Make crispy crunchy Korean fried chicken in an air fryer with this easy double air fry technique.
You’re 30 minutes away from the crispiest, crunchiest, tastiest chicken wings ever. Korean fried chicken, if you’ve never tried it, is an extra crunchy double fried chicken tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. It’s like the best hot wings ever.
Years and years ago in NYC, Steph and I discovered new-to-us Korean fried chicken and it was unlike anything we’d ever had before. Crispy, crunchy, spicy, sticky, and sweet; it was like a whole other level of chicken. We loved it so much we went on a quest to try every version in the city, from then-glossy chain BonChon to some strange third floor lounge in the fashion district overlooking a discount ticket seller where we were the only customers (spoiler, it was the best of 6-8 that we tried).Korean fried chicken was so big in those days that David Chang did an east-v-west chicken feast; one whole Korean fried chicken vs one whole Old Bay southern buttermilk fried chicken, for an insane amount of money at the original Momofuku. You had to wake up at 8am on a certain day to get the reservation. We went to that too. (pictured above – for this post I asked everyone who was at that dinner what they remembered thinking and over a decade later, they all still shared the same verdict: David Chang should stick to southern buttermilk fried chicken, but the Asian sauces were really good).

The secret of Korean fried chicken is the double frying. Double frying in the air fryer works just as well as it does with deep frying, but way easier. The secret is to coat your chicken after the first fry using a spray/mist of oil. It’s not totally necessary, but it really helps. To make Korean fried chicken in an air fryer:

Coat the chicken. I coated the chicken first with oil to help with heat transfer, then salt and pepper, then corn or potato starch, which is what Asian-style chicken is classically made with for a lighter, crispier outer shell.
Air fry the chicken. 400ºF for 15 minutes. There’s no need to preheat the air fryer.
Make the sauce. While the chicken is air frying, make the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients, then heating it up to a very slight boil (or even just microwaving it for a minute).
Flip the chicken. When 15 minutes is up, flip the chicken and continue air frying for another 5 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.
Double fry and sauce. After the chicken has cooled, spray it with oil again, then air fry it for the final time at 400ºF for 5 minutes. Remove and toss in sauce, then enjoy immediately.

If you don’t have an air fryer (you should really consider getting one as they are great and cheap these days) you can easily do it the classic way: deep fry the chicken until golden brown, then remove and let cool a bit before dropping it back in for a few more minutes. Then toss in sauce, as usual.

Will this sauce work with any kind of fried chicken?
Yes! If you are feeling lazy, you can just make the sauce and toss it in grocery store or chain fried chicken. It won’t be as good or quite the same, but still pretty awesome.
How does it compare to delivery
Korean fried chicken is available as a delivery item in most major cities these days. While this might seem like more work than just ordering delivery, right after I made this chicken, we went out and tried a local version – hot and fresh – to compare and contrast. The homemade KFC was both tastier and crispier. There’s no comparison at all; this recipe is way better, and way healthier too.

I hope you get some properly good KFC in your life asap. Hot and fresh.

If you’ve ever been to a Korean restaurant you know Banchan. They are absolutely a key part of Korean barbecue. Banchan, or side dishes, are placed around the grill for everyone to share. I always judge Korean barbecue restaurants for their banchan because you know if they’re taking care with their banchan, they’re taking care with everything else.

You can make your own banchan (please check out Maangchi for some great recipes!), but if you’re lucky enough to have an H-Mart in your town or close by, it’s worth it to go there because they have a whole HUGE refrigerated section of prepared banchan. Plus you can get some Melona ice cream bars and roasted seaweed snacks that are 10 times cheaper than the seaweed snacks at Whole Foods.

Some common banchan are:
Kimchi: This comes in several varieties and most Korean bbq places will give you more than one kind. Buy a couple of different kimchi varieties at a local Korean grocery store. Otherwise, most large supermarkets have the standard baechu kimchi (napa cabbage). Kkakdugi, or cubed radish/daikon is super popular and oi sobagi, or cucumber is always a good choice.
Kongnamul: These are soy bean sprouts that are seasoned with sesame oil, soy, scallions and garlic.
Danmuji: These iconic picked yellow daikon are the kind that you find in kimbap! Crunchy, sweet and sour, and so addictive.
Gim/Seaweed: There are a bunch of different seaweed banchan you can get: seasoned seaweed salads made with roasted seaweed (doljaban muchim), seaweed stems (miyeok julgi bokkeum), wakame (miyeok muchim).

This is a little 101 on all things Korean BBQ. What it is, what you should buy, how you should set the table, and how you do it. Korean BBQ for everybody!

Why you should throw yourself a Korean BBQ party
Korean barbecue is all about balance and contrast between flavors and textures. It’s completely customizable so that everyone at the table can eat exactly what they want.

Here’s what happens when you go out for KBBQ: You sit down and a bunch of tiny plates that you haven’t ordered come out. These are banchan: little side dishes that go with Korean BBQ. You order your meats and they come to the table, raw. You grill them, wrap them up in lettuce, dip/top them, then eat them up. Everything is smoky, meaty, savory, and delicious. Eat meat, drink copious amounts of alcohol, and repeat!
Sounds fun right?! Mike and I LOVE going for Korean barbecue. It’s one of our things – late night grilling and chatting the night away. I like the interactive part of it and Mike likes the meat and alcohol. We both love the food. We’ve eaten at countless Korean barbecue restaurants and earlier this year, when everyone was in lockdown, we were really, really missing Korean barbecue. It was an itch we just had to scratch. So we did the thing: the ultimate way to KBBQ, right at home.

If you’ve ever been to a Korean restaurant you know Banchan. They are absolutely a key part of Korean barbecue. Banchan, or side dishes, are placed around the grill for everyone to share. I always judge Korean barbecue restaurants for their banchan because you know if they’re taking care with their banchan, they’re taking care with everything else.

You can make your own banchan (please check out Maangchi for some great recipes!), but if you’re lucky enough to have an H-Mart in your town or close by, it’s worth it to go there because they have a whole HUGE refrigerated section of prepared banchan. Plus you can get some Melona ice cream bars and roasted seaweed snacks that are 10 times cheaper than the seaweed snacks at Whole Foods.

Some common banchan are:
Kimchi: This comes in several varieties and most Korean bbq places will give you more than one kind. Buy a couple of different kimchi varieties at a local Korean grocery store. Otherwise, most large supermarkets have the standard baechu kimchi (napa cabbage). Kkakdugi, or cubed radish/daikon is super popular and oi sobagi, or cucumber is always a good choice.
Kongnamul: These are soy bean sprouts that are seasoned with sesame oil, soy, scallions and garlic.
Danmuji: These iconic picked yellow daikon are the kind that you find in kimbap! Crunchy, sweet and sour, and so addictive.
Gim/Seaweed: There are a bunch of different seaweed banchan you can get: seasoned seaweed salads made with roasted seaweed (doljaban muchim), seaweed stems (miyeok julgi bokkeum), wakame (miyeok muchim).

This is a little 101 on all things Korean BBQ. What it is, what you should buy, how you should set the table, and how you do it. Korean BBQ for everybody!

Why you should throw yourself a Korean BBQ party
Korean barbecue is all about balance and contrast between flavors and textures. It’s completely customizable so that everyone at the table can eat exactly what they want.

Here’s what happens when you go out for KBBQ: You sit down and a bunch of tiny plates that you haven’t ordered come out. These are banchan: little side dishes that go with Korean BBQ. You order your meats and they come to the table, raw. You grill them, wrap them up in lettuce, dip/top them, then eat them up. Everything is smoky, meaty, savory, and delicious. Eat meat, drink copious amounts of alcohol, and repeat!
Sounds fun right?! Mike and I LOVE going for Korean barbecue. It’s one of our things – late night grilling and chatting the night away. I like the interactive part of it and Mike likes the meat and alcohol. We both love the food. We’ve eaten at countless Korean barbecue restaurants and earlier this year, when everyone was in lockdown, we were really, really missing Korean barbecue. It was an itch we just had to scratch. So we did the thing: the ultimate way to KBBQ, right at home.

If you don’t have an air fryer (you should really consider getting one as they are great and cheap these days) you can easily do it the classic way: deep fry the chicken until golden brown, then remove and let cool a bit before dropping it back in for a few more minutes. Then toss in sauce, as usual.

Will this sauce work with any kind of fried chicken?
Yes! If you are feeling lazy, you can just make the sauce and toss it in grocery store or chain fried chicken. It won’t be as good or quite the same, but still pretty awesome.
How does it compare to delivery
Korean fried chicken is available as a delivery item in most major cities these days. While this might seem like more work than just ordering delivery, right after I made this chicken, we went out and tried a local version – hot and fresh – to compare and contrast. The homemade KFC was both tastier and crispier. There’s no comparison at all; this recipe is way better, and way healthier too.

I hope you get some properly good KFC in your life asap. Hot and fresh.

The secret of Korean fried chicken is the double frying. Double frying in the air fryer works just as well as it does with deep frying, but way easier. The secret is to coat your chicken after the first fry using a spray/mist of oil. It’s not totally necessary, but it really helps. To make Korean fried chicken in an air fryer:

Coat the chicken. I coated the chicken first with oil to help with heat transfer, then salt and pepper, then corn or potato starch, which is what Asian-style chicken is classically made with for a lighter, crispier outer shell.
Air fry the chicken. 400ºF for 15 minutes. There’s no need to preheat the air fryer.
Make the sauce. While the chicken is air frying, make the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients, then heating it up to a very slight boil (or even just microwaving it for a minute).
Flip the chicken. When 15 minutes is up, flip the chicken and continue air frying for another 5 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.
Double fry and sauce. After the chicken has cooled, spray it with oil again, then air fry it for the final time at 400ºF for 5 minutes. Remove and toss in sauce, then enjoy immediately.

Make crispy crunchy Korean fried chicken in an air fryer with this easy double air fry technique.
You’re 30 minutes away from the crispiest, crunchiest, tastiest chicken wings ever. Korean fried chicken, if you’ve never tried it, is an extra crunchy double fried chicken tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. It’s like the best hot wings ever.
Years and years ago in NYC, Steph and I discovered new-to-us Korean fried chicken and it was unlike anything we’d ever had before. Crispy, crunchy, spicy, sticky, and sweet; it was like a whole other level of chicken. We loved it so much we went on a quest to try every version in the city, from then-glossy chain BonChon to some strange third floor lounge in the fashion district overlooking a discount ticket seller where we were the only customers (spoiler, it was the best of 6-8 that we tried).Korean fried chicken was so big in those days that David Chang did an east-v-west chicken feast; one whole Korean fried chicken vs one whole Old Bay southern buttermilk fried chicken, for an insane amount of money at the original Momofuku. You had to wake up at 8am on a certain day to get the reservation. We went to that too. (pictured above – for this post I asked everyone who was at that dinner what they remembered thinking and over a decade later, they all still shared the same verdict: David Chang should stick to southern buttermilk fried chicken, but the Asian sauces were really good).