Easy Crispy Korean Fried Chicken
Treat your family to this easy Korean fried chicken recipe for your next weekend dinner. It delivers juicy meat with a golden brown crispy coating that beats expensive takeout. Serve this crunchy main dish to save money and impress everyone.
Ingredients
- 8 chicken drumsticks patted dry
- 4 cups vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Chicken Marinade:
- 1 tablespoon dry sherry or use Shaoxing wine / rice vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1.5 teaspoon regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
- 3 garlic cloves finely minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
Batter:
- 1.25 cups tapioca starch (aka tapioca flour) or use potato starch
- 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 ice-cold (measure liquid only without the ice cubes)
Instructions
- Combine the dry sherry, soy sauce, minced garlic, black pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Add the chicken drumsticks to the mixture, tossing until well coated. Cover and marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature, or refrigerate overnight if time permits.
- Combine the tapioca starch, onion powder, garlic powder, curry powder, salt, black pepper, baking powder, and ice-cold water in a separate large bowl until well combined. Note that the starch will settle and solidify over time. Stir the mixture thoroughly right before coating the chicken to recombine the liquids.
- Coat the marinated drumsticks into the wet batter. Toss the chicken until every piece is evenly coated in the liquid starch mixture. You will need to give them a quick toss again so they're evenly coated just before frying.
- Heat vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat until it reaches 350ºF. Fry the coated drumsticks in small batches. Cook for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through and rotating occasionally until the crust is a deep golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 165ºF on a digital meat thermometer.
- Transfer the fried chicken to an elevated wire rack to let excess oil drain off. Serve hot.
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Nutrition
Calories: 515kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 139mg | Sodium: 1374mg | Potassium: 420mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.2g | Vitamin A: 87IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 152mg | Iron: 3mg