Korean Fried Chicken in the Air Fryer

Korean Fried Chicken in the Air Fryer - made December 13, 2019, modified from Tasty Kitchen

This was from last month when I was still going through my Korean Fried Chicken and chicken in the air fryer phase. This recipe let me combine both themes.

At this point, I'd finally broken down and bought the more expensive chicken wings from Costco. I don't know why chicken wings would be more expensive than thighs or drumsticks but if I wanted to try actual chicken wings, I had to buy chicken wings.

The air fryer worked beautifully to cook the chicken with far less mess than frying them in hot oil and is healthier. The drummettes and wings came out crispy enough. I did double the sauce recipe though as it didn't look like there would be enough sauce for all the chicken. I think I still have the Filipino mindset where you need enough sauce to go with the rice.

Good KFC though, in my experience, doesn't need to be sauce heavy. Part of the allure is having enough to make the chicken flavorful but not be too heavy handed. It isn't meant to be saucy enough to be sopped up with rice.

Still, this turned out pretty well. The gochujang makes it spicy so I could've probably cut back a little on the sauce and done a better job tossing the chicken to coat. But it was "good enough" for me.

Chili Sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons ginger, grated
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons Gochujang (Korean chili paste)

For the Chicken
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 whole chicken wings, separated and tips discarded
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 stalk green onion, for garnish

1. Chili sauce: combine soy sauce, vinegar, corn syrup, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and gochujang in a large bowl; set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, egg and salt for the batter until it's a thick paste. Add the wings and mix with your hands until wings are thoroughly coated.
3. Place coated wings in air fryer basket and drizzle with oil. Cook in air fryer for about 35 minutes or until brown and crispy.
4. Add fried chicken to the sauce and add sesame seeds; toss to coat completely. Serve hot, garnished with green onion.