hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to the Bay Area restaurant scene with a Korean fried chicken or yang nyeom chicken inspired by the one found at OBTown Chicken in Oakland, CA. OB Town Chicken (or just OB Chicken, for those of us that have been around long enough to predate their rebrand) is one of Oakland’s most popular locations to grab some Korean fried chicken, a pint of Hite, and a real late night of drinking with your friends. It’s location (while also relatively close to the strip of other Korean BBQ restaurants in the neighborhood) is also right on the border between Oakland and Berkeley, making it a popular spot for many UC Berkeley students (myself included).
More specifically today we’ll be diving into their “yang nyeom” chicken, or gochujang glazed chicken wings. For those unfamiliar, while obviously there are many different forms of Korean fried chicken or “KFC,” the term is often is often colloquially used to refer to this very specific and iconic form of bright red, sticky glazed wing. Today we’ll be doing ours with a combination of honey, sweet chili sauce, and of course, gochujang to achieve our sweet, spicy, savory, and wonderfully messy hot wing. To round this out, we’ll also be pairing our glaze with a super light corn starch breading, combined with one of my very favorite ingredients in a deep fry, a bit of baking powder to help us get a crispy and puffy wing. Hope you try it.
Yields 20
INGREDIENTS
8 cloves garlic
2 inches (about 2 tbsp) ginger
1 lb (about 20 ct) chicken wings
1 tsp white pepper
kosher salt
1/2 cup corn starch
1/4 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
peanut oil
24 oz netural oil for frying (canola, vegetable, or grapeseed)
sesame seed
6-8 Tian Jin Peppers
INGREDIENTS (glaze)
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp gochujang
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sweet chile sauce
PREP
CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside
FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside
COMBINE half of the garlic and half of the ginger with the chicken wings in a large mixing bowl, then add the white pepper, pinch of kosher salt, corn starch, AP flour, and baking powder and toss to combine
COMBINE all glaze ingredients, set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT the fryer oil in a wok to 350F, then add the chicken wings 6-7 pieces at a time, reducing the heat to medium after 1 minute
FRY the wings until golden brown and 165F internal, then remove and let cool on dryer racks
REMOVE the fryer oil, then reheat the wok as hot as possible, add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao
ADD the remaining garlic and ginger, and toss until fragrant for about 15 seconds
ADD the Tian Jin peppers and toss for 15 seconds until fragrant
ADD the glaze mixture and reduce until a syrup-like consistency is reached (about 4-5 minutes)
ADD the chicken wings back to the wok and toss briefly for 30 seconds until coated
REMOVE from heat and finish with sesame seeds