Korean Sweet & Crispy Chicken Wings

Crispy, sweet and addictive! I just love this Korean style chicken wings the husband made a couple weeks ago. The wings were so good, I wished we had more of them. Who wouldn’t like sweet and sticky caramelized wings. The hint of ginger and roasted sesame seeds brought the wings to another level. It was indeed finger licking good!!!! =) The wings still tasted delectable the very next day!

I found the recipe from David’s Lebovitz’s site (one of my favorite food blogs). This recipe was originally adapted from this Korean cook/chef, Maangchi. We (the husband) tweaked the recipe a little so, the wings may not be as crispy as it was supposed to be. We had problems with the batter, not quite adhering to the chicken wings so we added the white of a large egg to the batter. That coated the wings better and we still love the after effect. And we also made use of what we had in the pantry, incorporating some maple syrup.  Here’s the recipe with our changes.

DAK GANG JUNG RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup Corn Flour
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 Large Egg White
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1/2 Tsp Chili Powder
• 14 Chicken Wing Segments
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1- 3” piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1-1/2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1/2 Cup Light/Dark Brown Sugar, Packed
• 3 Tbsp Mirin
• 1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp Corn Syrup
• 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
• 1-2 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Seed
• 1 Tsp Red Chili Flakes
• Oil

Method:

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, starch, egg, salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground chili pepper until it's a thick paste. Add the wings and mix with your hands until they're thoroughly coated. Let wings marinate for about 1 hour.

Deep fry the wings in a pot of hot oil over medium high heat, twice in batches. About 15 minutes the first time and 1-2 minutes the second time. Then drain well.

In a large pot or wok, bring to a boil the water, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, Mirin, corn syrup and syrup. Let cook until the mixture becomes syrupy and thick, and starts to foam. It should be about as thick as honey.

Turn off the heat and stir in the cooked wings, sesame seeds, and chili flakes, until completely coated.

June’s Comments: Don’t be afraid to use your elbow grease when you incorporate the wings and the sweet sticky sauce!!