Monday 20 June 2016

He's Korean. Is He Handsome?


Today I stand in the line of fire. Young girls, aunties and makciks want to take a swipe at me for what I am about to say.

Look at this young man here. Is he handsome? 


How about this lot over here ?





Is it me or do these guys look feminine. DUSH!! One makcik just punched me. And legions of females are baying for my blood.

Look, I turn 50 next year, so understandably the blood in my veins is a little sluggish. So excuse me if I think your hot male Korean TV/pop star looks a little girlish. I'm old school. My taste is different. I prefer men to look jantan. If you know what I mean. No?


Jantan habis yang ni.
And since we are into Korean today, the only thing Korean that gets me hot and deeply bothered is Korean Fried Chicken. Dakgangjeong.



Yeah, deep fried chicken again. It can't be good for my health. Neither is it good for my kitchen. The stove top is oily and so is the floor.



But when you want fried chicken, you don't really care. You just go forth and fry. Worry about the kitchen and your arteries later.


This time I did a double frying for extra crunchiness. After all, the oil is there, all hot and bubbling and you might as well dump the fried chicken into the oil one more time.



The second frying is very fast, just under a minute and you can see the chicken turning golden brown very quickly. Drain one more time on paper towels.


I had already prepared the sauce earlier, so that it had time to cool down and thicken further. Once the chicken was all crispy and ready, I put them into a bowl and poured in the sauce.



Then it was mix, mix, mix and mix some more until all the chicken pieces are completely coated. Time to take a taste. I took a wing and gawd! It was so, so, so good! Yes, it was nice and crispy. Delicious down to the last crunch.



I used a combination of wings, drumsticks and breast meat and noted that it was the pieces with bones that tasted the best. So in future, I will only use either wings or drumsticks.

So ladies, please have some Korean Fried Chicken as a peace offering for offending your girlish Korean heartthrob and your taste in men. DUSH!












Dakgangjeong (Sweet Crispy Chicken)
Adapted from : Korean Bapsang

Ingredients :
- 1kg chicken pieces
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- some pepper
- 1tbsp crushed (or minced garlic)
- 1 tbsp crushed ginger (or minced ginger)
- 2 tbsp mirin (or rice wine vinegar)

- 1 cup tapioca flour
- Oil for deep frying

For the sauce :
- 2 tbsp light soya sauce
- 6 tbsp mirin (or rice wine vinegar)
- 4 tbsp brown rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp gojuchang (Korean red chili paste)
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp crushed garlic (or minced garlic)
- 2 tsp crushed ginger (or grated ginger)

Method :
1. Marinate chicken with salt, pepper, garlic, ginger and mirin. Set aside for 1 hour.
2. To make the sauce, mix all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil and then simmer for about 6 minutes or until the mixture turns syrupy. Set aside to cool.
3. Coat the chicken pieces with tapioca flour, pressing the chicken firmly to ensure flour sticks.
4. Heat oil in a deep pot and deep fry the chicken until lightly brown (need not be fully browned because we will fry it again). Remove and drain on paper towels.
5. Once all chicken pieces have been fried, increase temperature of oil and re-fry the chicken pieces until golden brown (it takes less than a minute). Drain on paper towels.
6. Put chicken pieces into a big bowl, pour sauce and toss to coat the pieces evenly.
7. Serve immediately.

39 comments:

  1. Good morning sweetie.. Can I say something straight forward? I don't like Korean actress/actors la.. But previously, my FB was flooded with Descendants of The Sun thingy, I was like "what's the big deal, bukannya handsome sangat pun".. Maybe youngsters will find them handsome kua, but me, aunty with 3 kids, errrr, got better things to do, clean the kitchen, vacuum, mop and pickup toys! Geeeeezzzz... Your chicken looks so sweet and sticky with honey goodness, I like.. I want to eat your chicken, with my Kewpie mayo.. Ooops, potong stim.. You are talking about Korean chicken, and I'm eating it with Kewpie pulak... huhuhu..

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    1. Good afternoon my dear! Thank God, you pun satu kepala :D This chicken tak payah dip in anything. The sauce good enough liao. But if you want to dip in mayo pun it is OK lah.

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  2. But Korean idols... although look feminine, some of them have very "jantan" voice. Very manly. Hahaha

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    1. I tak boleh tahan they look like pompuan. hee..hee...hee...

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  3. Eyewwwwwww!!!! Same as you, I would go for the Korean...chicken, anytime. LOL!!!

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    1. High 5! Hard to understand why girls go ga ga over them. Never mind hee..hee..hee...

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  4. My dear, I'm just like you. Before I reached your comment of the boys being girlie (especially that 4th one), I already have that thought in mind (though not all are girlish like these here). I'm not into these Korean idols, I don't even know any of them here except one that looks freakishly familiar (ambassador for Korean fried chicken?)...and that's coz it's related to food...haha! :D I prefer your Korean fried chicken anytime to these guys....woot woot! ;D

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    1. Am I relieved you are not going to punch me wahahahahaha!!! I don't know any of them either, just that I notice young girls going crazy over these pretty boys.

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  5. They're not supposed to be handsome. They're supposed to be pretty. K-Pop boys are supposed to be pretty boys. So your assessment is correct, I think. For me, I don't like boys, pretty or jantan they may be (obviously). I prefer ladies wahahaha! And of course the chick...ens :P ...

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    1. They are supposed to be pretty and girls go gila over them. I don't know what is wrong with girls these days. Tsk!

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  6. Your chicken, i can finish up everything, hehe...

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  7. i'm impressed by your homemade korean fried chicken - it looks as tempting as any restaurant version! :D

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    1. Thank you, Sean! You sure made my day :)

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  8. Hi Phong Hong, Aiyoh, yoh! so tempting finger licking good fried chicken. There was a Korean food fair recently at the supermart but I didn't dare to get the bottle sauces as I wasn't too sure of the tastes. There was no samples to try. Is it spicy?

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    1. Kimmy, the gojuchang is spicy and sweet. But the level of spiciness is not that strong. Can tahan one hee..hee...

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  9. PH, I wont DUSH you.... sama dengan you, I don't know how to "admire" the boys, most of them look the same to me... ok, we are of the same era though I am "slightly" older than you.. hahahaha...

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    Replies
    1. hah..hah..thank goodness! I will call you Big Sister :)

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  10. Am I glad that someone out there is thinking alike! This old auntie also very confused over the Korean girl/boy or boy/girl look. I thought I was the odd one out! But I am very, very sure I will love your fried chicken. Slurps!!!

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    1. High 5 Nancy! Let's focus on the chicken instead hah..hah..

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  11. Guess I know where you're coming from since we're from the same generation, but I spotted my Lee Min Ho there! Hahaha! Send some of of your wings over, won't you?? Hahaha! xoxo

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    1. Ooops! Don't punch me, Shirley! I will send you the fried chicken wahahaha!!

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  12. I am not going to punch you because I am not into any males pretty or jantan or what nots except for my spouse, hahahaha. Oh, I learn something new from you but not that it will do me any good because I won't be frying nor eating any fried chicken. I learnt that double frying makes fried chicken more crunchy and the sauces won't make the chickens any less crunchy. You deep fried one batch can last you how many days?

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    1. hah..hah...your spouse will be pleased to hear that :) I knew you would ask me that question. It lasted me three days hah..hah..

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  13. Ha ! Ha! Phong Hong, I was scrolling down to see my fav So Ji-sub and cute boy next door Song Joong-ki. Besides their good looks & acting, the whole story line with talented producers/script writers/directors that put up chemistry in the drama that made me 'chase' after them ... won't go gila !:) Anyway back to this Korean fried chicken. ... so delish! But I have to give fried food a miss for few months as my health review shows 'borderline passed':(

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    1. Ooooppss!! Karen, take the chicken, don't punch me, OK? hah..hah...

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  14. Too girlish for me, I prefer more mature man, like So Ji Sub

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    1. Your chick is korean and yes it is handsome....no I mean it is delicious

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    2. hee..hee..your are funny, Libby!

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  15. They are not handsome, well maybe if i were 15 years old i would be of a different opinion😀

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    1. hah..hah...even at 15, they are not for me :D

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  16. THEY ARE CUTE, SOMETIMES MORE PRETTY THAN THE GIRLS,
    I LIKE THE KOREAN DRAMAS ,THEY ARE INNOCENT, IN THE DRAMAS SOMEBODY OVER 30 IS OVER SO i SUPPOSE IS A DIFFERENT MENTALITY,SOME OF THAT GUYS ARE PROMOTING KOREAN MAKE UP AND CREAMS, THAT i AM A FAN SO, THEY ARE JUST DIFFERENT ,IS OK

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    1. Thanks for the feedback, Margarita. I do think that they are pretty :)

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  17. Wahaha! I love your post. No feminine Korean men for me. They are pretty, not handsome.

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  18. Phong Hong, I am totally with you. I rather have korean fried chicken than watching KPop or KDrama!

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    1. High 5, Veronica! I don't even know their names hee..hee...

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  19. Hi Phong Hong, you are so funny! Love reading your blog. Yes. For sure, your chicken wings are much "prettier" than all. Looks so delicious and yummy :D

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    1. hah..hah..Thanks, Amy! At my age, I am more interested in fried chicken :D

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