If you love fried chicken like me, you know that these two cultures have it down for best fried chicken. I wondered what it would be like to combine the two and man, I was glad I did. The meat was nice and juicy with a southern flare and the delicious crispy crunch on the outside was nicely seasoned with a Korean style flavor. This is definitely one of my favorite things to make!
Korean fried Buttermilk Chicken
This is a special recipe I put together, combining two cultures that have amazing fried chicken…Korea and the South. The first time I served this was at my housewarming party. It became a hit with the guests and was even toddler approved!
Ingredients
Marinade
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Garlic powder
- 3 lbs Boneless chicken thighs cut into 8 pieces, rinsed, patted dry
- 1 cup Hidden Valley® buttermilk Ranch® dressing or regular buttermilk
- Vegetable or canola oil for frying
Batter
- 1 cup tempura powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp curry powder
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ cup cold water
Sauce
- 1 tbsp melted butter
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp sugar
Instructions
- Place chicken pieces in shallow baking dish. Pour 1 cup of marinade over the chicken. Massage the marinade into the chicken real well.
- The next steps are from a korean chef’s site Seonkyong Longest(link here) Watch her video, it makes the steps easier to follow:
- Heat frying oil 375°F in a thick bottom pot, such as dutch oven or cast iron wok/pot.
- Whisk tempura powder, garlic powder, onion powder, curry powder, cornstarch and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Take the chicken out from the marinate, add into the dry ingredients mixture and toss evenly.
- Slowly add water and mix. Start form ¼ cup and add 1 Tbsp per time as needed. We want the batter to be more thicker consistency than pancake batter.
- Add the chicken pieces one by one into the hot oil carefully and fry for 6 to 7 minutes or until lightly golden brown and ¾ to “almost” fully cooked. Do 2 to 3 batches depending on the size of the frying pot. Remove from the oil and place on a cooling rack or paper towel lined baking sheet. Repeat with rest of the chicken.
- When all the chickens are fried, increase oil temperature to 400°F for double frying. Carefully drop all the chicken and fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown and fully cooked. Remove form the oil and place on the cooling rack or paper towel lined baking sheet.
- When the chicken comes out of the fryer, sprinkle a little bit of salt (not too much) over the chicken while it’s super hot, then brush the sauce evenly over the chicken. Don’t brush too much sauce, just a light coating…too much sauce might make it soggy
- Serve hot.
