We were watching Hugh Hefner on television one night and I turned to Mr NQN.
“Would you like two or three girlfriends or wives?”
He looked at me, slightly horrified I might add.
“No thanks, you’re a lot of trouble as it is” he said.
I on the other hand could do with a few husbands I think. I could have a husband for doing handy work around the house (something that Mr NQN only undertakes with threat of bodily harm) as well as one to eat cakes (as Mr NQN is not a cake lover). Not that Mr NQN isn’t the most delightful spouse to have but sometimes you need double or triple of what you have.
And when it comes to deep frying, doubling or tripling is like sprinkling something in fairy dust, twice – think twice fried chips. Doubling the frying process is just what makes Korean Fried Chicken such a delicious dish. The chicken is fried twice to give it that uber crunchiness even though it is then drenched in a delectable spicy sauce. And with friend Gina and Hot Dog finishing work on their house and pool we thought what better time to test out the recipe than with a weekend day at their house with other friends Teena, Philippe and Annabel. I drooled when I saw the recipe on Ellie’s blog Kitchen Wench many moons ago and had always intended to make them but alas a fear of deep frying delayed that.
Hot Dog attends to the deep fryer
Gina and Hot Dog are chicken wing lovers from way back-in fact the last time she bought wings she bought 12 kilos of them! They have two deep fat fryers and he chops and separates them while she seasons them and he then jostles the handle like a pro. Most of our group loves a bit of spice so we upped the spice on the outer while leaving little Annabel with just the plain breaded pieces (which incidentally taste just like lightly spiced Kentucky Fried Chicken).
Although Ellie does caution to only put a small amount of sauce on these we couldn’t resist and really dunked them in as we loved the spicy sauce and I ended up making three times the amount of sauce. So perhaps I should add that these are the extremely saucy wings and more of an adaption of Korean Fried Chicken. Her original recipe calls for one third of the quantities so adjust it down if you want it to be the more authentic version. However I will say that it’s the kind of thing that even though you may be wearing a nice outfit (silly me wearing dry clean only), you don’t really care as your teeth sink into the crunchy coating dunked in a spicy, sweet sauce. I’m convinced that even the Queen would roll up her sleeves in dig in and then look up six wings later with a ring of sauce around her mouth smiling.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you mind eating food with your hands or messy food? Or do you prefer knife and fork style food only?
Oh to eat like a kid again! Or a member of KISS…
Korean Spicy Saucy Fried Chicken
Adapted from Ellie at Kitchen Wench
Chicken Marinade Ingredients
- 2kgs/4 pounds chicken wings
- 1 cup milk (can substitute with soy milk if lactose intolerant)
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
Chicken Coating Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Korean curry powder (Ottogi Korean curry powder if you can find it, I couldn’t and used a Baba’s meat curry powder)
- 1/2 cup potato starch (use cornflour or cornstarch if you can’t find this)
- 1 1/2 cups tempura flour (or if you can’t find this, use 1 cup plain all purpose flour and 1/2 cup cornflour or cornstarch)
Sweet & Spicy Sauce Ingredients
- 3 onions, finely diced
- 2-3 tablespoons oil
- 1 cup tomato sauce (Western-style, not the Asian ones which taste completely different)
- 1 cup sweet chilli sauce
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire/Worcester Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups water
- dried chilli flakes to taste (I used about 6 teaspoons so they were spicy!)
- Sliced green onions to serve (optional)
1. Prepare the chicken wings. Using a large knife or cleaver, separate the wing from the drumette and the tips. Cut three slashes into the into each side of the drumette and mid-wing section – this will allow the pre-frying marinade to get right into the meat to keep it moist and impart a little flavour.You don’t need the tips for this recipe and we ended up giving them to Gina and Hot Dog’s puppy dog Indy. Isn’t he cute?
2. Place the marinade ingredients in a large bowl and soak the chicken pieces in it for an hour. After the hour is up, drain the pieces and discard the milk.
The thickened sauce
3. Meanwhile, and this was because the menfolk were starving, I prepped the sauce and the chicken coating ingredients. For the sweet and spicy sauce heat a large frying pan on medium heat and add the oil and saute the onions lightly until soft and fragrant. Then add the tomato sauce, sweet chilli sauce, Worcestershire sauce, water and chilli flakes. It will look pale and uninteresting for a few minutes and then will turn into a glistening deep ruby red sauce. Try not to eat it as it is because you need it for the chicken.
4. For the chicken coating, I put the three ingredients into a bowl and stirred them and then put them in a large ziplock bag. Then I realised that I could have skipped the bowl step all together and put them directly into the large ziplock bag. When the chicken is drained add half of the chicken wings and toss around until coated and place on a large tray. Toss the other half and place on tray too.
Jiggle jiggle…
The first fry
After the second fry
6. Heat your deep fryer to 160C/320F and have two large trays ready. Fry the chicken in batches-not too many as putting too many will cause the temperature to drop too much. We did these in about 4 batches. Fry for about 3 minutes and then remove from the fryer and set aside to rest for 10 minutes resting on a single layer. After they have rested turn the heat up to 180C/350F and fry them again for another three minutes. Ellie’s instructions were to cook them for longer but Hot Dog and Gina know the exact time their fryer takes to cook chicken wings as they make them a lot and it was six minutes and they were perfectly done. And I think a deep fryer takes less time too.
7. Transfer them to the pan and coat them in the sauce and then sprinkle with green onions. And then have bibs, napkins and hand towelettes messy because it is going to get messy but you just aren’t going to care 
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75 Comments | Add your own
This is Mr Bao’s favourite korean dish
He loves the crunchiness of the chicken wings and the sauce is to die for!
But like you, I don’t have a fryer so I haven’t the chance to make any
I’m happy to eat with my hands and get the dirty as long as it’s for an appropriate environment and I wouldn’t offend anyone if i ate with my hands ~
This is making me drool. I’ve heard a lot about Korean KFC but never tried it. Almost committed the crime of eating non-Korean KFC in Korea. Eating fried chicken with hands is a nightmare!
I absolutely love Korean fried chicken, it’s so delicious and addictive!
Oh, what a scrumptious looking dish! I love the way that chicken has been prepared (fried and coated with sauce). Terrific!
Cheers,
Rosa
This looks heavenly…all that deep frying scares me but if made for me I wouldn’t think twice eating it!
While I’m a get your hands in girl, you can imagine my dismay when Mr Shady Pine took out the knife and fork the first time we ever ordered pizza together.
I’m going to say it – that looks finger lickin’ good!
I think with 6 spoons of dried chilli that my blow my head off though!
now THIS is a dish that Mr BBB woudl just LOVE
Always hands! And I couldn’t resist those wings!
I really love the flavour of korean chicken – there’s just so much to it. Love it! I generally eat fried chicken with my fingers. For some reason it just tastes a whole lot better
KorFC is the best but oh so bad. Great recipe!
I love your blog posts, they’re so funny and entertaining
These look awesome! I wish less people in my family were vegetarians
I love eating food with my hands, even if it’s not supposed to be haha.
OMG OMG OMG!
You must have the key to my heart Lorraine, I’ve been looking up Forean Fried Chicken recipes for a while and I was yet to find one I could really trust. Definitely going to make this.
That looks simply delish.
I love fried chicken. I tried Neil Perry’s fried chook as in the SMH a few weeks ago and thought it simply wasn’t spicey enough (although the coating was lovely and crisp)so must give this recipe a whirl.
This looks delicious!! I wish I could taste some
Very happy you all enjoy this
! Bad but friendly sport that I am, I’ll look away from that deep fryer 
!
OMG – would it be obscene to have this for breakfast? It looks amazing. I don’t mind digging in with my hands at all – - good to the last drop of sauce.
Lurve chicken wings and can never say no to a deep fried one!
Oh dear, that looks exactly like what I now must go and cook for dinner. And I don’t have a deep-frying gadget. But I will make do with my trusty saucepan on a gas hob. What could go wrong? I’ll let you know!
Why does fried food always taste so darn good, yet is so bad for us if eaten too regularly? Never mind all that I’d love to try this recipe
‘Horses for courses’ in regards to eating with or without cutlery. There are some dishes that command fingers such as Singapore Chilli Crab , how could you eat that with a fork and knife lol
Great pics !
Dear Lorraine,
I’ve yet to try Korean FC although my friends have been urging me to go to the famous one in Chinatown and your pics might have just tipped me over the edge. Well done!
I’m fine with eating things however it’s easier, unless if I can’t get my hands dirty for some reason. Chicken wings though have to be eaten with my hands or else how can I get in between the little bones where it’s the most delicious and tender?
I can also do with many boyfriends/husbands. It would be so handy when I order too much food, and of course someone to clean the house because my bf hates it!
Hands all the way! I love eating dishes with hands and which are messy definitely, like ribs, yummm.
This looks fantastic!! I’m sure I’d lick the bowl too.
Wait – you want a husband just for eating cakes?
I’m SO regretting being not a man right now…
I’m a dig right in with my hands sort of person so these are right up my alley. Fried foods always taste just that bit yummier (and naughtier!) This would be a great treat at a family and friends gathering!
Oh wow. Just wow. My stomach is simply growling right now!
Wow this looks delicious! ughhhhh fried food is so good. Not so good for the bum or thighs but will make it on days where I feel the need to reward myself :p You are a gem. x
That looks Devine! Lorraine, what’s a western or Asian style tomato ketchup?
LOL I know what you mean about sometimes wishing you had a handful of husbands for all that you need taken care of in life. Or course, I would just clone mine five times over. Though, if one extra one happened to be a George Clooney twin, that would be just fine, too.
Those look so darn good. I love wings and the idea of having them fried and covered in hot gooey sauce… ooh la la! I have so many flours and things in the pantry but no tempura or potato and I never knew about Korean curry… looks like I need to pop round to a good ethnic grocer for this baby. Also, Love that they have the frier in it’s own drawer.
Well I guess that covers our weekend diet-free meal! Yummo, the spice, the crunch, the colour… what’s not to love?
I love to eat with my fingers, and am doing a lot of it lately with dodgy arms, otherwise I’m stuck with a spork- oh the shame
I don’t usually fry the chicken but i’ll stir fry it and add the sauce into it. works as good albeit the sauce does not bind as well.
Ohhhh now my mouth is watering! I have only recently discovered my love for chicken wings and these look delicious… I love the sweet and spicy sauce on top!
Nigella aint got nothin on you~that looks so scrumptious. And I love the idea of multiple husbands for the things hubby no 1 just doesn’t get around to. I’m still waiting for my baseboard in the bathroom to be completed….he started it in June!
There is a must when we eat chicken, we have to use hands, ok, you can start with a knife and a fork, but if you want to taste the real good falvor of the chicken, you have to hold it with your hands, of course, you have to practice to just use 4 fingers, 2 per each hand, and that’s it.
Oh WOW! That looks glorious. I will definitely have to try that out.
You know, Korean fried chicken (the “other” KFC) is one of my favourite things in the WORLD. I first discovered it in LA and have been madly in love since! Arisun does it great here in Sydney so I can still get my local hit!
Deep fried chicken wings–with a Korean kick? What’s not to love. They look wonderful! And that is one cute child. The hair! The hair! Adorable.
Recipes like this are perfect for me as I love to eat with my hands!
This looks sooooo good! I will be making this for sure!
—-Lorraine,
all I can say is OOOOO, MY!
I’d like this deep fried chicken w/ a nice lush glass of CupeCake Wine.
Btw, Do you have the reality show “Sister Wives” yet?
) Haaa hAAA X
I’d like you to be my Sister Wife COOK
Yum! They look finger licking good. Am gonna try this one day. Thanks for the recipe.
I don’t mind eating with my hands as long as I am in company who are all doing the same and who don’t eat in a disgusting Homer Simpson-like manner if you know what I mean. There still has to be some decorum! And I do need to have a clean hand and face, so I need to wash up immediately. But I agree, there are some meals that are worth getting messy for, and this looks like one of them. Yummy!
Yummy. I love finger food, if I cook Indian I always cook popadoms too eat it with.
I’ve never tasted anything “korean” before and now I want too. Soon, I hope. That looks so delicious
These look sooooo good! Yum. I love getting messy with food but only in the privacy of my own home or with a couple of good buds. Too embarrassing to do in public I think…
May I just say at this point that my officemates and I were all goggle-eyed when we read this post. Seriously: is there anything better, after all, than double-fried chicken in a gorgeous sauce?!
They look deliciously bad
Oh Goodness! These look so so good. I had a version of these Korean fried chicken with gochujang (not sure about the spelling) paste and it was delicious. I could just eat the whole platter. This version looks even better.
To me, there are certain foods that must be eaten with hands. I don’t care if I’m at the fanciest restaurant, but burgers and ribs are supposed to be messy food and I must use my hands. Pizza, maybe I can tolerate with knife and fork, but still prefer hand
Oh dear, it looks quite delicious. I think I would love it, like KFC but with chilli . I would like someone else to make it though so I didnt eat it all
I even eat ice cream with my fingers sometimes.
P.S. Hot Dog looks a bit like Sam from True Blood in that shot! And I don’t care if no one else agrees.
P.P.S. Chicken wings are what we’ve fed my dog for the past… 13 years? So I find it hard to want to eat them myself!
Oh yum, think I’ll be heading to Koreatown next week to chow down…
Yum, these looks so so good! I like good finger lickin’ food once in a while.
I love Korean Fried Chicken! I don’t know what I did before i found out about it. Can’t wait to try your recipe! mmmmmmm
Great photo of annabel’s tongue
When it comes to husbands and dishes I think I will take three thanks very much – and another for the rest of the housework – yes I can see that there is a case for polygamy
though are there many men out there who would do all the dirty work?????
Sounds delish!
I would love a deep fryer!!! But every time I even think about buying one I feel my back side grow
Love the gene Simmons kiss face! Love the spices chicken.
Funny… I made the exact same comment to mr GF watching Hughy and he looked like he was having a stroke! Apparently I am too much trouble too
. 
Delicious! Some things you just have to eat with your hands and accept it’s going to be messy.
Could I please share your two extra husbands? Mine (to be) doesn’t do much handyman stuff or eat cake either!
I’m happy to eat with my hands and get messy as long as I have a nice big napkin!
Such excellent flavors in this fried chicken, nice!
I don’t deep fry often, but may have to make an exception for these gorgeous looking wings. xoxo Mum
My word, your pictures look so very tempting. I love chicken wings, so long as they’re not too spicy -I have a fear of chilli
I’m also a bit anxious when it comes to deep frying too, if I’m honest.
I don’t mind messy food at all, so these wings sound fantastic! Kurt, on the other hand, prefers to eat tidily. I’d have to find a way to offer these with a knife and fork for him!
Oh.
I don’t know what to say.
I think that’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen!
I just drooled on my computer. Those look amazing, and with the Super Bowl coming up, I have just the reason to make them.
I love both, fork & knife or messy – bring it on!! I’m so unaware of korean cuisine, beyond korean BBQ! Ben loves it though. SHould really get into it.
Heidi xo
ps sorry if my last comment came 5000 times – my phone was playing up!!
I love reading about a bit of your personal life and I think you are so cute wishing you have several husbands! Lol. This Korean dish looks and sounds yummy! I don’t mind licking fingers to eat these! Wow I have never seen a house with built in deep fryer! I use wok or frying pan to deep/shallow fry. Because I want to eat deep fried food like croquette (my fav), tonkatsu, tempura… I have no choice but deep frying my own…
Everything tastes better if you eat it with your hands…this is my kinda food.
Oh my!! That looks amazing!
I hate deep frying at home though this might just give me enough motivation to do it. Hungry.
i tend to shy away from really messy foods only because i’m a really messy eater anyway. these look so tasty, though, that i’d be willing to soil my shirt for them.
Cooked it this evening – thought the sauce was a little too sweet, might try with straight chilli sauce another time. Or buffalo wings sauce of course. The chicken was lovely.
my husband will love me more if i make this for him!!! LOL!!!
I was a little suspicious about the fried chicken but my mouth started watering the minute I saw the result. And it’s 8:18am.
Any tips for non deep fryer people?
Hi NQN,I want to make this, but just want to make sure. for the sweet chilli sauce that you used, is it the Thai sweet chilli sauce or one of those sweet chilli sauce that looks like tomato sauce?
Hi Di-Thanks for the feedback! I guess we like sweet and spicy but I think straight chilli would be good too
Hi Lucas- you can do this in a frypan with oil too
Xc-I used Thai sweet chilli sauce.
I make these now on a regular monthly basis, and I have my deepfryer on my back verandah permanently so no frying smells inside. They are amazing. my husband and i make a platter of them and sit at the table and stuff ourselves silly. Would love to have them weekly but I think our arteries would burst.
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