These delicious Sweet & Spicy Korean BBQ Wings are deep-fried until crispy then glazed in a sticky, sweet, and spicy sauce that will have you licking your fingers.
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The name of this dish in Korean is Dakgangjeong. If you haven’t had it before, Korean fried chicken is legendary. We have a local Korean fried chicken place nearby, but when it closed during the lockdown, I had to learn how to make it myself.
So glad I did. It’s not nearly as difficult to make this dish as it seems. There are a few tips that will help you get super crispy chicken wings, and the sauce comes together easily and with so much flavor.
I often have a hard time deciding between all the delicious chicken wing styles. If we aren’t making these Korean wings, we’ll make these Baked BBQ Wings or these Stewed Chicken Wings. Such a problem to have.
Wings are also delicious cooked in the air fryer, you can even cook them from frozen. Try these Cajun chicken wings cooked in the air fryer.
The Key to Super Crispy Fried Chicken
The key to making super crispy chicken wings is corn starch and a double fry. The cornstarch helps by absorbing moisture on the chicken, so the surface gets crispier. It also prevents the formation of gluten.
If you’ve ever made fried chicken and lamented that the crunchy crust doesn’t stay on the chicken, cornstarch will prevent that as well.
Double frying the chicken wings isn’t strictly necessary when using cornstarch – the exterior will be pretty crunchy after just one fry – but this is a signature element of Korean fried chicken, so we do it!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Marinade – Rice wine, garlic, ginger, salt, and black pepper.
- Chicken wings – Plan for about 1/3 pounds of chicken wings per person.
- Corn starch – The corn starch makes a nice crispy crust on the wings that will hold the sauce.
- Oil – For frying. I generally use peanut oil, but you can use vegetable, canola, or avocado oil.
- Sauce – Ketchup, rice wine, apple cider vinegar, sesame oil, brown sugar, honey, Korean chili paste, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and black pepper.
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How to Make Dakgangjeong (Korean Fried Chicken)
Start by making the sauce. Just add all the sauce ingredients to a pan over medium heat until boiling. Then reduce the heat and continue simmering for about 5 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
These Korean BBQ Wings have so much flavor because of the layers of flavor. You start with a marinade of rice wine, garlic, ginger and salt, which the chicken wings absorb for about 30 minutes.
The next step is to coat the chicken wings with the cornstarch. It doesn’t need to be thick, just make sure each piece gets coated. Remove the chicken wings from the marinade and and place on a plate or in a bowl. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the chicken wings, stirring to make sure each piece gets coated.
Next, add cooking oil to a large skillet. I don’t fully submerge the wings. It’s not necessary to get a nice even crispiness. I just coat the bottom with about 1/4 inch of oil. If you have a deep fryer, go ahead and use that.
For cooking oil, I generally use peanut oil, but you can use vegetable, canola, or avocado oil. It just needs to have a high smoke point, so you don’t smoke up your house in the process.
Heat the oil until it reaches 375°F. You want the oil to remain between 350 and 375°F, for the best crunch, and least amount of soaked up oil.
Add the chicken wings to the skillet, making sure they don’t touch. Overcrowding the pan will lower the temperature of the oil and make it impossible for the wings to get crispy. Cook the wings in batches to prevent overcrowding.
Cook for about 5 minutes per side, until the wings are browned. Remove the wings to a wire rack to drain.
When all of the wings have been fried, reheat the oil to 350°F. Deep fry the wings a second time until golden brown, about 30 seconds per side. Remove the wings again and place them in a large bowl.
Reheat the sauce, then pour it over the chicken and stir well until evenly coated.
Serve the wings while hot. Once the sauce has been added, the crispy exterior will begin to soften.
Tips and Notes
- Use a digital thermometer to make sure the temperature of the oil remains between 350-375° F.
- The second frying can be done in one batch (no need to worry about crowding.
- If you’re short on time, you can skip the second frying.
What to Serve with Korean BBQ Wings
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Korean Sticky BBQ Wings
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 1 tablespoon rice wine
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger grated
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
For the chicken wings
- 1.5 pounds chicken wings
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- oil for deep frying
For the sauce
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 3 tablespoons rice wine
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon Korean chili paste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Mix together the rice wine, garlic, ginger and salt in a large bowl. Add the chicken wings and toss to coat. Let stand for 30 minutes.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, add all the sauce ingredients and whisk together. Bring it to a boil. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until it thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Remove the wings from the marinade and place on a plate or bowl. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the chicken wings, stirring to make sure each piece gets coated.
- Add cooking oil to a large skillet to coat the bottom with 1/4 inch of oil. Heat on medium-high until the oil reaches 375°F. Add the chicken wings to the skillet, making sure they don’t touch. Overcrowding the pan will lower the temperature and negatively affect the outcome. Cook the wings in batches to prevent overcrowding.
- Cook for about 5 minutes per side, until the wings are browned. Remove the wings to a wire rack to drain.
- When all of the wings have been fried, reheat the oil to 350°F. Deep fry the wings a second time until golden brown, about 30 seconds per side. Remove the wings again and place them in a large bowl.
- Reheat the sauce. Pour it over the chicken and stir well until evenly coated.
Notes
- Use a digital thermometer to make sure the temperature of the oil remains between 350-375 degrees.
- The second frying can be done in one batch (no need to worry about crowding.
- If you’re short on time, you can skip the second frying.
Nutrition
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Laura is a home cook who loves making new recipes and finding new favorite things to eat, whether at home or abroad. She also runs a popular travel blog and spends a lot of her time traveling for food.
I’ve had take out Korean wings that I loved and these are even better!! No need for take out any more!
These had so much flavor! Thank you!
That sweet, spicy glaze is perfection! I love the flavors here…these sound SO good!
I am not usually one for wings, but this one might change my mind! Anything spicy is right up my alley. Bookmarked for later, thanks for the recipe!!
I’m licking my fingers just looking at the photos! It looks finger licking good. For sure. Can’t wait to try this! Thanks!
Ok I just got dome making these along with fried rice….. OMG I put the chicken along with some of the sauce over the rice and all I can say is WOW.
So glad you liked them, Misty. The sauce is really addictive, isn’t it!
Step three confused me. Do you remove the chicken from the marinade before the cornstarch, or do you add the cornstarch to the bowl with the chicken and the marinade?
We couldn’t figured it out, so tossed the cornstarch into the bowl with wings & marinade.
Ours were wonderful!
Hi Rhonda, sorry for the confusion with the recipe! I will update the recipe now. I am so happy to hear that they came out great for you. We usually remove the wings from the marinade and then coat with cornstarch. This recipe is one of our favorites! 🙂
Ohmygoodness! Break out a few extra napkins for these! What a fabulous app perfect for watching football, movies, or for any other get together! I love Korean BBQ!
We love them too Patricia!
I made this recipe with chicken tenderloins and air fried instead of regular frying; still absolutely fantastic we LOVED the sauce. Thank you so much!
What a great idea! We love this sauce as well!