Korean Tongdak-Style Fried Garlic Chicken With Garlic Sauce Image Used Under Creative Commons License From insaengdomae.com
My GLORIOUS Citizens of TFD Nation – attend, for the King of Korean cuisine has descended from the Diamond Mountain to bring you not “Morning Calm” but “Evening Excitement” instead with a dish that defines late-night good eats in the back alleys of Korean neighborhood haunts! You may be familiar with the now world-famous KFC – Korean Fried Chicken – but today I give you its street cousin! A whole deep fried flattened garlic and sauce-laden hangover cure, known as Tongdak-style chicken, and with a unique KENTUCKYKFC twist courtesy of the fusion genius of TFD!
As long-time TFD Citizens are aware, I am in point of fact a fully-awarded Kentucky Colonel and as such, this is actually the second Kentucky/Asian fusion recipe I have Mastered – this is the first! Finding a way to integrate both the Korean and Kentucky forms of KFC has been a long-standing crazy dream of mine, and today My efforts are your reward! I have FINALLY AND MASTERFULLY succeeded where all others before ME have failed!
They called Me mad – NOW THEY WILL ALL RUE THE DAY THEY MOCKED ME! FEAR MY TRIUMPH!!!
Ahem…
Joking now aside, let us first begin with the history of Tongdak-style KFC!
Tongdak (Korean: 통닭; lit. whole chicken) was the first modern fried chicken recipe in South Korean cuisine, prepared by deep-frying a whole spatchcocked (split and flattened) bird. It was very popular food in the 1970s, being the only kind of fried chicken sold in Korea at that time – today, it is recognized as the antediluvian ancestor of KFC – the Australopithicine “proto-Korean fried chicken”, as it were.
As more varieties of “whole chicken” dishes are also enjoyed in Korea nowadays and the generic term tongdak can refer to any “whole chicken” (e.g. rotisserie chicken is called jeongi-gui-tongdak (전기구이 통닭, “electric-grilled whole chicken”) in Korea), the 70s-style whole chicken is now called yennal-tongdak (옛날통닭, “old-time whole chicken”). It is today sold as retro food in many traditional markets as well as on the streets in provincial cities. Suwon in Gyeonggi Province is famous for its tongdak golmok (통닭골목, “tongdak alley”) with dozens of tongdak restaurants that are more than 40 years old.
Whole chicken seasoned with salt and black pepper is coated with a thin layer of weak flour (wheat flour with a low W), and deep-fried on low heat for a long time. Before frying, cuts are made to the thicker parts such as the breast and thighs to cook the chicken evenly.
Tongdak-style chicken’s history is very well-researched on creatrip.com, as part of a larger article on the history of KFC in Korea – lightly excerpted here:
Koreans eat a lot of chicken. As of 2019, the chicken restaurant count in Korea is 87,000! Chicken is considered a soul food in Korea and has seen many different iterations throughout history. Today let’s learn about how chicken changed and evolved over the years to suit our taste preferences. You probably weren’t expecting to hear about Joseon when talking about the history of fried chicken, were you?
Surprisingly, even back then there was a dish somewhat similar to modern fried chicken. It is called Pogye (포계) and appears in a cook book called Sangayorok (산가요록), written by a royal doctor during King Sejong’s reign. Since King Sejong was known to love meat, it is believed this dish would have often been on the surasang (수라상), the Korean royal table.
To make Pogye, the chicken is first stir-fried and seasoned with soy sauce. After that, a mixture of flour, soy sauce, and sesame oil is added to the pan. Finally, vinegar and sesame oil are added as finishing touch. It is very different from the fried chicken we know well now, but similarities can be found. The biggest difference though is that this dish was reserved for the wealthy upper class as meat was very precious at the time.
American fried chicken was first introduced to Korea during the Korean War. Influenced by the way U.S. soldiers prepared chicken, Korean-style chicken dishes, which were typically boiled or steamed, began to change significantly. Myeongdong’s Yeongyang Center, a restaurant that opened in 1960, launched rotisserie chicken – whole roasted chicken. Cooking oil was not commercialized, so instead of frying in oil, Koreans roasted chicken in electric ovens.
It was believed to be very healthy, since it was roasted rather than fried, hence the name Yeongyang (영양) which means “nutrition”. In 1968, an advertisement was posted saying that delivery services were also available, and so chicken delivery in Korea was born. As you can see in the photos, at this time chicken was roasted whole, unlike today where it is cut into pieces, so the term “tongdak” (통닭) meaning “whole chicken” was used.
In 1971, the food brand Haepyo began selling affordable cooking oil, making it easily accessible to many, and so true fried chicken started appearing in Korea. Lims Chicken (림스치킨) is Korea’s first fried chicken chain and started as a small shop at Shinsegae Department Store’s headquarters. Until then, whole rotisserie chicken was the trend, so it took a few months for the southern American-inspired cut up fried chicken to take off.
At the urging of regular customers to Lims chicken, the restaurant began using flour to bread the chicken, and thus the fried chicken franchise concept was born. At one point there were as many as 400 branch locations, but today there are a more modest 80 locations nationwide.
In the 1980s, the popularity of rotisserie chicken waned due to new chicken dishes. To try to keep up with the times, people started installing ovens in vehicles, opening whole chicken food trucks. Yeongyang Center in Myeongdong is still open and operating as it has for the last 50 years, but moved down the street a bit to Chungmuro.
In the 80s, the emergence of Yangnyeom chicken (양념치킨), fried chicken that incorporated Korean flavors, shook the fried chicken scene. The sweet and spicy taste captivated Koreans‘ tastes and created a cultural phenomenon. The first person to make the seasoning for yangnyeom chicken is Yoon Jong-gye, the founder of Mexican Chicken.
While in the fried chicken business, he witnessed customers leaving chicken that cooled down and lost its taste while eating. So to deal with this issue, he developed a new iteration called yangnyeom chicken that could be enjoyed even when cold. It is said that he spent six months developing seasonings, but no matter how many ingredients he tried, no satisfactory results came out.
However, thanks to the advice from an older woman in the neighborhood to add cornstarch, he found the answer. His iconic seasoning recipe incorporates Korean red pepper powder (고춧가루) and carrots instead of red pepper paste (고추장) to preserve the taste and sticky texture. At the time, the concept of patent rights for the general public was not yet common or customary, so Yoon Jong-gye did not register a patent for his sauce.
One of his employees registered a patent for the seasoning, which threatened Yoon Jong-gye’s entire business as he would be unable to sell his chicken. Fortunately, the court’s ruled in Yoon Jong-gye’s favor and the employee could have faced criminal charges; however, Yoon did not want to punish his colleague, so both ended up giving up the patent registration, making yangnyeom chicken available to anyone to make and sell patent-free.
Despite all of this, he made a huge impact on the market and is remembered as the originator of the seasoned Korean fried chicken, which is satisfaction enough for him. The perception of the chicken business was not very good previously, but thanks to the success of Mexican Chicken and all subsequent franchises, people’s perceptions started to change and become more favorable.
If you ask my parents’ generation about the origins of seasoned chicken, many will think of Pericana Chicken (페리카나치킨). Pericana introduced a chicken seasoned with red pepper paste (고추장) and recruited Choi Yang-Rak, a famous comedian, as an advertising model. The advertisement was very popular and people lined up 50m to buy their seasoned chicken.
Because of this, there was a controversy over the origins of yangnyeom chicken; however, Mexican Chicken was in fact the first to create seasoned chicken, while Pericana took the lead in popularizing the dish. So both brands were instrumental in the yangnyeom chicken trend and definitely made their marks in the Korean chicken market.
Since the advent of seasoned chicken, the popularity of chicken has increased rapidly, with numerous chains emerging. Several brands, including Kyochon Tongdak (the original name of Kyochon Chicken), Nene Chicken, BBQ, Hosigi Double Chicken, Byulhana Chicken (now BHC), which we all know well were all created in the 90s.
Previously, chicken restaurants were viewed as places to drink and eat chicken as a side with your alcohol; however, BBQ has set itself apart by establishing an identity called a “chicken-oriented” pub (치킨을 위주로 하는). Because of this, chicken came to be thought of as a main dish and not just a side dish for alcohol.
From the 2000s to the present, the chicken industry has flourished, creating numerous new flavors and variations. It is not clear exactly when and by whom boneless chicken was first introduced. Since boneless chicken has existed in different forms such as chicken nuggets and Japanese Karage for a while, it’s difficult to pin point.
However one thing that is certain is that boneless chicken was a tremendous revolution for Korean consumers. Removing the bones makes chicken more convenient to eat and also there is less waste to deal with. (NOTE: TFD has previously created a classic KFC boneless chicken recipe, found here.)
You may have heard the term “chimaek” (치맥) before which is a combination of the words “chicken” and “maekju” (beer). Since the 70s and 80s when most chicken restaurants were run in the form of pubs, Koreans have enjoyed the pairing of chicken and beer. However, at that time, chicken was seen as a side dish for alcohol, whereas now it is more seen as a main dish that pairs harmoniously with beer.
Chicken and beer culture started in 2002 during the Korea-Japan World Cup. At that time, the Korean national team made a huge achievement by advancing to the semifinals, and whenever people watched the game, they ordered chicken as the main food and drank beer together.
Around 2010, Gyowon Chicken in Daejeon and Wangcheon Chicken in Sejong presented fried chicken served with green onion salad, called padak (파앍). Both restaurants are cited as the originators of this take on fried chicken, which has become popular across the country.
Seasoning Chicken (시즈닝 치킨) is sprinkled with cheese powder and has become very popular for its unique taste. BHC’s Bburinkle Chicken, one of the famous types of seasoning chicken was released in 2014; however Nene Chicken actually came out with Snowing Chicken in 2009 and so they sued BHC for patent violation, but the court ruled in favor of BHC.
As we saw with the case of yangnyeom chicken, patent rights also play a very important role in chicken recipes. This is because more customers flock to original and unique menu items, which greatly affects the companies.
In 2015, honey butter chicken (허니버터 치킨) was released. Inspired by the famous Korean potato chips, there are very few franchises that don’t currently serve honey butter chicken.
As you can see, the history of KFC (Korean) is quite diverse and as a Kentucky Colonel, I wanted to find a way to merge the two variants of fried chicken together – but WITHOUT corrupting the inherent DNA of the Korean counterpart. After much meditation under a waterfall…I have achieved My enlightenment!
Takigyo Image Used Under Creative Commons License From soranews24.com
In an inspiration truly granted by Divine fiat, I have incorporated the Colonel’s own original 11 herbs and spices seasoning into My version of Korean KFC – and it truly transforms the dish into something EXTRAORDINARY! You didn’t know that you can actually BUY that secret seasoning blend, did you? Well – YOU CAN and its a simple online purchase!
A copy of the original 11 herbs and spices recipe, signed by Sanders, is stored within a vault at KFC’s Louisville headquarters, along with 11 separate vials that each contain one of the ingredients. KFC employs two different firms, Griffith Laboratories and McCormick & Company, to formulate the blend; to maintain secrecy, each firm is given a different half of the recipe. Once the Griffith portion has been formulated, it is sent to McCormick and combined with the remaining ingredients there.
It is well attested that Harland Sanders asked Bill Summers of Marion-Kay Spices in Brownstown, Indiana, US to recreate his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices. Sanders recommended the Marion-Kay seasoning to franchisees over the corporate version, as he believed the latter had been made inferior by the corporation’s inattention.
Following Sanders’ passing, KFC sued Marion-Kay in 1982, and the latter was forbidden from selling its mixture to KFC franchises as a result. The Marion-Kay seasoning is still sold under the name “99-X”, and according to Sanders biographer Josh Ozersky, it is indistinguishable from the original KFC recipe.
Now – as to making Tongdak-style fried chicken, the TFD way!
Tongdak-style chicken MUST be spatchcocked – it isn’t hard to do it, but for the sake of expediency, just have your butcher take care of it when you buy the bird. If you want to undertake it yourself, this video deftly demonstrates the technique.
Once spatchcocked, you will deep-fry the chicken not once, but twice to achieve the ultimate crispiness and savor! As anybody who has ever eaten anything at a Korean restaurant knows, there is a LOT OF GARLIC used in this cuisine – just one other reason I am so fond of it! My innovation is to very lightly coat the chicken with a garlic paste (Lebanese toum to be exact) to help achieve a savory garlic crust! This – by far – is the best toum you can buy, and trust Me, it will be your new go-to in any number of different recipes.
As garlic is the defining flavor in this recipe – PLEASE take the time to buy heirloom garlic that has real punch and garlic character – the crap in your Safeway is Chinese garlic that is at least a year old and devoid of much flavor. If you can see actual roots on the bottom of the head, it’s American and fresher. If possible, buy an heirloom version (I personally like the Pyongyang variety, which you can buy from this excellent purveyor and many others).
Astute Citizens will notice an unusual ingredient in the crust portion of the recipe – baking powder (NOT baking soda!!!)! Why? Simple – read this article at Serious Eats that explains why you really want to use this in your dry brining and fried chicken crust recipes moving forward!
You will also need some Korean roasted soybean powder for the crust, which adds a subtle but needed nuttiness – buy it here.
You’re going to need 4 whole HEADS of garlic to make My unmatched sauce – plus several black garlic cloves (buy them here) and a few loose ones to microplane into the sauce at the very end. Fear not, the cooked toum has a nutty garlic taste under the nearly paper-thin batter, and the 4 heads of garlic are actually roasted so they are very savory and not that strong. Further, the black garlic adds sweetness and umami while the microplaned garlic adds a serious punch to the sauce at the end. Multiple layers of flavoring indeed – achieved solely by the Sorcerer of Spice!
The sauce is both sweet from honey and spicy-umami from Korean red pepper paste (gochujang, buy My preferred artisinal brand from here). It further evokes a salty-umami kick from the 99-X KFC salt blend as well as a nutty aftertaste thanks to sesame oil (this is My only preferred brand!)! My Tongdak-style chicken sauce is supremely addictive and will make even an old sneaker eminently delicious!
Citizens – I hope you come to enjoy this retro-oriented dish as much as I do and that Tongdak-style chicken never fades into that good night to disappear from plates in Korea (or here!).
Cut off the very top of the garlic heads. Place the garlic bulbs on aluminium foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap tightly and bake at 400F for 30 minutes.
Squeeze out the baked garlic cloves. Add in rest of the ingredients and blend. Refrigerate.
Spatchcock the chicken (or have your butcher do it for you). If doing it yourself, cut down the center of the chicken breast. Pop open the center collar bone and flatten. Dislocate the joint connecting the thigh to the body so that the chicken lays flat.
Cut slashes into the breasts and the thighs to help even out their cook time – it also helps the toum penetrate.
Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and salt liberally with kosher salt. Keep it uncovered in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight. This process allows all the excess moisture to be drawn out of the chicken and makes for a crispier fry.
Prepare a large pot or wok with ample oil to fry (TFD prefers a 50/50 blend of peanut and corn oils). Heat on high until the oil reaches 170C / 340F. (We’ll be frying it twice, once at a lower temperature around 160C/320F and again at 180C/355F. You want the oil to be higher because the temperature will drop once we put the chicken in!)
Prepare the batter, remove chicken from fridge 30 minutes before cooking – brush off any loose salt and dry it with paper towels.
Coat the chicken with a VERY thin coating of toum, and massage it into the cut slits. Then, dip the chicken in the batter, making sure the batter coats all of the chicken.
Gently drop the chicken into the oil.
Using a sieve, fish out any of the excess batter that floats to the top. You might think that there’s not enough batter on the chicken and that the chicken looks like there’s nothing coating it. Trust the process, the batter should be so thin that it barely covers the chicken and the result will be super golden brown and crunchy.
Fry on each side for about 10 minutes on each side. The cook time will depend on the size of the bird. It should be around 6 minutes per pound of meat.
Take out once golden and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Heat the oil back on high to 355F and double-fry again for 1 minute on each side.
Place the chicken on a wired rack and let it rest again for ten minutes.
Smother in the garlic sauce and enjoy!
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