Get your spicy fried chicken fix without the added grease and fat with Oven Baked Korean Fried Chicken!
You know how you’ll hear a popular song on the radio and it’ll get stuck in your head for days no matter how hard you try to listen to something else?
We’ve all been there, it can drive you batty, especially when it’s just the chorus that repeats again and again and again.
Welcome to my brain. Sort of.
Sometimes, I get recipe ideas in my head and I must test them out right away. If I can’t get to it immediately, it’ll stay on my mind until I have that chance. This recipe today friends is a result of my overworking brain.
I kind of have a thing for fried chicken and by thing, I mean I’ll take it any way. As is, spiced, on a waffle, in a sandwich, as wings or the best way, Korean-fied. AKA the real KFC.
Fried chicken is my special treat, obviously my waistline can’t afford to eat it as much as I’d like (and I’m pretty sure my heart thanks me too for avoiding the fried foods). Also thanks to my fear of frying at home, the only time I make it is when I want to devote the time to my tried and true oven fried chicken.
When I decided to try out an oven baked version of Korean Fried Chicken, I admit I got a little giddy but then I was stumped for a few days on how to make it happen.
If you haven’t had the good fortune to try it yourself, what makes this better than all the other fried chicken recipes is the fact that it’s fried twice. You’ve got a seriously crunchy, crispy shell and then it’s slathered with a sauce made from Korean chile paste. The stuff is spicy, crisp and cures all that ails you. At least, I think it does.
They key here was to mimic that double frying without actually, you know frying.
Then wham! Bam! It came to me, just double coat the wings! I’m not going to lie, the breading process is messy and a little tedious going back and forth between flour, egg wash, bread crumbs, flour, egg wash and then panko but it totally pays off. What you end up with that perfect “fried” coating without the hassle of breaking out a deep fryer.
Mission accomplished and craving satisfied.
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Ingredients
- 2lbs chicken wings and drumettes
- 3 cups flours
- 3 cups plain bread crumbs
- 4 cups panko
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 5 tablespoons avocado or grapeseed oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/3 cup gochujang (Korean chile paste)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- toasted and black sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 450 degrees, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack on top.
- Set up your breading station with the flour, eggs, bread crumbs and panko each in a separate bowl (a shallow bowl works best). Season everything well with salt and pepper and whisk the eggs with 4 tablespoons of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons water. Mix the panko with the oil, it should feel like wet sand.
- Thoroughly dry the chicken with paper towels and season generously with salt and pepper and begin breading.
- Start with coating with flour, then a dip in egg wash, then coating in bread crumbs. Dip the chicken back in flour, again in the egg wash and finally covering in panko. Transfer the coated chicken to the wire rack.
- Once all the chicken is fully breaded baked at 450 for 15 minutes. The chicken should be golden brown at this point, then lower the temperature to 375 and continue to cook for another 20-30 minutes or until it's cooked all the way through.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and make the sauce.
- In a small sauce pan over medium heat combine the ginger, garlic, gochujang, honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and pour over the chicken. If you want the wings to be completely coated with the sauce, transfer the wings to a large mixing bowl and toss with the sauce.
- Serve immediately.
These look amazing, Susan!! They’re definitely #onthemenu! I love that they’re baked. Pinned!
My husband would go crazy for these…I must find some of that Korean chile paste the next time we go to our Asian market!
These look so good. I went to a new Korean BBQ in town last month and have been on a Korean food kick lately. I want bulgogi everything- quesadillas, bibimbap, nachos…everything. This is perfect- although I believe I will opt for boneless skinless strips instead. Looking forward to trying (definitely with beer as your photos suggest).
I love fried chicken, too! But I prefer baking so this one is going on my list to try (that I won’t be able to forget about until I make it) 🙂
I’m all for any process that will give me that great crispy crunch without actually frying. Fantastic recipe!
Susan, I love this!!! and your sauce sounds and looks amazing!!! Now, THIS is finger lickin’ good!!! looks great!!!
Thank you Alice! This means a lot coming from you!
Wow. It’s really hard to believe that these are baked! They look so, sooo perfect. Saving this for when drumsticks are on sale. 🙂
I’d say the mess must be totally worth it because dayum this looks amazing! I seriously want to eat it. Like, right now.
I’m with you 100% – “real” KFC is the best… FC.
I simultaneous love and hate you for coming up with what look like the perfect backed version.
Really? These are baked? They look soooo crispy!
Frying stuff at home makes me nervous. Plus it takes soooo long. I am all about baking and this spicy coating!
These look FANTASTIC! Can you give us ballpark figures for calories and carbs?
Do they. Taste same as the real Korean chicken?
Spice-wise the taste is pretty much spot on but they are breaded so there’s a difference in taste that way. You can always skip the breading and just make oven baked chicken wings (coat in some cornstarch to dry out the skin) and then toss in the sauce.
Thanks! So what does the coating do that is different than just putting it in corn flour? More crispy? Can’t wait to try x
I made these last week with chicken thighs. I also coated in seasoned flour and dipped in egg mix then crumbed.
Game changer!!!
Suggestion for ultimate crispiness? Air rated tray or a rack to prevent sogginess.
Add sauce on side to dip instead of pouring over.
Served with fresh steamed veg and brown rice. ??????