The Best Crispy Korean Fried Chicken

INGREDIENTS 

• 8 chicken drumsticks
• 4 cups vegetable oil or any neutral oil

Chicken Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon dry sherry or sub with white wine or rice vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1.5 teaspoon regular soy sauce or sub with a gluten-free soy sauce, tamari sauce or coconut aminos
• 1 tablespoon garlic minced
• ½ teaspoon salt

Batter (for 8 drumsticks)

• 1.25 cups tapioca starch aka tapioca flour or sub with potato starch or cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1.5 teaspoon curry powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup + 2 tbsp water cold

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine marinade ingredients as listed. Marinate your chicken for 10 minutes or overnight for best results.
2. In another large mixing bowl, combine batter ingredients until you have a thick but runny batter. The batter will settle and almost “solidify” but that is normal. You will just need to mix it again when you’re ready to batter the chicken.
3. Add marinated chicken it to your batter and mix. You’ll need some arm strength here to evenly coat the chicken.
4. In a large wok, deep pan or heavy bottomed pot, heat oil or neutral oil in a pot over medium heat (around 350 degrees F). Place a wooden chopstick in the oil to check if the oil is hot enough by looking for bubbles. Once you see bubbles form at the tip of the chopstick, your oil is hot enough.
5. In small batches, carefully lower battered chicken into hot oil away from you. The batter will run off the chicken a bit but that’s normal. Do not overcrowd the pan (about 4 pieces per batch).
6. Fry drumsticks for 10 minutes on each side for a total of 20 minutes. Flipping around every now and then until golden crispy brown. The internal temperature of cooked chicken is 165 degrees F with an digital cooking thermometer.
7. Transfer fried chicken to a wire rack or a paper-towel lined baking sheet to remove excess oil. Enjoy!