Gurd Loyal’s Bonfire-buttermilk Korean fried chicken
Gurd Loyal’s second and latest book Flavour Heroes, celebrates a well stocked and flavourful pantry with recipes that break all the rules of how ingredients ought to be used, and instead lean into the full flavours that every ingredient has to offer. Here, Gurd makes a hero of our go-to ingredient Pure Sea Salt Smoked over Oak.
From Gurd: ‘I am something of a pyromaniac. Not so much for the love of fire per se, but for all those smoky-tobacco, bonfire flavours that I am near-on obsessed with. Barbecued ribs, flame-toasted marshmallows, pan-charred sausages, flambéed crêpes, hot-iron smash burgers – anything that promises the taste of flames makes me salivate! With this in mind, there are two ingredients that I’m never without – oak-smoked sea salt and smoked water from the brilliant people at Halen Môn in Wales. The sweet heat of gochujang, combined with the scorched salinity of smoked salt spark in this fried chicken recipe. An explosion on the taste buds, without the flames; sometimes you really can have smoke without fire.’
Photography by Patrica Niven for Penguin Random House publishing. You can find Gurd’s new book here.
INGREDIENTS
SERVES 4
- 250ml buttermilk
- 1 Tbsp Pure Sea Salt Smoked over Oak
- 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 750g chicken breasts (about 4 large ones), cut into bite-size chunks
- 100g plain flour
- 100g potato starch
- 50g cornflour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying
For the sauce
- 3 Tbsp gochujang
- 3 Tbsp tomato ketchup
- 4 Tbsp dark brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 fat garlic clove, crushed to a paste
- 1 tsp minced fresh ginger root
- 1 tsp English mustard
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp Pure Sea Salt Smoked over Oak
To serve (optional)
- sesame seeds
- spring onions, finely chopped
- red chillies, finely chopped
METHOD
- In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, smoked salt, paprika and onion powder. Add the
chicken breast pieces, mix well to coat, then cover and refrigerate for 4–6 hours at least.
Next, prepare the sauce. Add all the ingredients to a saucepan, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for 6–8 minutes until it has thickened. Set aside. - Remove the bowl from the refrigerator, and place the chicken pieces on a wire rack over a baking tray, reserving the buttermilk in the bowl. Turn the chicken on the rack so the excess buttermilk drips away, then leave for 30 minutes to come up to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, prepare the coating by whisking together the flour, potato starch, cornflour and baking powder in a large bowl. When ready to fry, add enough oil to a medium saucepan to fill it to a third. Heat over a medium heat to 165°C/329°F. Line a baking sheet with a double layer of paper towels and set aside.
- Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mix, turning to coat in all the crevices. Shake off the excess flour, dip back into the buttermilk brine, then dredge again in the flour mix. Leave for 1 minute in the flour to ensure the double-dredge coating adheres.
- Shake the excess flour off the coated chicken and carefully drop no more than 3–4 pieces at a time into the hot oil. Use a slotted metal spoon to turn them in the oil for 5–6 minutes until golden brown on the outside and cooked through.
- Transfer to the lined baking sheet to drain off the excess oil. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. Toss the fried chicken in the gochujang sauce, then garnish with sesame seeds, spring onions and red chillies, if you like. Enjoy.
