Recipe: Gochujang Chicken Wings
If you can’t decide between spicy or sweet chicken wings, these Gochujang Chicken Wings are the best of both worlds! This recipe uses delicious Korean Gochujang paste, local honey, and a few other simple ingredients. These Gochujang Chicken Wings are incredibly versatile and can be enjoyed at any occasion including a fancy cocktail party, on game day, or even on a weeknight!
A Healthier Version of Korean Fried Chicken
This recipe for Gochujang Chicken Wings are inspired by the spicy yangnyeom chicken that you get at Korean fried chicken restaurants. If you have not had yangnyeom Korean fried chicken yet, you have to try it! You can get it at Chicken 649, Chimac Korean Fried Chicken, and Thunderbird Korean Fried Chicken in Victoria.
But instead of the chicken being battered and deep-fried as they do at Korean Fried Chicken restaurants, these chicken wings get a healthier twist by being baked until crispy and then brushed in a delicious spicy and sweet sauce. These wings are also incredibly easy to make and you only need six ingredients (and that includes the chicken wings themselves)!
What is Gochujang?
Gochujang is a spicy red pepper paste from Korea. It is made with chilies, soybean powder, barley malt powder, glutinous rice, sugar and salt. It comes in varying heat levels, is really thick in consistency, and has a sweet and savoury flavour. Some of the sweetness and much of the thickness actually comes from the glutinous rice that is used to make the sauce.
There are many companies that produce gochujang, but I really like the Assi or Haechandle brands, which you can buy in 500 gram to 5 kilogram containers at Asian grocery stores. Since I like spicy foods a lot, I get the Medium-Hot spice level. But if you’re not into spice that much, you can opt for the mild spice level instead.
The Easiest Homemade Wings Ever
As I said before, these Gochujang Chicken Wings are incredibly easy to make. I like to partially bake the chicken wings in the oven prior to adding the sauce to them. Since the sauce has sugars in it from the gochujang paste and the honey, I add the sauce near the end of the cooking process to avoid burning the chicken wings. I find that the chicken wings still get a lightly charred and take on a smoky flavour, but they are not burnt at all!
As a garnish, I like to add freshly chopped scallions for a fresh bite as well as toasted sesame seeds for a little bit of crunch. Not only do these garnishes look beautiful, they really enhance the flavours of these Gochujang Chicken Wings as well!
If you want to learn how to make these Gochujang Chicken Wings yourself, check out the recipe below or watch my YouTube video to see how I make them from start to finish!
Recipe: Gochujang Chicken Wings
Servings: 4
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs chicken wings
- 1/3 cup gochujang paste
- 1/3 cup hot water
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 scallions, finely chopped
- Toasted white sesame seeds, for garnish
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and then place an oven-safe wire rack on top. Place the chicken wings on the wire rack in an even layer, making sure that they do not touch. If you don't have a wire rack, simply bake the chicken wings directly on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
Place the tray of chicken wings in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Next, make the sauce. Add the hot water, gochujang, honey and soy sauce to a mixing bowl. Whisk everything together until combined and smooth.
Remove the chicken wings from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
Flip the chicken wings over and brush the top of each wing generously with the gochujang sauce. Place it back in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove the chicken wings from the oven, flip them over, and brush the gochujang sauce on the other side of the wings.
Place the chicken wings back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
Once the chicken wings are cooked, remove them from the oven and garnish them with scallions and sesame seeds.
Serve warm and enjoy!
