The recipe for these spicy fried chicken bites is a mash up of Japanese and Korean fried chicken. Best of both worlds in one bite!
Korean fried chicken (KFC) is still riding the food trend craze. The secret to the extra crunchy coat? It’s the “double fry”! I’ve only actually had it once in the city at a now closed eatery. Perhaps it was the eatery, but I didn’t think that KFC lived up to the hypermanic hype that I was hearing and reading about. So, as with most crazy food trends (and typically with those involving Korean food), I took it upon myself to test out recipes to come up with my own version. Anyway, this one isn’t as earth shattering as some others I have tackled (check out my Spam ramen burger, bibimbap burger, and ramen waffles), but it’s one that I can easily make on a weeknight. And the bonus? My kids love it! What I have simply done is take the Japanese fried chicken or kaarage and slathered it in a spicy gochujang sauce that is popular with the Korean fried chicken.
Serve this up at your next sports gathering, girls night in, or what have you. Toss half the chicken in the sauce and leave the rest “naked” for those sensitive to the heat. Or set aside a small bowl of the sauce to dip. Save the leftover sauce in an air-tight container and enjoy with other foods that you typically slather with hot sauce. Wherever and however you serve the chicken, it will be gone before you can say JKFC!
Spicy Fried Chicken Bites
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons mirin
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 pounds boneless skinless, chicken thighs cut into 2-inch cubes
- For the spicy gochujang sauce:
- 1/4 cup gochujang
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3 Tablespoon honey or brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white flour
- 1/2 cup potato flour
- Cooking oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, mirin, a pinch of salt, and black pepper. Add the chicken and give it a few stirs until the chicken is coated. Let marinate for at least 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, in another bowl, whisk together the gochujang, soy sauce, sesame oil, white vinegar, ginger, garlic, and honey. Set aside.
- In a shallow pan or rimmed platter, mix together the white flour and potato flour.
- In a skillet or shallow pan, pour enough cooking oil to about a 1-inch depth. Heat the oil over medium heat to about 350 degrees F.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade, shake the excess off the pieces, and toss the pieces in the flour mixture until fully coated.
- Carefully add the chicken into the oil. Work in batches. Cook one side until a light golden brown, about 3 minutes and flip. Cook that side until golden brown, about another 3 minutes.Scoop finished chicken onto a baking rack or platter lined with paper towels.
- Repeat for the remaining chicken pieces.
- Once cooled, place the chicken in a large mixing bowl. Add enough gochujang sauce to coat the pieces.
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