Korean Fried Wings

Inspired by Bonchon & Mission Chinese - New York, NY

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I attended college in midtown Manhattan a few blocks from Korea Town. At that point in life I had tried my fair share of chicken wings as the game-time snack of choice nationwide. Korean fried chicken took this love to a different level. Fried in starch, not flour. And fried not once, but twice - these wings take time, but are better and crispier than anything you can find at your typical pub.

I first remember having Korean Fried Chicken at Bonchon in NYC. They used to have these all-you-can-eat/drink nights during college and I ‘d go with friends to splurge and partake in this ritual. Probably best known for their soy-garlic sauce, Bonchon has a few locations now, and their chicken remains great. I follow some of their rules but also adapted my process from the great Anthony Bourdain and his cookbook Appetites. And he adapted his technique from Danny Bowien at the renown Mission Chinese. There’s plenty of influence here but the principles remain the same. You can toss these with traditional buffalo sauce as I did here but they are also great with the Korean sauces included as well.

INGREDIENTS

KOREAN FRIED WINGS (Serves 6-8):

  • 4 lbs chicken wings

  • 1 cup potato starch (tapioca starch or corn starch works too)

  • 4 quarts of canola or peanut oil

TRADITIONAL BRINE:

  • 8 cups water

  • ½ cup of salt

  • ½ cup of sugar

  • ⅓ cup white vinegar

  • ¼ red pepper flakes (optional)

  • 2 TBS pepper

  • 1 TBS white pepper (optional)

KOREAN MARINADE:

  • 1 cup chili oil

  • ¼ cup salt

  • 1 TBS gochugaru (Korean pepper flakes)

BUFFALO SAUCE:

  • 1 cup Frank’s red hot sauce

  • ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

  • 2 TBS white vinegar

  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper (adds heat - adjust as per your preference)

  • ¼ tsp garlic powder

KOREAN GOCHUJANG SAUCE:

  • 1 cup gochujang (Korean chili paste - available at most supermarkets these days)

  • 8 cloves of garlic

  • ½ cup of maple syrup

  • 1 TBS soy sauce

  • 2 tsp fish sauce

  • ¼ cup of rice wine/vinegar

  • ¼ cup Frank’s red hot sauce

  • 2 tsp MSG (trust me)

BONCHON SOY GARLIC SAUCE:

  • 12 minced garlic cloves

  • ⅓ cup soy sauce

  • ½ cup of mirin

  • ⅓ cup brown sugar

  • 2 TBS grated ginger

  • 2 TBS cornstarch

GO FOR IT

KOREAN FRIED WINGS:

  1. Decide on using the traditional brine or Korean marinade and in a bowl, mix and combine your chosen ingredients

  2. Cover your wings in brine or marinade (wings should be cut into separate wingette and drumette pieces)

  3. Wings in traditional brine should sit in refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours, while wings in Korean marinade should sit in refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour

  4. After allotted time, remove wings from liquid and allow excess to drip off (you do not need to pat completely dry)

  5. Meanwhile, begin heating oil on high in a large frying pan or dutch over

  6. In a bowl, place your potato starch

  7. Coat wings heavily in starch, then move to cooling rack

  8. When oil reaches 300° (I’m a big advocate for owning a digital thermometer to up your cooking game), carefully drop wings in oil (work in batches so you do not overcrowd the pot and do not splash)

  9. Cook wings 5 to 6 minutes while monitoring heat to keep oil at 300° (this will cook them about 75%)

  10. After time, remove wings to cooling rack as you finished all batches and allow to rest for a few minutes

  11. When finished, increase oil to 350° (let oil cool first if more oil needs to be added after first fry)

  12. Using same batch method, cook wings in oil until golden brown (will be about another 5 to 6 minutes)

  13. Toss wings in sauce of choice and ENJOY!

BUFFALO SAUCE:

  1. Combine all ingredients in sauce pan and stir over low heat until everything is well combined (taste and adjust ingredients as preferred)

KOREAN GOCHUJANG SAUCE:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until well combine and use brush to coat finished wings

BONCHON SOY GARLIC SAUCE:

  1. Combine garlic, soy, mirin, brown sugar, ginger, and about 2 TBS of water in sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat

  2. Meanwhile, in a bowl combine 2 TBS starch with 2 TBS cold water and whisk to disolve

  3. Once liquid in saucepan has been at a simmer for 2 minutes, slowly pour in starch slurry while simmering and stirring until correct consistency is reached (about 2 minutes for something not too thick, not too thin)

  4. Pass finished sauce through a mesh strainer to remove solid ingredients before tossing with finished wings

NOTES:

As you can see from my intro, there are several influences here but this is what I’ve come to make most often at home. But, I want to acknowledge the differences here.

Bourdain and Bowien recommend freezing your wings overnight after the 1st fry, defrosting them for an hour the next day, then doing the 2nd fry. I’ve done this and you can too. However, I’ve found there’s not much of a difference in taste and crispiness from wings that go into the 2nd fry shortly after the 1st fry, and those that get frozen overnight. It’s a bit of overkill but if you really want to jack things up then go for it but I don’t think it’s entirely necessary.

Bonchon does something completely different. They double fry but they take the cup of starch and combine that with about 2 tsp of salt and about ½ cup of water to form a batter. They will coat their chicken wings in this batter rather than just the dry starch. Obviously, this will create a crispy breaded coat on the chicken. It is also delicious and I will sometimes do this route with wings, chicken strips, and drumsticks and you should try too. However, I enjoy making a more traditional wing using the double fry method for large gatherings. I can toss it in buffalo sauce and those unfamiliar with the double fry method will wonder how my wings are so much crispier than their favorite bar.