Korean Fried Chicken Wings

 

When I make this, I add an extra egg to make it loose enough to use as a thick batter

Sweet, sour, & spicy Korean fried chicken Yangnyeom-tongdak 양념통닭 

Ingredients

For 3 to 4 servings

• 2 pounds chicken wings
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ cup potato starch
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

For the sauce:

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ⅓ cup ketchup
• ⅓ cup rice syrup
• ¼ cup gochujang (Korean hot pepper  paste)
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• corn (or vegetable) oil for frying

For a side dish, pickled radish (chicken-mu), optional

Notes:I get potato starch from the Bob’s Red Barn section of the grocery. Many of the other ingredients are at Asian markets but you can use corn starch and corn syrup instead of rice syrup and potato starch.

Directions

Start the first fry:

1. Heat 2 inches of oil in a large heavy frying pan or pot over medium high  heat for about 10 to 12 minutes until the oil temperature reaches 330-350ºF. I used my 12 inch pan but if your pan is smaller, work by batches. If you don’t have a thermometer, test it by dipping one piece of chicken in the oil. If it bubbles, it is ready.
2. While the oil is heating, combine chicken, salt, ground black pepper, starch, flour, baking soda, and eggs in a large bowl. Mix altogether well by hand.
3. Add the coated chicken to hot oil one by one. Fry them for 12 minutes until the all sides of the chicken are golden brown and crunchy, turning over with tongs.
   
4. Take out the chicken with tongs or a large slotted spoon to wire strainer over a bowl to remove the excess oil.

Make seasoning sauce:

1. Heat the 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Stir in garlic until light brown for about 30 seconds. Add the ketchup, rice syrup, gochujang, vinegar and stir well with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to low and stir until bubbling. Remove from the heat.

Start the second fry:

1. Let the oil heat up for 2 minutes over medium high heat until it reaches 330-350ºF.
2. Fry the chicken one more time, turning over with tongs for about another 12 minutes until very crunchy.
   
3. Reheat the sauce over medium high heat until it’s bubbling again. Add all the hot crunchy chicken and mix well with a wooden spoon and tongs.

Finish and serve:

1. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and transfer to a serving plate. Serve with chicken-mu (pickled radish) if you have it.

Ina Garten Chicken Breast

 

I saw this chicken recipe today and it said Ina liked to make this when she was too tired to cook. Well I felt too lazy to cook so I tried the recipe.  She peels back the skin, brushes it with olive oil, salts and peppers it, spreads goat cheese on, tops it with a fresh basil leaf and bakes it at 375º for 30-40 minutes. Then she covers it with foil to rest 10 minutes. She said her kids were not crazy about goat cheese but they liked it in this dish.  I kinda feel the same way about goat cheese so I went ahead and tried it.  It was good.  Charlie said he liked it too even though he also was skeptical at first.  The mushrooms were cooked in sesame oil with some salt and pepper.  The tomato was halved, salted, dotted with butter and topped with bread crumbs and broiled until it was browned and bubbly on top. Corn was cooked on the cob and cut off.  The broccoli was a frozen package.