Korean Food Of The Month Club: Yangnyeom Chicken

Welcome valued customer to the prestigious OneHallyu Food of the Month Club.

Each month we will bring you a different piece of delicious Korean food or drink for your visual pleasure.

Also you can totally then find recipes or places that sell them and try them.

This weeks delicious food is one of my personal favourites, 양념 치킨 (Yangnyeom chicken).

Yangyeom Chicken is battered chicken in a sweet and spicy sauce. It is one of the recipes that I have seen the most variation on.

The batter is usually a traditional Korean batter which is thin and light, but can also use batters more traditional to the country it is being made in.

Even the chicken varies, with some people using pieces on the bone and others using chunks. I prefer to use chunks of chicken.

The sauce itself varies greatly in recipes and I would strongly recommend changing the recipe as you see fit to suit your tastes. Sometimes we worry so much about ‘authenticity’ in our cooking that we forget that, at the end of the day, the most important thing is that we enjoy the food.

Recipe

Serves: 4 (If you aren’t a fatty like me)

Ingredients:

1 Lb / 500 G chicken breast

Vegetable oil (for deep-frying)

1 Egg

Batter:

0.5 cup potato starch powder

0.25 cup plain flour

0.25 cup sweet rice flour

1 tsp baking soda

Sauce:

4 cloves minced garlic

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp  vinegar

0.5 cup tomato ketchup

0.33 cup golden syrup

0.25 cup hot pepper paste

Method

1. Slice the chicken breast into 3 inch strips.

2. Mix chicken, potato starch powder, plain flour,  sweet rice flour, baking soda, salt, pepper and the egg together in a bowl until all the chicken is evenly coated.

3. Deep fry the chicken in either a wok or deep fat fryer over a high heat for 10 minutes. If using a wok, wait until the oil bubbles if you dip the chicken in it. Make sure all the chicken pieces are separate before frying!

3. Remove chicken from oil and shake through a strainer, allow to sit for 4-5 minutes.

4. Return chicken to fryer and cook for a further ten minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

5. Whilst this is frying (or after) place the minced garlic,  vegetable oil(1 tbsp), vinegar, tomato ketchup, golden syrup and hot pepper paste in to a small frying pan and simmer the mixture whilst stirring for 7 minutes. (Be careful not to burn the sauce).

6. Once done, mix the chicken and sauce together in a bowl ’til the chicken is coated.

 7.  Serve with rice and Kimchi.

Need advice on the recipe or a substitution? Let me know in the comments!