What comes to your mind when I say fried chicken? Fried chicken has always been one of my favorite comfort foods. I know what you are thinking, looking at my size, you probably don’t believe me. But what can I say? It’s true! Fried chicken has accompanied me through many ups and downs of my life, especially during my college years at Santa Clara University in California.
I could be biased, but to me Santa Clara University has the most mesmerizing college campus. The Mission church is at the heart of the campus. As you walk around the grounds, the tall palm trees stand straight and green grass waves in the breeze. The pleasant sunlight that falls on your face feels like a warm kiss on the cheek. Blue sky is the vividly painted backdrop. Occasionally squirrels run around you playfully. These are some of my signature memories of Santa Clara University.
Throughout my college years we had a lot of times that were fun, which included lots of parties and game nights. We usually dressed in casual clothes like Pajama pants, sweatshirts, and flip-flops were popular fashion trends. We played games and chatted over drinks, snacks, pizza, and fried chicken.
I also had some stressful times, like during midterms and finals when my textbooks and notebooks were sprawled across the cafeteria table. I would also have a bottle of water and a large cup of coffee on the table, as well as snacks that helped release my stress—sour candies, chocolates, and of course, fried chicken!
I remember when my roommate had her wisdom tooth pulled. She was in so much pain that she could barely talk or even move around. And guess what was for dinner that night? Fried chicken!
Yep. These are some of my fried chicken memories. Fried chicken helped me cope with the best and worst times during my college years. After moving back to New York City, my craving for fried chicken hasn’t subdued. Instead, I have fallen in love with several Korean Fried Chicken places in New York City.
One of my favorite places for Korean Fried Chicken is called Hell’s Chicken. Their fried chicken is super crispy and crunchy on the outside, and juicy and succulent on the inside.
Korean fried chicken is typically fried twice, resulting in the skin being crunchier and less greasy. The chicken is usually seasoned with salt prior to being fried. Korean fried chicken is often served with pickled radishes, beer, and soju.
“Korean fried chicken was brought to Korea by American, and we created our own sauces to go with the fried chicken”, said Jeong S. Lee, the manager of Hell’s Chicken. It’s so popular in Korea now that you literary see fried chicken shops in every corner. An average person would eat at least one meal of fried chicken per week.
Now let’s learn how to make Soy Garlic Korean Fried Chicken!
Ingredients
- 20 pieces of chicken wings and drumsticks
- 4 oz of rice flour
- 4 cups of vegetable oil
Soy Garlic Sauce
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of water
- 2 tablespoons of minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons of syrup
Instruction
1. To brine the chicken, in a big bowl add all the chicken pieces, 1 gallon of water and 1/2 cup of kosher salt, and make sure salt dissolves. Then cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator for 6 hours.
2. To make the sauce, put soy sauce, water, minced garlic, garlic powder, sugar, and syrup in a saucepan and simmer at a low heat for about 5 minutes until everything is dissolved. Put it aside.
3. After 6 hours, drain the chicken pieces, and cover them with rice flour.
4. In your frying pan, add oil, preheat your pan to 350 degrees, then put the chicken pieces in and fry for about 9 minutes. Take the chicken pieces out and let them cool for about 40 seconds. Fry the chicken one more time for about 5 minutes. Take the chicken out and apply the sauce with a brush.
After eating Hell’s Chicken’s Soy Garlic Fried Chicken, all my college memories came flooding back to me, both the ups and the downs. Everything! It’s just so heavenly. Let me know how this recipe works for you. Happy cooking and eating!
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Special thanks to Jeong S. Lee and Hell’s Chicken
641 10th Ave
New York, NY
(212) 757-1120
