Sweet and crispy chicken / 닭강정 / Dakkangjung (or dak kang jung)

This is of course something that I should not cook during weekdays when I have to really watch what I eat. Tapikan, hari ni rasa a bit blue. Ya, my blues comes on Friday which is kindda weird. Normally, it's Monday blues not Friday blues. Anyway, I think I'm feeling a bit down coz hubby is hardly around this week. Kindda sad..

Oleh kerana itu, maka, aku buat this sweet and crispy chicken. Sedap wa cakap lu! It's sweet, sour and salty. Ala2 rasa sweet sour but better! Tapikan, aku rasa, aku will only cook this once in a blue moon je sebab aku taknak kira the calorie yang ada pada setiap pieces ayam tu. Mau pengsan aku lari atas treadmill kalau aku kira the calorie. I've been a very good girl for the past few days except on the day that I made Hoddeok, so I think I should reward myself with this sweet chicken. kan? huhuhuhuhu..

As always, when it comes to Korean recipes, aku suka ambik from maangchi.com. Eh! maangchi posted my Japchae photo.. hehehe.. glamer jap rasa. This recipe calls for starch powder which aku rasa is tepung kanji. But, mana la aku nak cari tepung kanji. Aku cuma ada corn flour. As I mentioned many times before, when it comes to cooking, aku just make do with whatever ingredients that I have in my pantry. Cooking should be easy. Well, K.Jud (kakak my friend Dila) cakap, when she read my blog, dia rasa memasak tu sangat senang. That's what I want. Cooking IS easy.. jangan susahkan diri sendiri, make do with what you have. It will turn fabulous. The secret ingredient is LOVE! :D

 I didnt add sesame seed sebab the girls tak suka sesame seed.

The chicken is so sinful!

Dakkangjung

Source : Maangchi

Ingredients:
40 pieces of chicken wings
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup starch powder (I used corn flour)
2 eggs
1 tsp ground pepper
vegetable oil for deep frying

Sauce
1 cup of sliced ginger
2 tbs soy sauce 
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup (mulyeot) 
1/4 cup vinegar
1 cup peanuts
1/2 cup sesame seeds (I omitted this)
dried and crushed red hot chili pepper.

Bread and Deep fry:

1. Prepare 40 chicken wings or chunks of chicken, rinse them off in cold water and drain them.
2. Transfer the chicken into a big bowl.
3. Add 2 ts of salt, 1 ts of ground pepper, 2 eggs, and the mixture of ½ cup of flour and ½ cup of starch powder. Mix it by hand.
4. Deep fry the chicken wings in vegetable oil 2 times at about 350-380 degrees (F).

Sauce for coating:

1. Prepare a big wok or pan.
2. Place 1 cup of water in the wok and heat it up.
3. Slice 1 cup of ginger thinly after peeling the skin off and washing, and add it into the boiling water.
4. Add 2 tbs of soy sauce, 1 cup of brown sugar, ¼ cup of vinegar and boil it over medium heat.
5. 5 minutes after, add 1 cup of corn syrup and keep boiling over low medium heat about 30 minutes.
6. Raise a spoon of the sizzling sauce above the wok in the air and drop it until the sauce begins stopping halfway. Then turn off the stove.

Mix it up:

1. Reheat the sauce.
2. Add the deep fried chicken, 1 cup of peanuts (or any kind of nuts), 1/2 tbs dried red hot chili pepper, and ½ cup of toasted sesame seeds into the sizzling sauce and mix it with a spatula. The amount of sticky sauce will decrease while you are stirring. Then turn off the heat and you are done!

Tip: Before the chicken cools down, you may have to separate each piece of chicken wings to prevent them from sticking to each other.
For spicy food lover:
You can sprinkle 2 tbs of dried and crushed red chili pepper instead of 1/2 tbs.
For vegetarians:
Just make the sauce following the recipe above, and then add whatever dried ingredients you like and make candy! You can use sliced ginger, nuts (almond, walnuts, pine nuts, and peanuts), or sesame seeds.

1. Place plastic wrap on your cuttingboard
2. After mixing all the dried ingredients with the sticky sauce, spread it on the plastic wrapper on your cuttingboard. Wait a few minutes for it to harden.
3. Cut it into bite size pieces and enjoy!