Korean Chicken Recipes: 5 Ways to Cook It

Korean fried chicken is double-fried, which is the single most important thing to know about it. The first fry cooks the chicken through and renders fat from the skin. The second fry crisps the exterior into a shell that stays crunchy for hours, even under sauce. The result is chicken that crunches audibly when you bite into it, a crunch that no single-fried chicken can match.

There are two main styles. The original is huraideu chikin (fried chicken), served plain with a dipping sauce of salt and pepper or mustard. The second is yangnyeom chikin (seasoned chicken), tossed in a sweet, spicy, sticky glaze made from gochujang, ketchup, garlic, and corn syrup. Both styles are available at dedicated chikin joints across Korea, usually paired with soju in a combination called chimaek (치맥), short for chicken and beer. The chimaek ritual is as ingrained in Korean drinking culture as soju itself, and the best chikin joints are the ones where the chicken arrives at the table still crackling from the fryer.

Dak galbi (닭갈비) is spicy stir-fried chicken, and it is the dish that proves Korean cooking does not need a deep fryer to make chicken exciting. Boneless chicken thighs are marinated in a gochujang-based sauce with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sometimes curry powder, then stir-fried on a large flat pan with cabbage, sweet potato, rice cakes, and perilla leaves. The marinade caramelizes as it cooks, creating a sticky, spicy coating that clings to every piece.

Dak galbi is communal food, cooked on a single pan at the center of the table and shared among two to four people. The best versions add mozzarella cheese at the end, which melts into a stretchy, gooey layer that you pull apart with chopsticks and dip back into the sauce. Chuncheon, a city northeast of Seoul, claims to be the birthplace of dak galbi, and the restaurants there serve it on cast-iron pans that keep the chicken sizzling long after the heat is turned off. Dak galbi is the dish you order when you want something bold, spicy, and worth arguing about with friends over soju.

Dakdoritang (닭도리탕) is spicy braised chicken, also called dakbokkeumtang, and it is the chicken stew that Korean mothers make when the family needs something hearty. Bone-in chicken pieces are simmered in a gochujang broth with potatoes, carrots, onions, and scallions until the meat is tender and the vegetables have absorbed the spicy, savory liquid. The broth reduces as it cooks, turning from thin soup into a thick, glossy sauce that coats everything in the pot.

The name dakdoritang is controversial in Korea. Some argue that "dori" comes from the Japanese word tori (bird), making it a linguistic relic of the colonial period. Others say it comes from the Korean word for pieces. The debate has led some restaurants to use the alternative name dakbokkeumtang instead. Regardless of what you call it, the dish is comfort food at its most direct: chicken, potatoes, heat, and enough broth to soak into rice. It is the chicken dish you make on cold nights when a stew sounds better than anything fried.

Jjimdak (닭찜) is braised chicken in soy sauce, and it is the chicken dish that rewards patience. A whole chicken is cut into pieces, then braised in a mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and dried red chilies until the meat is falling off the bone and the sauce has reduced to a dark, glossy glaze. Glass noodles, potatoes, carrots, and dried shiitake mushrooms cook alongside the chicken, absorbing the braising liquid and becoming dishes unto themselves.

Jjimdak originated in Andong, a city in north Gyeongsang Province known for its traditional food culture. The Andong version is darker, saltier, and more intensely flavored than the versions you find in Seoul, where the dish has been softened for broader appeal. The best jjimdak is the kind that arrives at the table in the same pot it was braised in, the sauce still bubbling, the glass noodles tangled around the chicken pieces. It is the dish that proves soy sauce can do everything gochujang does, just with a different kind of depth.

Dakgangjeong (닭강정) is sweet crispy chicken, and it is the street food version of Korean fried chicken. Bite-sized pieces of chicken are double-fried until shatteringly crispy, then tossed in a sweet, sticky glaze made from gochujang, soy sauce, garlic, and corn syrup. The difference from yangnyeom chikin is scale and context: dakgangjeong is sold at pojangmacha and market stalls, served in paper bags or small buckets, eaten standing up rather than at a table with soju.

The double-frying technique is what makes dakgangjeong work. The first fry cooks the chicken through, the second fry creates a crust that stays crunchy even under the glaze. The glaze itself is thicker and stickier than yangnyeom sauce, designed to cling to each piece without making it soggy. Dakgangjeong is the chicken you eat when you want something sweet, spicy, and crunchy without the commitment of a full fried chicken order. It is snack food that happens to be made from chicken, and it pairs with soju the way all Korean fried things do.