(Korean) Chicken with Red Peanut Sauce

This chicken dish is very popular in Korea - The crushed roasted peanut gives it a nice flavor. When I went back to Korea with my family last October, I had to have this dish. We usually order them from a fried chicken chain store and my goodness, they are fabulous!! This homemade version wasn't quite as good as those, but still pretty close. I loved it.


Ingredients:

Chicken Marinade-
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in bite sized cubes
2 garlic cloves, minced
(Optional) 1 tbsp rice wine
A pinch of salt and black pepper

Chicken Batter-
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup water

Red Peanut Sauce-
1/4 cup carrot, finely chopped
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped (I didn't use onions this time)
4 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp minced garlic (about 2 large cloves)
2 1/2 tbsp honey
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp cayenne
1/2 tbsp sesame oil or chili oil
1/4 cup honey roasted peanut, finely crushed (I used magic bullet)

Direction:

In a medium sized bowl, gather all the chicken marinade ingredients together and stir. Marinade for 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix in all the chicken batter ingredients and stir well until the batter looks like pancake batter - a little thick -

In a frying pan, heat about 1 cup of oil on medium high heat. When the oil is hot, fry the battered chicken. Using chopsticks or tongs, flip the chicken occasionally to make it more crispy. When the chicken is cooked thoroughly, remove from heat and place them on a paper toweled plate to drain oil.

Meanwhile, in a small pan, mix in all the peanut sauce ingredients and simmer about 8-10 minutes. Stir chicken in the sauce. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of crushed peanut on top.

Serve with rice if desired.