It’s time for the October Pinterest Challenge! This time, I chose to try Korean Popcorn Chicken with Rice Cakes!
This month, instead of trying out a Halloween or Fall pin, I chose to stick with food. If you’ve been following along with my past Pin Challenges, you’ll know that I have a thing for Korean food. I’ve already tried Hotteok, Vegetable Pancakes, and plan on trying even more. Korean food is always tasty, especially the fried chicken recipes! The recipe I chose to try this month is from this pin —>>Korean Street Fried Chicken.
For this recipe, I only made a few adjustments. The first change was due to me totally forgetting to add Worcestershire sauce, but I made it again with it and prefer the taste without it. For me, the addition of the Worcestershire sauce made the sauce a little too tangy for my taste. My kids liked it tangy, so it’s a personal preference thing. The second change was to double the recipe since I use an entire bag of frozen chicken thighs. The last change was to skip the deep frying of the rice cakes since rice cakes can explode in oil. I prefer not having to deal with second and third degree burns, so I cooked the rice cakes in the sauce to soften them.
Okay, so let’s get to the recipe!
Note: to see the original recipe with steps, please go to the original blog.
Korean Popcorn Chicken with Rice Cakes
Korean fried chicken with rice cakes
Ingredients
- Chicken
- 1 - 3lb bag boneless chicken thighs, defrosted and cut into 1" size pieces
- 1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 2 Tbs rice wine
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, grated
- 2/3 cup flour
- 2 Tbs cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 5-6 Tbs cold water
- Frying oil
- Sauce
- 1 T. gochujang, Korean red pepper paste
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbs strawberry jam
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 large cloves garlic, chopped
- Optional - 8 - 10 oz Korean rice cake
- Optional - chopped green onions
- Optional - toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Season cut chicken with salt, black pepper, rice wine, garlic, and ginger. Mix and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and 5 T. water to chicken. Mix well till chicken is completely covered. If the mixture is too thick, add one more tablespoon of water.
- If using frozen rice cakes, now is the time to prep them. Add pieces to warm water and let sit for 15 minutes. Rinse, drain, and set aside.
- Add oil to large frying pan over medium high heat. It should be enough to just cover the pieces of chicken. When oil is nice and hot, add chicken into pan a piece at a time. Do not overcrowd the pan. The chicken may have to be cooked in 3-4 batches. Cook chicken for a total of about 7 minutes - 4 minutes on one side and 3 minutes on the other. Adjust heat as needed to keep chicken from browning too quickly. When chicken pieces are cooked, remove them to a rack or paper towels to strain. Note: the chicken pieces will be double fried.
- When all the chicken pieces have been fried, place them back into the fry pan to cook for another 3-4 minutes. I do mine in two batches since my frying pan in small. Remove and let drain on a rack or paper towels.
- For the sauce, add all the sauce ingredients into a large pan. Stir to combine and add in the rice cakes. Cook over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes or until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Make sure to constantly stir to prevent the rice cakes from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cut each rice cake in half and add chicken. Toss to coat chicken and serve while hot.
- Optional to sprinkle chopped green onions and toasted sesame seeds.
Notes
- If you're in a rush, you can skip the double frying. Although, you may not have the same crispy crust on the chicken. Why? Because the first fry will remove any surface moisture. When the chicken cools, more moisture comes to the surface and can make the crust soggy. Doing a second fry will remove that moisture so the crust will remain crispy.
- Serve with rice. Side dish suggestions - corn, kimchi, or vegetable pancakes.
Recommended Products
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Singkasa Porcelain Grater Plate for Ginger, Garlic and Onion for kitchen, 8 inches & white -
Hot Red Chili Pepper Paste, Korean Traditional Essential Seasoning Sauce -
Cuisinart Chef's Classic Nonstick Hard-Anodized 12-Inch Skillet with Glass Cover -
Rachael Ray Cucina Hard-Anodized Nonstick Skillet with Helper Handle, 14-Inch -
Baking Half Sheet Baking and Cooling Rack, 16.5 x 11.75-Inches -
Kitchen Fine Mesh Strainer
TO JOIN NEXT MONTH’S #PINTERESTCHALLENGE, CLICK HERE TO SIGN-UP ⇒ November Pinterest Challange
For more Pinterest inspired projects from this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosts, check out the links below ↓
My Pinterventures • Eye Love Knots•Faeries and Fauna
Life Beyond the Kitchen • Across the Boulevard • Purple Hues and Me Z
Teadoddles • Our Good Life • Intelligent Domestications
My Family Thyme • Mom Home Guide • Our Unschooling Journey
Our Crafty Mom • Sum of their Stories • Farm Girl Reformed
Decorate and More with Tip • This Autoimmune Life • Sew Crafty Crochet
Domestic Deadline • Cookies Coffee and Crafts • My Sweet Things
Christina Faye Repurposed • Blogghetti
Now, let’s see what the other hosts have created ⇓⇓
You always make me hungry! What time is dinner? Lol, pinned!
Looks delicious Erlene! Spicy and sweet is such a great combination of flavors!
This looks tasty, Erlene. I know that several people in my family would love it. Pinning to make later.
This looks especially tasty, Erlene! My adult son (whose currently living with us) loves spicy Asian food. Maybe I’ll make it for him one day! Pinned!
Ohhh, Erlene, this looks so delicious! Pinning
That looks so delicious! It reminds me a bit of a recipe I’ve made before but with a few different flavors. Pinned.
That looks amazing! I love Asian food, and I can almost taste it just by looking at the photo!
I love Asian food too since the flavors are what I grew up eating. This is definitely a keeper!
Erlene, this looks delicious! What time is dinner? 🙂
Lol…today is my son’s bday, so no cooking for me 🙂 We’re going out to eat! But I would make this for you.
Erlene this looks so good. Great for a raining cool Fall day. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us. Also, thanks for hosting this great blog hop.
Thanks Terrie. It’s a great recipe!
Yum! Your recipes always look so good. I like extra tang too. I had no idea rice cakes were so dangerous like that.
This recipe is really good. Omgosh, I love rice cakes, but I like my skin more 🙂 Maybe if I build up some courage I’ll try frying. Her recipe says no more than 2 minutes, but I’ve seen another that says no more thn 30 seconds! That’s a HUGE time difference and I read comments saying it exploded on them.