“Super-crispy chicken bathed in a sauce made spicy by the addition of gochujang, Korea’s famous spice paste,” explains food writer Donal Skehan.
“In this recipe, nuggets of chicken thigh meat are made crispy without a deep-fat fryer and instead are baked in the oven unashamedly with the help of crushed cornflakes. It’s a crispy chicken tip that works a treat.”
Donal Skehan’s Korean fried chicken bowls
Ingredients:
(Serves 4)
For the chicken:
250ml (1 cup) buttermilk
8 free-range chicken thighs (bone in and skin on), cut into bite-sized pieces
100g (3½oz) cornflakes
85g (3oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2tsp chilli powder
2tsp garlic powder
Sunflower oil spray
For the sauce:
8 cloves of garlic, finely grated
1 large thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely grated
6tbsp light soy sauce
70g (2 ½oz) gochujang (Korean chilli paste)
4tbsp rice wine vinegar
1tbsp sesame oil
2tbsp dark brown sugar
For the bowls:
250g (9oz) sticky rice, cooked
½ head red cabbage, thinly sliced
6 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced
Handful of radishes, finely sliced
1tbsp toasted sesame seeds
A good handful of coriander leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C/180˚C fan/400˚F/Gas 6.
2. In a large bowl, mix the buttermilk with a generous season of sea salt and ground black pepper. Add the chicken to the bowl and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Set aside.
3. Pour the cornflakes in a large freezer bag and crush them with a rolling pin to a coarse powder. Add the flour, chilli and garlic powders to the bag along with salt and pepper. Seal the bag and shake the mix until combined.
4. Pour the dry mix into a large wide shallow bowl. One by one using tongs, dip each marinated chicken piece (shaking off any excess) in the dry mix until coated on all sides.
5. Arrange the chicken on a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly spritz with sunflower oil spray. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and crispy, turning halfway through to make sure they’re golden on all sides.
6. While the chicken cooks, prepare the sauce. In a small saucepan whisk together the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, gochujang, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and brown sugar.
7. Place the saucepan over a medium heat and bring to a low simmer, cooking until the sugar is just dissolved – about three minutes. Set aside.
8. Once the chicken has cooked, brush with the sauce.
9. Assemble serving bowls with the sticky rice, cabbage, spring onions, radishes, chicken pieces, sesame seeds and plenty of coriander. Drizzle with more of the spicy sauce as needed.
Recipe from Everyday Cook by Donal Skehan, published by Hodder & Stoughton. Available now.
