Korean Vampire Chicken

Using a sharp knife, separate the 10 pieces of chicken into 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings and 2 breasts (halve these so you have 4 breast pieces). Place the chicken pieces into a large clean mixing bowl ready to dry brine. Sprinkle over the salt, pepper, gochugaru and onion powder, followed by the garlic and ginger. Mix everything together until evenly coated. Cover the bowl with cling film, then place the bowl of chicken in the refrigerator to marinate overnight. (If you aren’t able to marinate overnight, try making some slashes into the meat of the chicken before marinating, then leave in the fridge for 2 hours.)

In a separate bowl, make the vampire sauce by mixing all of the ingredients together. Pour in ¼ cup boiling water and mix again – this is a fast way to cook the sauce without using another saucepan. Leave aside until ready to serve.

Time to make the spicy chicken coating. In a large mixing bowl or rectangular container, whisk together all the ingredients. Set aside until ready to use.

To make the milk batter, use another large mixing bowl and whisk together the milk, egg and ¼ cup of the spicy chicken coating flour mixture. This creates a wet brine effect to help the coating mixture stick.

Preheat a wok filled one-third of the way up with oil over medium heat. The oil is ready to use when a wooden spoon dipped into the oil makes small bubbles.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator. One at a time, place a chicken piece into the milk batter mixture and ensure it’s coated, then place it into the flour mixture. Continue until all your chicken pieces are in the flour mixture, then press the flour onto all sides of the chicken. Once everything is well coated and craggy, place the pieces onto a separate clean tray ready to fry.

Cook chicken, 2 or 3 pieces at a time, in the hot oil for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oil onto a clean wire rack over a tray lined with a paper towel. Brush the vampire sauce all over the chicken pieces and eat while warm.

– Gochugaru are Korean red pepper chilli flakes. Find them online or from an Asian grocery store.

– Gochujang is a Korean fermented chili paste. It can be found in the Asian aisle at most supermarkets or order it online.