If you love Korean fried chicken but want something even richer, these Korean Boneless Pork Wings take things further. Made from tender pork loin, each bite fries up golden and crisp before getting coated in a bold sweet and spicy yangnyeom sauce. The result is juicy Korean fried pork with deep umami heat and sweetness to balance it out. The kind of crispy pork bites that make takeout feel average.No bones. No dryness. Just ultra crispy Korean pork bites with serious sweet heat flavor.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Pork Chops - Fat trimmed off and saved for other recipes.
- As Needed Neutral Oil - for deep frying
Marinade
- 1 C Water
- 1 Cube Pork or Chicken Bouillon
- 4 tsp Potato Starch & Baking Powder - each
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1 tsp Sea Salt & MSG - each, see notes for how much to use per 1 lb
Breading
- 1 1/4 C Cornstarch
- 3 Tbl Flour
- 1/2 Tbl White or Black Pepper
Yangnyeom Sauce
- 1/4 C Gochujang
- 2 Tbl Water, Soy Sauce, & Ketchup - each
- 5 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Inch Ginger - sliced and removed later
- 1 Tbl Chili Oil - or 1 Tbl or more of Buldak Sauce
- 1 C Sugar
- 1/3 C Water
- 1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar
Instructions
- Marinade: Place half of the water into a pot over max heat with the bouillon cube and mash it until completely dissolved and empty into the marinating bowl. Add the other half of very cold water along with the remaining ingredients for the marinade, and whisk well.
- Pork Bites: Slice the pork into bite size pieces. About 1-inch-wide strips that are 1/2 inch thick. Then slice each strip into about 2 inches long, slicing at a 45-degree angle. Once all the pork is prepared, add it to the marinade, toss well, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to an overnight marinade.
- Yangnyeom Sauce: Caramelization: Place 1 C sugar, 1/3 C water, and 1/8 tsp cream of tartar in a saucepot over medium heat and whisk. Let it cook to a light amber color, and swirl the pot every so often.Bowl: Combine in a bowl the remaining ingredients and mix while caramelizing the sugar. Set aside for now. Yangnyeom Sauce: Shut the heat off and empty the sauce bowl in and whisk. Set aside and let rest. When cooled down, remove the ginger slices.
- Breading: Remove the marinated pork from the fridge to rest on the counter. Preheat the deep fryer to the max setting. Combine the breading ingredients together in a bowl and whisk well.Working in batches, add the marinated pork to toss in the breading and shake off any excess before transferring to a baking sheet.
- Deep Frying Pork Bites: First Fry: Working in batches, place the breaded pork bites into the basket/s to fry for 5 minutes. Give the basket a shake to ensure nothing gets stuck. Empty them out on a baking sheet and repeat for the remaining pork bites. Second Fry: Once all the pork bites have been deep-fried, wait for the oil to come back to temp and fry all of them at once or in batches for about 1-2 minutes. Lift up and shake off any excess grease. Transfer them to the bowl of sauce to toss and coat before serving.
Notes
Salt Content: Adjust the Sea Salt & MSG to 1/2 tsp each for every 1 lb of pork. Everything else can stay the same.
For more information on the Marinade & Breading, see Boneless Chicken Wings. Which is the same recipe used here for Pork, instead of Chicken. For more information on the Sauce, see Korean Yangnyeom.