1tbsp vegetable oil
Su Scott’s Korean fried chicken recipe By Prudence Wade, PA “It is quite likely I’m chasing perfection that doesn’t really exist. In my vivid dreams, this fried chicken tastes intently sweet but not sickly,” says Su Scott, author of Rice Table. “Deep nutty background sweetness lingers like an intense pull of stupid first love that you fail to resist, and is only accentuated by the heat of chilli and umami salinity that hugs the fat. It’s not claggy – smothered in thick paste of gochujang – but rather softly candied, like a buttery caramel-coated popcorn. “I am unsure if such a glorious perfection of taste can be replicated. But I keep going back for more, no longer sure if I am craving the chicken or my home so many miles away.”
1tbsp gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes), ground to a fine powder
For the batter:
50g plain flour
70g rice flour
20g cornflour
150ml cold water
To finish:
Toasted white sesame seeds
Method:
1. Place the chicken pieces in a mixing bowl, along with the sake, sugar, celery salt and black pepper. Massage well to combine, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for one hour. 2.To make the glaze, combine the jocheong, ketchup, water, sugar, soy sauce, gochujang and garlic in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
Korean fried chicken
Ingredients:
(Serves 4)
For the chicken:
3. Remove the chicken from the fridge, so it comes back to room temperature before you cook it.
600g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 3cm cubes
2tbsp sake
4. Put one tablespoon of vegetable oil and the gochugaru in a cold wok or sauté pan over a low heat to warm up, stirring constantly to prevent the gochugaru from burning – a flat flexible spatula is great for this. In a few minutes, the oil will change in colour to a deep red and the gochugaru will start to bloom. Swiftly add the glaze mixture and increase the heat to rapidly bubble for about two minutes to thicken the sauce enough to coat the back of the spoon, like a runny custard, but not yet sticky like wet glue. Remove from the heat and set aside. 5. Prepare the wet batter by combining the plain flour, 30 grams of the rice flour and the cornflour.Add the water gradually to the mix and whisk to break up any lumps. 6.Toss the chicken thoroughly with the remaining 40 grams of rice flour then add the chicken to the batter. Give it a good mix by hand.
1tsp golden granulated sugar
½tsp celery salt
½tsp freshly cracked black pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying
For the glaze:
60g jocheong (Korean rice syrup)
2tbsp tomato ketchup (catsup)
2tbsp water
1tbsp golden granulated sugar
7. Prepare a cooling rack set over a roasting tray.
1tbsp soy sauce
8.To fry the chicken, fill a saucepan suitable for deep-frying with vegetable oil. It should be deep enough to submerge the chicken pieces but only come three-quarters of the way up the pan while you are frying. Heat the oil to 160°C.
1tbsp gochujang (Korean red chilli paste)
3 garlic cloves, minced
40 | mccarthyholden.co.uk
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