How to Make Korean Fried Chicken - a cooking class by KCC Canada
- nathashang
- May 15, 2021
- 5 min read
Her scent and presence fill the air. You take a sip of water as she approaches your table. You catch sight of her fair, golden skin and find it hard to look away. She sits in front of you, tempting you. You can no longer hold back, and who can blame you? The wonders of Korean fried chicken are not to be resisted!
Welcome to today’s blog post about the one and only KFC (Korean Fried Chicken, not Kentucky Fried Chicken). Do you know how popular this dish is in Korea? According to a report in Korea Economy Daily, as of February 2019, there were approximately 87,000 fried chicken restaurants in South Korea! I was surprised by this number, which is more than the number of McDonald restaurants worldwide (~39,000 restaurants worldwide in 2020).
On Monday, May 10th, 2021, I had the chance to attend an online cooking class organized by the Korean Cultural Centre Canada “KCC Canada”. Despite the pandemic, KCC Canada has found multiple ways to continue its mission of strengthening Korea-Canada relations by promoting mutual understanding through the sharing of Korean culture. For instance, they host various online events such as K-Cinema, with screenings of selected Korean movies, Korean language programs, and more. You can find more information about KCC and its activities on the following website: https://canada.korean-culture.org/en
The class I attended is part of KCC Canada’s K-Food Virtual Cooking classes series, which happens on Mondays (bi-weekly) at 7 PM EST. It was taught by Chef Sunna, owner and chef of The Swan at Carp restaurant, near Ottawa. I have also linked her restaurant in case you are interested in checking it out https://www.theswanatcarp.ca.
Ingredients
Please find below the list of ingredients you would need. These are for a 1-person recipe (1 chicken breast). Please feel free to adjust as needed based on your desired serving size.
Cooking steps
Batter
Start by heating your cooking oil on medium to low heat while you prepare your chicken and sauce
In a bowl, mix the 3 types of flour (flour, rice flour and corn starch) and season with salt and pepper. According to Chef Sunna, this combination will make the chicken crispy, moist & taste great at the same time
In another bowl, add in Greek yogurt and season with salt and pepper
Chicken
Remove undesired parts from your chicken breast (if any) and cut them up into equal pieces (about ¼ inch in terms of thickness)
Chef Sunna’s tips: Always cut against the direction of the chicken muscle and do not cut the chicken too thick to avoid a long cooking time
Coat the pieces of chicken with flour first, and then dip into the yogurt so that the coating sticks better
Leave the coated pieces to marinate in the fridge for 30 mins, or let it marinate at room temperature for 5-10 minutes if you are limited on time
Coat the chicken pieces again into the yogurt, then place them in the remaining flour mixture and toss them
Sauce preparation
Start by cooking the garlic and onions with a little bit of oil
Chef Sunna’s tip: Cooking these two ingredients first will guarantee that their sweetness transfers into the sauce
In a bowl, mix the remaining sauce ingredients
Chef Sunna’s tip: if you want a shortcut for the sauce, these are the essential ingredients you must use: hot pepper paste, soy sauce, sugar and ketchup
When the onions and garlic are well-cooked, add in the remaining ingredients. You can tell when these two ingredients are ready by the sweeter smell, as well as by color with the onions becoming clear and garlic starting to golden
Cook until the sauce starts to boil. Since there is no raw ingredient, there is no need to overcook the sauce
Frying the chicken
You will need to deep fry the chicken pieces twice. The first time is to cook it, while the second time is to make it crispy for a longer time. Make sure to wait at least 5-10 minutes between the first and second deep frying so that the moisture comes out. This ensures the second time deep frying will make the chicken crunchy
Chef Sunna’s tip: don’t put in too many pieces at once because the temperature of the oil will drop a lot, which will make the cooking time longer
You know the chicken is cooked when it starts to float
Final steps
After frying, you can now coat or toss the chicken with the sauce we prepared earlier
Chef Sunna’s tip: for the best results, both the chicken pieces and the sauce should be hot. You may need to reheat your sauce.
As a final touch, you can sprinkle sesame seeds on the chicken and plate it as you want.
If you’re not a fan of spicy food, you could also fry the chicken and eat it without sauce. There are also many non-spicy sauce alternatives. One of my favorite non-spicy sauces is the soy garlic sauce. I have linked a recipe down below if you are interested. https://mykoreankitchen.com/dakgangjeong-soy-garlic-fried-chicken/
Please make sure to also check out this video on KCC Canada’s YouTube channel to see this fried chicken recipe in action: https://youtu.be/i-Bmg2O4qPc
Photo: Chef Sunna
My experience with the class
Needless to say, this class was a very enriching experience. For someone interested in Korean cuisine, I found this class really exciting and motivating to explore more of Korea’s dishes through KCC Food Class’s recipes! Cooking at the same time as instructions are given can be challenging. So, feel free to simply take notes while watching and save the recipe for your next cooking adventure. Additionally, there is a moderator from KCC Canada who reads the questions from the chat and ensures all inquiries/questions are attended to. Chef Sunna is also very friendly and has a great sense of humour when teaching! Without a doubt, she has the charms to keep you engaged throughout the entire class. For those that are shy, please note that it is optional to turn on your camera when attending the online cooking class. This allows you to focus whether you’re cooking at the same time or just attending for fun!
How to register for future classes
I hope you found this recipe and review of the KCC Food Class helpful! I would highly encourage you to sign up for the upcoming class so that you can get your hands on a delicious Korean recipe taught by KCC Canada’s very special Chef Sunna.
To register for future events, simply follow the below instructions:
Stay up-to-date with upcoming virtual food classes at this link:
As we get closer to the next class (Mondays, 7 PM EST bi-weekly), you will see a blog post appear with details on how to register for the class. Registration is done through Google Forms, which will be linked in the post.
A confirmation email will be sent to you ahead of time with the list of ingredients you’ll need to prepare if you want to cook along
Thank you for joining me, and happy cooking ♡
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