The Hirshon “KFC” Nuggets – 닭강정

Citizens, after being on the road for a week with 2 Finnish friends, I learned that one of them used to be a diplomat and lived in Seoul for some time. He expressed in poetic and dulcet tones how much he loved and missed the “Korean Fried Chicken” from the Seoul street food scene – spicy, sweet, sticky and utterly delicious.

I, the merciful and all-powerful TFD, have undertaken to rectify my friend’s craving – Jussi (pronounced You-see), this one is for you! 😀

Korean fried chicken or KFC, usually called chikin (치킨, from the English “chicken”) in Korea, refers to a variety of fried chicken dishes from South Korea.

In South Korea, fried chicken is consumed as a meal, an appetizer, anju (food that is served and eaten with drinks), or as an after-meal snack.

Korean fried chicken differs from typical American fried chicken because it is fried twice; the skin is therefore crunchier and less greasy.

Furthermore, KFC is not characterized by the crags and crusty nubs associated with American fried chicken; it was described by Julia Moskin of The New York Times as a “thin, crackly and almost transparent crust”.

The chicken is usually seasoned with spices, sugar, and salt, prior to and after being fried. Pickled radishes, beer, and soju are often served with KFC.

The Korean word chikin (치킨) refers to fried chicken (and occasionally also to roasted chicken), while the name for the domesticated fowl is dak (닭). The word is shortened from peuraideu chikin (프라이드 치킨), which is a transliteration of the English phrase “fried chicken”.

According to the National Institute of Korean Language, the word chikin (치킨) refers to “a dish made by coating chopped chicken with flour, and frying or baking it”.

Fried chickens that are not chopped before frying are called tongdak (통닭, “whole chicken”). Both chikin and tongdak are occasionally referred to as dak twigim (닭튀김, “chicken fritter”).

The first modern-style fried-chicken franchise, Lims Chicken, was established in 1977 in the basement of Shinsegae Department Store, Chungmu-ro, Seoul. Pelicana Chicken claim to have invented the recipe for yangnyeom chikin, using gochujang and strawberry jam as seasoning, in 1982.

In recent years, owing to market saturation in Korea, many of Korea’s major fried chicken chains, such as Mexicana Chicken, Genesis BBQ, Kyochon Chicken and Pelicana Chicken, have expanded to set up new presences in the United States, China and Southeast Asia.

Yangnyeom chikin (양념 치킨, “seasoned chicken”) – also known in the West as yangnyeom tongdak (양념 통닭, “seasoned whole chicken”) despite not being tongdak, and also sometimes used as a synonym for “Korean fried chicken” or KFC by Western media, this is fried chicken coated in gochujang-based sweet and spicy sauce.

Citizens, this last is the version of the “KFC” recipe I like most ( it is also known as Dakgangjeong in Korean) and it is supremely tasty and addictive – try it for yourself and know the true glory of this magnificent and awe-inspiring recipe (aka my own!).

As it happens, my KFC recipe uses both potato starch and ground-up shrimp chips (which are made with tapioca flour) to coat the chicken, making it as gluten-free as it is delicious.

You want to get your hands on shrimp chips that have not yet been fried for this recipe. They will look and feel like small, hard discs, rather than the puffy, light crisps you may be familiar with. Often the packaging will say “unfried” or “DIY.” Sometimes they come multicolored! You can buy them here.

This is a truly delicious and authentic KFC recipe I am quite certain you will love, my Citizens! Try this dish with a side of savory Korean egg pancakes!

Battle on – The Generalissimo

The Hirshon “KFC” Nuggets – 닭강정

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Ingredients

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• For the chicken:
• 2 medium-sized boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 3 tablespoons potato starch
• 1 tablespoon of unfried shrimp chips, whizzed to crumbs in a blender – grind the shrimp chips on high speed until granular in texture.
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon finely minced garlic
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon Chinese Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
• Several cups of oil for deep frying
• For the sauce:
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 6 tablespoons rice wine (Sake) or Korean soju (preferred)
• 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1–2 tablespoon (less for sensitive tongues, more if you really dig the spicy) chili paste (Gochujang | 고추장))
• 6 tablespoons honey (or corn or rice syrup)
• 4 teaspoons sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic
• 3 teaspoons grated ginger
• pinch of white pepper
• optional: 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped peanuts or almonds for garnish

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Instructions

1. Slice the chicken breasts very thinly, then cut into small pieces. Place the chicken pieces in a mixing bowl, and add the potato starch, ground-up shrimp chips, ginger, salt, and rice wine. Mix well to combine. Set aside.
2. To make the sauce, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Do not burn the garlic. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients to the skillet, mix well. Bring the sauce to boil and let it thicken, for about 1 minute. Set aside.
3. Heat oil for frying in a deep skillet or wok. The temperature should be around 160-170˚C (325˚F). Using a small cookie scoop or spoon, drop a tablespoonful of the chicken into the hot oil. Fry until lightly golden.
4. Take them out onto a plate lined with a paper towel. After you have finished frying the entire batch of the chicken, you need to repeat the frying again so that you can deep-fry the chicken twice. This will help chicken to be very crisp – you want a nice golden color.
5. Return the chicken into the reserved sauce in the skillet, and add some chopped peanuts as well. Toss them to coat evenly.
6. Garnish with more peanuts on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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• Category: Recipes