Crispy, sticky, tangy, and sweet! These Korean chicken nuggets (dakgangjeong) are coated with a mildly spicy glaze made with chili sauce and gochujang. They will maintain their crispiness until every last one is gobbled up.
Who wouldn’t enjoy munching on these little crispy Korean chicken nuggets that are sticky, sweet, and tangy? The nice thing about this recipe is that the chicken will stay crisp even after it gets coated with sauce. It has a tiny bit of spiciness due to the Korean chili paste, but not the kind of spicy that kills your senses.
This particular Korean chicken appetizer is called Dakgangjeong (닭강정). Yes, these crispy Korean chicken nuggets are deep-fried, which makes this chicken so tasty and irresistible.
As long as you don’t eat them by a bucketful, a few pieces will calm your craving and won’t hurt you too badly. As you can see, they are small pieces.
My recipe is a different take on dakgangjeong that you will not find elsewhere. I assure you that you will love the crisp texture and the delectable glaze that goes with the chicken.
And the sauce? Well, you’ll have to try it yourself!
Tips On Making Crispy Korean Fried Chicken
- Cake flour and Potato Starch: The mixture of both flours will form a light, yet almost crunchy coating texture to the chicken. The crispiness will maintain even after the chicken pieces are glazed with sauce.
- Egg White and Oil: Beaten egg white will give the proper amount of moisture to the chicken so that it grabs the coating mixture. A little oil will help chicken pieces not to stick to each other.
- Deep-fry Twice: For any deep fried dishes that need crispiness, you need to deep fry twice or even three times. The reason is that moisture in the deep fried food moves to the surface and the surface gets soggy when the food cools. Then you cook off that moisture again on the second fry.
- Chicken Breast or Thigh? The answer is… whichever you prefer. I like to use chicken thigh parts for this recipe. The fattiness of chicken thighs maintains moistness better than breast meat.
Korean Rice Syrup (jocheong, 조청): It’s a natural sweetener extracted from rice into a liquid form. It is also known as a malt syrup. It adds a subtle sweetness and shine–literally–to the dish. Korean rice syrup has a darker shade than Korean corn syrup (mulyeot). If unavailable, you can use dark corn syrup as a substitute.
What You’ll Need To Make Crispy Korean Chicken Nuggets
Chicken thighs, garlic, Korean chili paste (gochujang), Korean chili flakes, chili sauce, chili oil, sugar, ginger puree, rice vinegar, ketchup, Korean rice syrup (or dark corn syrup), rice wine.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Cut chicken thighs into small bite size chunks.
For the coating mixture, combine cake flour, cornstarch, onion powder, and salt; mix well. Take away 2 tablespoons from the mixture.
For the chicken, Add the 2 tablespoon of coating mixture to the chicken along with ginger, salt, pepper, beaten egg white, rice wine, and oil. Mix them all together.
Put the coating mixture in a zip bag and add the chicken; shake well to coat evenly.
Deep-fry chicken in small batches, about 2-3 minutes, until they are lightly golden. As you deep-fry, stir them with metal tongs or a strainer to keep them from sticking to each other. Shake off excess oil as you take the chicken pieces out of the oil.
After the first frying is over, do the second frying until they get deep golden brown; about 2 minutes. Keep them on a wired rack to prevent them from getting soggy.
Meanwhile, combine chili sauce, Korean chili paste, ketchup, Korean rice syrup, sugar, garlic, rice vinegar, and rice wine in a skillet.
Bring the sauce to boil over medium high heat until it thickens to a glaze consistency, stirring constantly.
Add chicken and toss well to coat with the glaze. To garnish, sprinkle with chopped peanuts.
More Korean Fried Chicken Recipes
If you like this post or have tried this recipe, please rate it below by clicking stars in the comment section. Stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
Crispy Korean Chicken Nuggets (Dakgangjeong)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken thighs diced into bite size pieces
- 1/4 cup finely chopped peanut optional
- oil for deep-frying
For chicken coating
- 1/2 cup cake flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
For chicken seasoning
- 2 tsp ginger puree
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp sweet rice wine (mirim)
- 1 egg white beaten
- 1 tbsp oil
For chili glaze
- 6 tbsp chili sauce
- 2 tbsp Korean chili paste (gochujang)
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 6 tbsp Korean rice syrup or dark corn syrup
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp chili oil
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp sweet rice wine (mirim)
Instructions
To make the chicken coating
- Mix all the ingredients well. Reserve 2 tablespoon of the mixture on the side. Put the rest of coating mixture in a zip bag and set aside.
To season the chicken
- Put chicken in a large mixing bowl, add reserved 2 tablespoon of chicken coating, ginger, salt, pepper, rice wine, egg white, and oil. Mix with your hand to coat evenly.
To deep-fry
- Heat oil to 340˚F. Add chicken into the coating mixture in a zip bag; shake well to coat evenly. Shake off the excess coating from chicken pieces.
- Deep-fry chicken in small batches, about 2-3 minutes, until they are lightly golden. As you deep-fry, stir them with metal tongs or a wire skimmer to keep them from sticking to each other. Shake off excess oil as you take the chicken pieces out of the oil.
- After the first frying is over, do the second frying until they get deep golden brown; about 2 minutes. Keep them on a wired rack to prevent them from getting soggy.
To make the chili glaze
- Combine chili sauce, Korean chili paste, ketchup, Korean rice syrup, sugar, garlic, chili oil, rice vinegar, and rice wine in a skillet.
- Bring the sauce to boil over medium high heat until it thickens to a glaze consistency, stirring constantly.
- Add chicken and toss well to coat with the glaze. To garnish, sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Serve hot.
It looks delicious. I can’t stand mayonnaise (or sour cream). Can I just omit it, or do I need to sub it with something, like Greek yogurt?
You can skip the mayonnaise.
And that is how I found your awesome blog!
Great! I am glad that you found my blog.
I’ve been reading your blog (and making some of the delicious recipes, especially the dakgalbi, as my parents are in love with it) for a couple of years, and am excited to see you in partnership with Dramafever, my go to place for dramas! A good pairing, I say. 🙂
Oh man! Check out that glossy sauce!! I can just imagine the sweet, salty, sticky flavour. TOTALLY my kind of food!! I love Korean food! I have never had anything Korean I haven’t absolutely love!!
Yes, they are truly sticky delicious. I agree with you on Korean food. I myself never met any Korean food that I don’t like either. Ha ha ha!
These look so saucy and delicious! I really enjoy chicken nuggets (whether they are frozen, from McDonald’s, I like them all!) and I think these crispy ones will be better than anything I can buy from a store or eatery. I like that you used gochujang and honey in the sauce ~ what a delicious combination!
Can I make this with beef meatballs?
The sauce is good enough to coat beef meatballs, too. Be very gentle when you coat them not to break apart.
Hi Holly! I love your recipes so much. These korean chicken nuggets are absolutely my favorite food now! I start craving them after a few days! So I had to think of a way to make them into a meal for my partner and I. There is a japanese “fast food” in food courts in New Zealand called Katsubi Donburi where you choose various fresh vegetables, sauces and meat dishes (like teriyaki) to have over rice. I thought this would work very well with these nuggets and I was right!
I start with steamed rice seasoned with a little soy sauce and sesame oil then sliced red cabbage and quick steamed broccoli. Top that with a bit of japanese mayonnaise and bbq or chilli sauce and then the delicious sticky nuggets. It’s so delicious and we’re always very excited for korean chicken nugget night at home! Thank you Holly!
Hi Shannon
Glad to hear from you that this chicken nuggets are well loved by your family. I like to idea of serving with steamed broccoli and cabbage. That will make a very nice meal. You go girl! Thanks so much for this comment. It does make me happy.
Can I grill those chicken balls instead of frying them?
Well, they might not hold their shape very well, but you can certainly try.
Can someone please tell me how to pronounce the name of this dish?
Yummy i love this recipe. thanks for sharing. Simon
So DramaFever is sadly no more. Is there a way you could post the recipe here on your website?
Holy cow! This chicken looks and sounds amazing. I’ve used the cornstarch trick on baked chicken wings, and it works great…but I’ve never thought about using it on regular fried chicken. I need to try that out now! Also, that sauce is making my mouth water…and I’m still working on my morning coffee right now!
Thanks David. Cornstarch makes the coating very crisp. It is widely used in deep-frying in Korean cuisine.
Wow, these chicken nuggets look so good! And what a great tip using cake flour to keep them crispy! Mmm, my boys would definitely love this. Can’t wait to try it out!
I make my own chicken nuggets but I must admit they’re pretty boring and not a patch on these crispy Kerean ones. Can’t wait to give these a try instead! Thanks!
Fabulous, the intro says potato starch, but the recipe says corn starch, does it make a difference? Also I was confused by the 2x frying so only fried once and it was fine. Loved the glaze.
You can use either potato starch or cornstarch. They both are great for making the chicken crispy. Double frying means you deep-fry them twice. That ensures the crispiness.
Glad that you love the glaze. Thank you so much.