Modu Recipes

Seungwoo Dad's Chili Chicken

A premium dish featuring crispy boneless chicken thigh fried perfectly in cold oil, tossed in a sweet, sour, and spicy Chinese-style chili sauce.

🙋 Recommended for

  • ⭐ Those who love sweet, sour, and mildly spicy Chinese-style chili shrimp flavored chicken
  • ⭐ Home bartenders who want to make a sophisticated, high-end homemade late-night snack to pair with beer
  • ⭐ Those who enjoy the combination of crispy fried batter and juicy, tender boneless chicken thigh

Ingredients needed 🛒2 servings

  • Chicken thighs (skin removed) as needed
  • Potato starch as needed
  • 1 egg
  • Cooking oil enough to shallow fry (about half the depth of the pan)
  • Chili sauce seasoning (ketchup, sugar, water, etc.) as needed
  • A little lettuce

Recipe 🍳

  1. Remove the skin from the chicken thighs completely to reduce calories and oil splatter, then slice them thinly and evenly.
  2. Coat the chicken thoroughly in the order of potato starch → egg wash → potato starch for a tight batter.
  3. Fill a pan with cooking oil to shallow depth and place the chicken in the cold oil without preheating, making sure they don't stick together.
  4. Turn the heat to high and fry using the low-temperature frying method, allowing the oil to heat up gradually. Turn the pieces once or twice when the outside becomes golden.
  5. When the batter turns a solid golden brown, the inside is fully cooked. Remove to a rack and let cool quickly in cold air.
  6. In a clean pan, add the basic chili sauce ingredients like ketchup, sugar, and water, and start heating.
  7. Do not simmer for long; cook briefly for about 30 seconds until the sugar dissolves and the sauce becomes sticky.
  8. Once the sauce bubbles, let it cool completely, then drop the chicken thighs (at peak crispiness) into the pan.
  9. Lower the heat or turn it off, then quickly toss the chicken with a spatula so the sauce evenly coats the crispy batter. Serve on a bed of lettuce.
  1. Coat chicken in starch and egg wash, place in unheated cold oil, gradually heat, and fry until crispy. Let cool.
  2. Mix ketchup, sugar, and water in a pan; cook lightly just until sugar dissolves and sauce thickens slightly.
  3. Add the cooled crispy chicken to the sauce pan and toss quickly to coat without clumping. Serve.

Cooking tips 💡

  • If you boil the sauce too long, too much moisture evaporates, making it overly thick and cloudy. Heat only until the sugar dissolves for a glossy finish.
  • When frying a second batch immediately after the first, the oil is already extremely hot. To avoid burning the outside while leaving the inside raw, turn off the heat to cool the oil or carefully adjust heating time.
  • Placing green lettuce under the finished red chili chicken creates a beautiful plating effect reminiscent of Chinese premium dishes.

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Chicken thighsPotato starchEggSugarKetchupCooking oilLettuce