Korean Popcorn Chicken
Zach 👨🏻🍳 cooked this in a TikTok video. SeeMeCook wrote it up from the video as a full recipe and added ingredient weights and nutrition.
Watch the original videoImported by Andries Jongsma on SeeMeCook
Crispy twice-fried chicken thighs coated in a sweet, savory, spicy Korean-inspired sauce. The chicken is seasoned, fried until exceptionally crisp, and glazed with a bubbling ketchup-gochujang sauce enriched with butter.
- Time
- 40 minutes
- Equipment
- Stovetop
- Good for
- Lunch, dinner, or snacks
- Cuisine
- East Asian
- Contains
- Gluten, sesame, dairy, eggs, and soy
Diet and allergen details are read from the ingredient names and are not certified.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 50 g
- 25 g
- 25 g
- 3 g
- 1 g
- 3 g
- 2 g
Sauce
- 70 g
- 16 g
- 5 g
- 17 g
- 10 g
- 55 g
- 30 g
Weights are estimates. Together, the ingredients weigh about 750 g before cooking, which is about 190 g per serving.
Steps
Chicken
Cut the chicken thighs into uniform 1-inch pieces so they cook evenly. Place them in a bowl and add the egg, flour, cornstarch, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and ground ginger. Mix thoroughly until every piece is evenly coated in a thick, sticky batter.
Pour enough vegetable oil into a heavy pot or deep skillet to submerge the chicken. Heat the oil to about 340°F (170 °C) (170°C (350 °F)), checking with a thermometer before frying.
Carefully add the coated chicken pieces to the hot oil in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the pan or cause the oil temperature to drop sharply. Fry for about 3 minutes, until the coating is set and lightly golden and the chicken is cooked through.
Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon or spider strainer and transfer it to a wire rack or paper towel-lined plate. Let it drain and rest for a couple of minutes while the oil returns to temperature.
Return the chicken to the hot oil and fry for another 1–2 minutes, until deeply golden and maximally crisp. Transfer it back to the rack or a clean paper towel-lined plate.
Sauce
In a separate pan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the ketchup, low-sodium soy sauce, sesame oil, gochujang, rice vinegar, and brown sugar, and stir until combined.
Let the sauce heat over low heat until it reaches a gentle bubble, stirring occasionally. It should look glossy and slightly thickened; do not let it scorch or boil vigorously.
Add the fried chicken to the warm sauce and toss until every piece is evenly glazed. Serve immediately while the coating is crisp.
Notes
For the crispiest result, fry the chicken twice as directed and avoid overcrowding the pan. The transcript does not explicitly state the final tossing step, but the sauce is intended to coat the fried chicken. Serve immediately; the coating will soften as it sits in the sauce.
Nutrition
These are estimates per serving, worked out from the ingredients.
- Calories
- 483
- Protein
- 32 g
- Carbs
- 31 g
- Fat
- 25 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
Where the calories come from
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