Korean Fried Chicken For Vegans
Today, we’re making Tofu Korean Fried Chicken for vegans! This recipe does not require eggs or batter, yet you still get the crispy texture of real fried chicken! The method is so simple you’ll be surprised. It’s much easier than making traditional fried chicken! Today, we’re making tofu fried chicken and coating it with Korean fried chicken sauce(yangnyeom sauce) to make tofu yangnyeom chicken. This sauce tastes just like the ones from Korean chicken shops, so be sure to save this recipe!
Culinary Class Wars Tofu Challenge
Have you seen Chef Edward’s tofu dishes in ‘Culinary Class Wars’? He was given a mission on that TV show to create 6 dishes using tofu. He started with an appetizer of “Avocado Tofu Soup,” followed by “Grilled Tofu and Scallops” and “Smoked Tofu with Duck” as his second courses. For the main dish, he presented “Tofu Block Gochujang Pasta” and “Kentucky Fried Tofu,” concluding with a dessert of “Yuzu Tofu Crème Brûlée,” crafting an artistic tofu course meal.
Seeing the “Kentucky Fried Tofu,” one of the main dishes, inspired me to create a version that vegan people could enjoy, similar to Korean-style fried chicken. So, in my Korean recipe, I cut the tofu into drumstick shapes like Chef Edward Lee and deep-fried them until crispy, then coated them with Korean “Yangnyeom” sauce to make vegan Korean tofu chicken.
What Is Yangnyeom Sauce?
Korean Yangnyeom Chicken Sauce is a sweet and slightly spicy sauce based on gochujang (Korean chili paste) and ketchup. It is used to coat crispy fried chicken to create the popular “yangnyeom chicken” dish.
How to make Yangnyeom?
Sauce Ingredients: The basic ingredients for the sauce are gochujang, ketchup, soy sauce, garlic and sugar. Honey or corn syrup is added to enhance the sweetness and give the sauce a glossy finish. This sauce is the most popular in Korean chicken stores and is loved worldwide.
Koreans love to eat half-and-half chicken, which is a mixture of half yangnyeom (sauce) and half fried chicken. If making full chicken is too much trouble, try making this Korean Fried Chicken Jeon. It’s much easier and simpler to prepare, yet it’s incredibly crispy and tastes even better than many fried chicken dishes. Seriously!
Why You Should Try Tofu Korean Fried Chicken?
I wanted to create a Korean fried chicken recipe that vegans could enjoy, so I made Tofu Yangnyeom Chicken. When I try Korean chicken abroad, the yangnyeom sauce often tastes either too strong with gochujang or too soy sauce-heavy, which isn’t right. That’s why I want to share the authentic taste of Korean chicken sauce with you. The sauce I’m going to share with you today is the real deal, so I highly recommend that you save this recipe. My boyfriend is a meat lover, but he loved this vegan tofu fried chicken so much that he actually licked the plate clean. You can imagine how delicious it is! Let’s get started.
Tofu Korean Fried Chicken
Equipment
- 1 Microwave To heat the tofu and remove moisture.
- 1 Kitchen towel
- 1 Cutting board & knife
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Frying pan or 1 deep fryer
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Plate
- 1 table spoon
- 1 tea spoon
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp potato starch
- 1 firm tofu
- 1.5 L cooking oil (for frying)
Yangneyom Chicken Sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/3 tbsp gochujang (Korean red chili paste)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tbsp oligodang (corn syrup or rice syrup)
- 4 tbsp water
- 1 pinch sesame seeds (for garnish)
Instructions
Prepare tofu
- Microwave the tofu for 2 minutes to remove moisture.
- Pat the tofu dry with a kitchen towel.
- Cut the tofu into 2-3 cm thick pieces.
- (Optional) Shape the tofu into drumstick-like pieces.
Fry tofu
- Coat the tofu with potato starch.
- Heat the oil to 170°C and fry the tofu.
- Once crispy and golden, take out the tofu and let it cool.
- (Optional) Fry it again for 1 minute after 5 minutes for extra crispiness.
Korean Yangnyeom Chicken Sauce
- Mix together1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/3 Tbsp gochujang
- 3 Tbsp ketchup
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp oligodang (corn syrup)
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 4 Tbsp water
- Pour the sauce into a pan and bring it to a boil.
- Once it starts boiling, add the fried tofu and stir-fry until the sauce coats the tofu.
Plating
- Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Jal meokgetseumnida.
- 잘 먹겠습니다.
- Nyam nyam 냠냠
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @blondekimchi_ on Instagram and hashtag it #blondekimchi.
This recipe blew me away! 😋 The tofu had the perfect crispy texture and the Yangnyeom sauce? It’s like a sweet and spicy hug for your taste buds. I love that it’s vegan but still feels like you’re eating Korean fried chicken, with all the flavor and none of the guilt. The crispy tofu with that gorgeous sauce brought me straight back to Korea. I’m making this every week now—so delicious! 🐔✨