! i don't think i will want to buy fried chicken ever again lol there was a ton of batter left over for 8 drumsticks (almost half the amount) i would suggest cutting the batter in half for 8 legs or keeping the current recipe for double the amount of chicken. but super tasty and crispy fired chicken
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for sharing your kind review with me Tom! I am so happy that you enjoyed it and thank you for your feedback about the batter. I've reduced the ingredient amounts by half to reflect this. I hope you enjoy this recipe again in the future 🙂
Tom
thank you, Christie for the great recipe! i actually thought it was handy to have some left over batter as i will use it again tomorrow! lol cheers
Tom Cooney
Tried this today on chicken legs. This is now one of my favorites! Flavorful and super crispy! Can't wait to try it on boneless chicken thighs next!
Christie Lai
I am so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for making my recipe and for sharing this kind review with me, Tom! Have a fantastic day 🙂
Ashley
I love this recipe! I originally made this with drumsticks and tried it again tonight with chicken breast. This makes for a mean chicken sandwich in a pinch. (I omit curry powder and add cayenne and paprika instead.) Thank you for sharing!
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for leaving such a kind review, Ashley! I'm so happy you love it with both cuts of meat. Have a great weekend!