Photo: hyun chun kim · CC0
Dak-gangjeong (Sweet Crispy Glazed Fried Chicken)
Boneless chicken dredged in potato starch alone, fried twice, then tossed off the heat in a soy-and-syrup glaze that was reduced beforehand, and finished with crushed peanuts. Starch instead of flour, and a glaze reduced before the chicken meets it, are what keep it crisp as it cools.
Ingredients
- Chicken and coating
- boneless chicken thigh · bite-size; juicier than breast600 g
- potato starch · no flour mixed in — that is what gives the glassy shell120 g
- salt0.5 tsp
- black pepper0.25 tsp
- ginger · grated, for the marinade1 tsp
- rice wine or mirin1 tbsp
- frying oil · grapeseed or canola1 L
- Glaze (reduce this first)
- soy sauce3 tbsp
- corn syrup · Korean jocheong rice syrup is deeper4 tbsp
- sugar1 tbsp
- garlic · minced5 cloves
- water3 tbsp
- vinegar · off the heat, at the end1 tbsp
- gochujang · optional, for colour and a faint heat1 tsp
- To finish
- peanuts · roughly crushed — close to the point of gangjeong4 tbsp
- green chilli · optional, sliced on the bias2 pcs
- toasted sesame seeds1 tbsp
Steps
- ⏲ 10 min
Cut the thigh into bite-size pieces and season with salt, pepper, grated ginger and rice wine for 10 minutes only. Longer and the salt draws out water, which stops the coating sticking.
- ⏲ 5 min
Pat the chicken completely dry with kitchen paper, then dredge in potato starch, pressing it on. Any moisture left turns the starch into paste.
- ⏲ 5 min
Let the coated pieces sit for about 5 minutes. Once the surface looks damp rather than powdery, the coating will stay on in the oil.
- ⏲ 7 min
Fry the first time at 160°C for 6-7 minutes, until barely pale gold — this stage is about cooking through, not colour. Lift onto a rack.
- ⏲ 5 min
Rest for 5 minutes. This lets the steam inside escape; skip it and the crust re-wets from within during the second fry.
- ⏲ 2 min
Raise the oil to 190°C and fry again for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, until deep gold and the sizzling turns light. Shake off the oil well.
- ⏲ 3 min
In a pan, simmer the soy sauce, syrup, sugar, garlic and water (plus gochujang if using) over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. It is ready when a spatula drawn across the base leaves a trail that holds for a moment.
- ⏲ 1 min
Take the pan off the heat before adding the vinegar. Added to a boiling glaze, its aroma simply leaves.
- ⏲ 1 min
Add the chicken and toss within 30 seconds. Stir-frying it in the glaze over heat softens the crust from the inside out.
- ⏲ 1 min
Scatter the crushed peanuts, sesame seeds and green chilli, and serve immediately.
Tips & Variations
Variations
- Sokcho style: the dak-gangjeong of Sokcho's Jungang Market is what made this
dish nationally famous. The glaze is sweeter and heavier and carries a good amount of green chilli, so heat arrives just after the sweetness. It is known for staying crisp even cold — the trick is starch-only coating and keeping the glaze sparing.
- How it differs from yangnyeom chicken: [yangnyeom
chicken](/en/r/yangnyeom-chicken) is built on gochujang and chilli powder over bone-in chicken. Dak-gangjeong is soy-and-syrup, boneless, and finished with peanuts. Same family, different target.
- Soy only: leave out the gochujang and the glaze becomes mild enough for
children. Double the garlic if you do, or the sweetness gets monotonous.
- Air fryer: 200°C for 12 minutes, turn, then 8 more. The crust is thicker and
less shattering than deep-fried, but you avoid a litre of oil. Spray the coated pieces with oil so no raw starch stays white.
Tips
- Do not cut the starch with flour. Gluten makes the crust thick and tough and
absorbs glaze, which goes soft quickly. Potato starch alone gives a thin shell that cracks like glass.
- The glaze must be reduced first. Try to reduce it around the chicken and the
crust drinks that liquid the whole time it is thickening. Changing nothing but the order changes the result.
- No thermometer? Drop in a pinch of starch. If it sinks and rises slowly you
are near 160°C; if it skitters on the surface immediately, near 190°C.
- Do not crowd the pot. When the oil temperature drops you are poaching in oil,
not frying. Work in two or three batches and let the oil recover between them.
- Peanuts go on last. Tossed in with the glaze they take up moisture and turn
soft. Add them after the pan is off the heat.
- The frying fundamentals are in Deep frying, and
balancing sweet against salty in Balancing flavour.
The basics behind this dish
- Browning and the Maillard ReactionMeat fails to brown for one of three reasons: it is wet, the pan is cool, or you put too much in at once. Plus how the brown film stuck to the pan becomes your sauce.
- Cooking Meat: Temperature, Resting, and Cutting Against the GrainDoneness is a core temperature, not a number of minutes. What resting actually does, how to handle a thick cut, and why the direction you slice changes the texture.
- Knife Skills: Grip, Cuts, and Why Size MattersHow you hold the knife matters more than how fast you cut. The pinch grip, the claw hand, and why uniform size is a cooking decision rather than a cosmetic one.
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