Start salivating! This is a bit of a mishmash (or fusion as they say) of all my favourite Asian flavours into one of my favourite meals – a homemade burger. Korean fried chicken has become a bit of a world-wide obsession and their latest street food trend is to whack this super-crispy, double-fried chicken into a soft bun with kimchi and lashings of sticky chilli sauce.
My brother-in-law Mike is a master at Teriyaki chicken and often holds family masterclasses so I’ve experimented a lot with fried chicken. For an ultra-cripsy coating it is really is worth taking the extra few minutes to twice fry (sorry Mike!).
Often described as sweet and sour, kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean side-dish made of a variety of vegetables and seasonings. You can buy it in a jar from most Asian supermarkets but I prefer the crunch and freshness of this kimchi-inspired slaw. Enjoy!
Serves 4 (or would be great as mini sliders, making about 20)
8 skinless boneless chicken thighs fillet (or 4 if you’re not as greedy as me)
large piece of ginger, finely grated
150g cornflour
vegetable oil, for frying
Sauce
50g palm sugar (or brown)
3 tbsp soy sauce
2-3 tbsp Korean*chilli paste (or regular if you can’t get)
3 large garlic cloves, crushed
small piece ginger, grated
3 tsp sesame oil
‘Kimchi’ Slaw
1/4 red cabbage, finely sliced
1 radish, finely sliced
2 spring onions, finely sliced
small piece ginger, grated
1 tsp brown sugar
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tbsp mayonnaise (I use Japanese but any will do)
To serve
1/2 cucumber thinly sliced
4 brioche or regular burger buns, split and lightly toasted
For the slaw combine all ingredients together and chill until ready to use.
For the sauce put all the ingredients in a pot and simmer gently until syrupy (5-10 minutes). Take off the heat and set aside.
Season the chicken with salt, pepper and grated ginger and toss in cornflour to coat.
Heat about 2cm of vegetable oil in a large frying pan then fry the chicken in batches for 4-5 mins each side until crisp. Remove from the oil onto a paper towle and leave to cool slightly for a couple of minutes. Then re-fry in the hot oil until super-crispy and you can hear it crackle. Remove to paper towels to drain.
Build your burgers by squeezing mayonnaise over the base of the bun then top with the crispy chicken, a drizzle of sticky sauce then kimchi slaw and cucumber.
*Gochujang (Korean chilli paste) is available from most Asian food stores.
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