This is the archived version of the Milk Street website and is no longer up to date.

Please visit 177milkstreet.com to see the current website with all of the latest recipes!

ADVERTISEMENT

This is the archived version of the Milk Street website and is no longer up to date.

Please visit 177milkstreet.com to see the current website with all of the latest recipes!

Korean Fried Chicken (Dakgangjeong)

4 to 6 Servings

40 minutes plus marinating

Made This Recipe? Write a Review.
Thank you for submitting your review! A member of our team is confirming the review meets our site's Community Guidelines. It will be posted on the site shortly.

In Seoul, we learned that South Korea is home to multiple styles of fried chicken. Of them, we were especially smitten with dakgangjeong—two-bite pieces of crisp, well-seasoned chicken coated with a sticky, garlicky, sweet-salty, umami-rich glaze. Our recipe is based on versions shown to us by chefs Ryan Phillips and Donill Keum. As they taught us, we briefly marinate our chicken in a soy-based mixture to guarantee that each bite is thoroughly seasoned. We then remove the chicken but reserve some of the marinade to combine with flour, cornstarch and water, creating a slurry for coating the pieces before slipping them into the hot oil. The slurry fries into a light, crisp crust. But the real trick to dakgangjeong is double-frying the chicken, with a few minutes of rest between stints in the hot oil. This creates a superlative crispness—one that holds its texture even after saucing—without overcooking the chicken. Finally, we toss the golden-brown, just-fried pieces with a simple no-cook gochujang-honey sauce that clings deliciously and makes this fried chicken all the more enticing.

4 to 6

Servings

Tip

Don’t marinate the chicken for longer than 45 minutes or the chicken will be too salty. Also, to avoid overcrowding the pot, which will cause the oil temperature to drop, fry the chicken in batches. For the first round of frying, cook it in three batches; for the second round, cook it in two batches.

40 minutes

plus marinating

Ingredients

  • ½

    cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided, plus more if needed

  • 1

    tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger

Directions

Reviews
Shannon A.
August 30, 2026
Super tasty - bit of a cleanup
First, this was delicious. The batter makes for a thin, light, crisp crust on the chicken. The gochughang is spicy and a little funky - in a good way. Great color. Clean up was a bit - two bowls, two sheet pans, one wire rack in addition to the cooking vessel.
Naureen W.
July 25, 2026
Naureen
I haven’t made this yet. Can we cook this in the air fryer?
RACHAEL R.
January 5, 2026
Amazing
This recipe made the yummiest chicken! Served with fried rice and my husband and I both went back for seconds!
Chris W.
August 31, 2025
KFC
AWESOME!!!
emilia m.
December 5, 2024
Gochujang Substitute
One person in my group can't have ANY spice. What can I use in place of the gochujang?

ADVERTISEMENT