Crispy Gochujang Chicken

Cripsy Gochujang Chicken is the most delicious Korean-inspired dinner to make when you want to try something new! The chicken turns out extra crispy and the bites are coated in the most delicious sweet and spicy glaze that will have you licking the plate clean.

The Gochujang Sauce

If you’re not familiar with Gochujang sauce, you’ve definitely been missing out! Gochujang is a very popular fermented red chili paste that’s a bit spicy and sweet but mostly savory. It is an essential condiment/paste in Korean cuisine and it pairs beautifully with some crispy chicken!

The first step in this recipe is to make the gochujang sauce which is super simple. The most important ingredient that makes this sauce really unique is of course the gochujang which brings a bit of heat to the recipe, but don’t worry, it’s not spicy spicy! Very tolerable heat level. 

Here are all the ingredients you will need:

• gochujang
• light brown sugar
• rice vinegar
• minced garlic
• honey
• red pepper flakes
• unsalted butter
• sesame oil
• soy sauce
• chili powder
• water
• salt, to taste

To a saucepan, add the gochujang, brown sugar, rice vinegar, garlic, honey, red pepper flakes, unsalted butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, chili powder, water, and salt to taste. Turn up the heat to medium and bring to a boil. Then drop the heat to simmer for about 3 minutes or just until it thickens up. Transfer it to a bowl and set aside.

Prepping the Crispy Chicken

There are three steps to preparing and cooking the chicken so that it’s crispy perfection: the wet batter, the dry batter, and frying!

1. THE WET BATTER

For the wet batter, combine eggs, salt, black pepper, and chili powder. Whisk together until homogenous.

2. THE DRY BATTER

To make the dry batter, just whisk together cornstarch with another sprinkle of salt, black pepper, and chili powder.

3. FRYING

Heat vegetable, canola, or peanut oil to 350°F in a deep frying pan. Dip each piece of breaded chicken first into the wet batter and let any excess drip off. Then dip into the dry and shake any excess off. Drop into the hot oil and fry until golden brown all around. Toss the chicken in the glaze and serve warm. Optional, garnish with chopped green onions and/or sesame seeds and enjoy over a bed of rice.

The LIFE-CHANGING Trick to Breading Chicken Faster

My least favorite part of making breaded crispy chicken in recipes like Orange Chicken or Volcano Shrimp is dipping each piece of meat in the wet and dry batter. It can be so tedious and take a lot of time but this one trick makes it a lot more easier.

The first step is to dip the chicken into the wet batter. You can do a few pieces at a time. Then add all your dry ingredients to a large ziplock bag INSTEAD of a bowl. Now add the wet coated chicken pieces to the ziplock bag with the dry batter. Repeat until all the chicken is in the bag. Then seal the bag shut and shake around well and BAM! All the pieces are coated well in the dry batter all at once.

Can I Air-Fry This?

Yes, you definitely can use your air fryer to prepare this recipe instead of deep-frying! You would still batter and bread it the same way. Just spray the tray of your air fryer with oil, add the breaded chicken making sure they’re all spaced apart, and spray the pieces with oil.

Air-fry at 400°F for 6 to 9 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked, golden, and super crispy. Then just toss in the gochujang sauce and enjoy!

If you tried this recipe and loved it, drop by down below and let me know how you liked it with a rating and comment! Feel free to also leave a question there about this recipe and I’ll get right back to it.

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