Korean Fried Chicken Wings — Hooni Kim-Inspired

About This Recipe

This recipe is inspired by Chef Hooni Kim's Michelin-starred work at Danji in New York — the first Korean restaurant in the world to receive a Michelin star. Korean fried chicken (KFC) is an art: skin so thin and crisp it shatters, meat astonishingly juicy, glaze that coats without sogging the crust. The secret is the double fry — a low-temperature first fry to cook the meat, followed by a high-temperature second fry to crisp the skin to glass. This is our take on the modern Korean tradition Kim helped globalise from a fine-dining stage.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 kgchicken wings(split into drums and flats, tips removed)
• 1 tbspfine sea salt
• 1 tspfreshly cracked black pepper
• 100 gpotato starch(or cornstarch)
• 30 gplain flour
• 120 mlice-cold sparkling water
• neutral oil for deep-frying(about 1.5L)
• 3 tbspgochujang (Korean chili paste)
• 2 tbspsoy sauce
• 3 tbsphoney
• 2 tbsprice vinegar
• 1 tbsptoasted sesame oil
• 4 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 tbspfresh ginger(grated)
• 2 tbsptoasted sesame seeds
• 3spring onions(finely sliced)

Instructions

1. 1

   Dry-brine the wings

   Pat the wings completely dry. Toss with the salt and pepper. Spread on a wire rack and refrigerate uncovered for at least 1 hour, ideally 4–8 hours. This dries the skin — essential for crispness.

   Skipping this step is the #1 reason home Korean fried chicken comes out soggy.

2. 2

   Make the glaze

   In a small saucepan, simmer the gochujang, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic and ginger for 4 minutes until glossy and slightly thickened. Set aside.

3. 3

   Make the batter

   Whisk the potato starch and flour together. Just before frying, whisk in the ice-cold sparkling water — the batter should be runny like single cream. The bubbles in the sparkling water create extra crispness.

   Make the batter at the last possible moment — flat batter doesn't crisp the same way.

4. 4

   First fry — 160°C

   Heat the oil to 160°C / 320°F. Dip each wing in the batter, let excess drip off, and lower into the oil. Fry in batches for 8 minutes until pale golden and cooked through. Drain on a wire rack.

5. 5

   Second fry — 190°C

   Increase the oil temperature to 190°C / 375°F. Return the wings in batches and fry for 4 more minutes until deeply golden, blistered and audibly crackly. Drain on a fresh rack.

   The double-fry is the soul of Korean fried chicken — the first cooks, the second crisps.

6. 6

   Glaze and serve

   While still hot, toss the wings in the gochujang glaze until well coated. Pile onto a warm platter. Scatter with toasted sesame seeds and spring onions. Serve immediately with cold beer (banchan if you have it). Eat with fingers.

Variations

• •

  Soy-Garlic Glaze (Yangnyeom mild): replace the gochujang with 4 tbsp soy sauce + 4 cloves garlic — the milder, sweet version.

• •

  Half-and-Half: half the wings sweet-spicy gochujang, half soy-garlic — Korean restaurant tradition.

Storage

Best eaten immediately. Reheating cooked KFC never matches fresh.

Frequently Asked Questions