Korean Fried Chicken And Waffle Bowl Recipe

Chicken and waffles is a pretty perfect combination as it is, but adding Korean fried chicken, which is a treasure trove of flavor, takes it to the next level. As recipe developer Tess Le Moing says, "If you've never had Korean Fried chicken before, I suggest you stop reading this and Google the closest place near you that makes it and have it for dinner tonight." No restaurants nearby? No problem, you can just make Le Moing's Korean fried chicken and waffle bowl recipe, an elevated take on classic chicken and waffles that incorporates the flavorful saucy fried chicken alongside scallion butter waffles.

As for what gives Korean fried chicken a distinct flavor profile, it's a sweet-spicy coating that includes gochujang paste, maple syrup, sesame oil, and lemon juice. "The fried chicken has a crunchy outside with a sweet-spicy glaze and a juicy inside," Le Moing describes. She also notes how well the chicken pairs with marinated vegetables and fluffy waffles in this recipe, "The cucumber and daikon radish add a fresh, crunchy, and cooling contrast that balances out the richness of the fried chicken. In every bite, you get crispy chicken, buttery waffles, and crunchy marinated veggies." To keep things simple on the waffle end, Le Moing opts for using frozen waffles and jazzing them up with scallion butter — of course, if you wanted to, you could easily make homemade waffles to elevate an already elevated meal even further.

There are three distinct parts to this recipe: marinated vegetables, the Korean fried chicken, and waffles with scallion butter. For the first part, you'll need peeled daikon radish, English cucumber, rice vinegar, kosher salt, and toasted sesame oil. As for the fried chicken part, you'll need gochujang paste, maple syrup, more toasted sesame oil, lemon juice, canola oil, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, more salt, black pepper, and chicken thighs cut into quarters.

As we've already mentioned, you'll need frozen buttermilk waffles, so pick your favorite brand (or make your own instead). For the scallion butter, you'll need chopped scallions, lemon juice and zest, salted butter (at room temperature), and finally, have extra scallions and toasted sesame seeds on hand to garnish.

Cut the daikon and cucumber diagonally, rotating them a quarter turn between cuts.

Place them in a bowl and toss with the rice vinegar, salt, and sesame oil. Chill in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the meal.

In a large bowl, whisk together the gochujang paste, maple syrup, sesame oil, and lemon juice.

Add oil to a medium heavy-bottomed pot until it measures 2 inches deep. Heat to 350 F over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and pepper.

Coat the chicken in the flour mixture.

Gently drop the chicken into the hot oil and fry for 5 to 7 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown and crisp.

Drain the chicken on paper towels. Repeat with the rest of the chicken, checking the oil temperature between batches.

Toss the fried chicken in the gochujang sauce.

For the scallion butter, combine the scallions, lemon zest, juice, and butter in a mixing bowl.

Toast the waffles and spread them with scallion butter.

Cut the waffles into small pieces.

Divide fried chicken, waffle pieces, and marinated vegetables between two bowls.

Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds and serve.

There's no denying that frying chicken is one of the tastiest ways to prepare the meat, leaving each bite incredibly tender and juicy on the inside yet crispy-crunchy on the outside. That said, there may be a couple of reasons why someone doesn't want to eat fried chicken, be it that they're trying to avoid excess oil or they simply prefer chicken prepared a different way. Whatever the reason might be, Le Moing assures us that there are other methods aside from frying that will work perfectly well in this recipe. 

The first option is to bread and bake the chicken. Per Le Moing, "Coat the chicken in the flour-cornstarch mixture, then beat 2 eggs and coat the chicken in the eggs, lastly coat the chicken in panko." Next, spread some vegetable oil out on a baking pan and add the chicken, then bake for 20 to 30 minutes in a 350 F oven, making sure to flip the chicken halfway through baking. The next cooking option follows a similar plan, but instead of using the oven, you'll use an air fryer. Prep and coat the chicken as you would for the baking method, then air fry the chicken for about 10 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through. "After cooking using any of these methods, you can still toss the chicken in the gochujang sauce," Le Moing notes.

Thanks to the addition of scallion butter, frozen waffles get a delicious upgrade in this recipe, making them a suitable partner for homemade Korean fried chicken. Of course, should you want to take that extra step in the kitchen and make homemade waffles (or perhaps you just want to put that waffle maker to use), Le Moing has plenty of suggestions.

For starters, she notes that buttermilk corn waffles will provide a certain crunchy texture and subtle sweetness, and you could add chopped scallions right to the batter for a savory hit. Another option for those scallion lovers is scallion and cheddar waffles, which would simply involve adding chopped scallions and shredded cheddar cheese to your waffle batter. As a bonus, you could add sesame seeds to this batter for a little extra crunch and flavor. Finally, Le Moing recommends sweet potato waffles, which would add extra color and a subtle earthy sweetness to your plate — if you go this route, consider dolloping some extra gochujang sauce on top of the waffles to add some extra sweet-spicy flair to the dish.