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Monday, February 20, 2017

The Dakgangjeong

I'm the murderer of recipes. Last Friday I got some boneless chicken and covered it with spices and cornflour to deep-fry and douse in buffalo sauce for a Friday night-in. I had some marinated uncooked chicken left over, and figured now is as good a time as any to give Korean fried chicken, or dakgangjeong, a try. Except it was Sunday and I was lazy and man did I put whatever I wanted in the saucepan, and surprisingly still came up with relatively authentic-tasting (and looking) Korean fried chicken! So have at it.

Mix about 500g boneless chicken pieces (or chicken wings, ideally) with garlic salt, a little pepper, cornflour and just a little water to help coat the chicken well. Deep-fry till golden, and set aside.

For the sauce, in a very lightly greased saucepan, add a spoon of grated onion, a spoon of garlic paste, half a spoon of grated ginger, a small spoon of soy sauce, a proper spoon of rice wine, a spoon of chilli sauce, a spoon of sugar, a spoon of red chilli paste, a spoon of honey, and a pinch of Dijon mustard. 

Now here's the funny part - I didn't feel like leaving home to go get fresh groceries, so here's what I really put in the experimental sauce: a spoon of grated onion, a spoon of garlic paste, half a spoon of grated ginger, a few drops of soy sauce, a proper spoon of sushi seasoning (which is rice vinegar + salt + sugar), a tiny dash of Sriracha, no additional sugar, a spoon of honey, a spoon of red chilli paste, and a few drops of kasundi, which is basically Bengali-style Dijon mustard. I'm amazed at how well it imitated an authentic dakgangjeong sauce!

Anyway; simmer the sauce until thickened; then throw in the fried chicken in the saucepan and stir well till all the chicken pieces are well-coated in the yummy sticky red sauce! Garnish with sesame seeds. So crunchy!