Serves a greedy 2
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For the coating:
For the sauce:
To garnish:
- Cut each chicken thigh into two or three pieces to make bite-sized chunks and season with salt. Whisk the buttermilk and gochugaru or paprika together in a large bowl or baking dish. Submerge all the chicken in the buttermilk, cover with cling film and marinate in the fridge for a good 4–6 hours (leaving it overnight is fine too).
- When it’s time to cook, remove the buttermilk-brined chicken from the fridge about 30 minutes before frying. Heat the oil in your deep-fryer to 150˚C.
- Combine all the coating ingredients in one bowl. (If you’ve run out of baking powder, use 60g self-raising flour instead of the plain flour.)
- Working quickly and without shaking off too much of the buttermilk, dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mix, ensuring a generous and even coating. Working in batches, add each piece directly into the fryer and cook for about 5 minutes, until cooked through and light golden. Remove from the fryer and set aside on a wire rack set over a baking tray lined with kitchen paper while you cook the rest of the chicken.
- When all the pieces have had their first fry and have been drained, crank up the temperature of the oil to 190˚C.
- Meanwhile, put all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan set over medium heat and bring to the boil, then drop down to the lowest heat setting and give it a stir every so often just to keep it warm and pourable.
- Fry all the chicken for a second time for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, until it looks incredibly crisp and has darkened in colour. Depending on the size of your fryer basket, you may need to do this in two batches.
- Place the chicken into a large heatproof bowl and pour over all the sauce, tossing to coat each piece. The chicken will soak up the sauce but still retain its crispness.
- Plate up with a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds, sliced spring onions and fresh chilli on top. Alternatively, serve in a steamed bao or as a burger. Kimchi or some sharp pickles are the ideal supporting side act or you can go all out on the whole banchan experience of a table laden with small side dishes
Note: Fresh green chilli can be used as an alternative to fresh red chilli, if you wish.
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