Youn’s Kitchen is a Korean reality show where the cast opens up a Korean themed pop-up restaurant in a foreign country for a few days/weeks. “Youn” Yuh Jung is the lead grandma and cook that the show is named after. In Season 2 (2018), the cast goes to Spain and prepares variations of bibimbap with bulgogi bibimbap being a hit! And here, the “mother sauce” was born.
This is the all-purpose soy sauce based sauce that is the foundation of many of the recipes in Season 2 including the bulgogi in the bibimbap (Korean mixed rice dish), japchae (Korean stir-fried glass noodles) and finally, the saucy boneless fried chicken!
DrJuh responded with, “mmm, this is really good, this could be sold at BBQ Chicken” (a Korean Fried Chicken restaurant in Boston) so, it must be really good!
Some Notes on the Recipe:
Originally, the mother sauce is a saltier soy sauce based sauce that’s made in a huge batch to be used across recipes, and then a few tablespoons is mixed with some oligodang (sweet syrup) for the fried chicken glaze.
The large batch of “mother sauce” includes blended onion and Korean pear but it’s too much of a hassle to blend a small amount of this when only making a few tablespoons. The purpose of these is to help give the sauce a sweet flavor and also to help rid of the “meaty odor” that can be left behind in meats and to soften the meat. As a substitute, I used apple juice which works fine and pear juice would be even better.
Also, what is oligodang?
There are several types of sweeteners in Korea that can essentially be used interchangeable: oligodang, mul yeot (corn syrup), ssal yeot or jo cheong (rice syrup). There are slight differences in flavor but are very subtle. I’ve also used honey interchangeably when I needed substitute and had no problems, so don’t stress if you don’t have it! Though, if you’re cooking Korean food often, might be handy.
Serves 4
Ingredients
Main:
- 14 oz (400 g) boneless chicken thigh meat
- 1 cup Korean frying mix*
- ⅔ cup cold water (cold is key!)
- 2 Tbsp crushed roasted peanuts
Chicken Marinade:
- 2 Tbsp mirin
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅓ tsp ground black pepper
Mother Sauce:
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp water
- 1 ½ Tbsp sugar
- ½ Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp pear or apple juice**
- 2 Tbsp oligodang ***
- Sprinkle of ground black pepper
*Substitute ½ cup potato or corn starch + ½ cup all-purpose flour + 1 tsp baking powder + ½ tsp salt
**If you don’t have pear or apple juice, you can blend about a slice of sweet onion or just add 2 Tbsp water so the sauce won’t be too salty.
***See above on oligodang note
Instructions
1. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Add in the chicken marinade – ½ tsp salt, ⅓ tsp ground black pepper and 2 Tbsp mirin. Combine well and let rest for just a few minutes.
2. In a small bowl, add in all the mother sauce ingredients and mix well. Set aside until the chicken is fried.
3. Make the batter: In a medium sized bowl, combine the 1 cup of frying powder and ⅔ cup of cold water. The batter should be kept cold so I often stick it in the freezer until I’m ready.
4. When ready to fry, coat the chicken from step 1 with 2 Tbsp of frying mix (or starch). This will help the frying batter stick better to the chicken.
5. Dip the chicken into the frying batter (step 3).
6. In a deep pot, heat cooking oil (I use vegetable or canola oil) until about 170 C (340 F). Add a few pieces of the battered chicken into the oil pot.
*Don’t overcrowd the pot or the temperature will drop too fast and/or the chicken pieces will begin to stick together.
7. Depending on the size of the chicken, fry for about 4-5 minutes until the outside is golden brown. Once the first batch is done, take the chicken out and set aside on a mesh strainer or a paper towel covered plate. Set aside and continue to fry the next batch until done!
8. Once all the chicken is fried for the first time, add the chicken pieces back in again for the second time – about 2 minutes only. This will help make the chicken even crispier.
(You can 2nd fry the chicken in bigger batches at once).
9. In a separate frypan on medium-low heat, place in all of the fried chicken. Pour in the mother sauce from step 2 and coat the chicken as the sauce reduces over the heat. Once the chicken is all coated and saucy, plate on to a pretty plate. Top with crushed roasted peanuts.
10. Enjoy them when the chicken is still hot!
And some clips from the show!
the original full mother sauce ingredients
delicious!
Grandma Youn hard at work in the kitchen 
Everyone hustling in the small kitchen
Youn’s Kitchen Boneless Fried Chicken (Dakgangjeong)
Ingredients
Main:
- 14 oz (400 g) boneless chicken thigh meat
- 1 cup Korean frying mix* *Substitute ½ cup potato or corn starch + ½ cup all-purpose flour + 1 tsp baking powder + ½ tsp salt
- ⅔ cup cold water cold is key!
- 2 Tbsp crushed roasted peanuts
Chicken Marinade:
- 2 Tbsp mirin
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅓ tsp ground black pepper
Mother Sauce Marinade
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp water
- 1 ½ Tbsp sugar
- ½ Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp pear or apple juice **If you don’t have pear or apple juice, you can blend about a slice of sweet onion or just add 2 Tbsp water so the sauce won’t be too salty.
- 2 Tbsp oligodang **
- Sprinkle of ground black pepper See above on oligodang note
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Add in the chicken marinade - ½ tsp salt, ⅓ tsp ground black pepper and 2 Tbsp mirin. Combine well and let rest for just a few minutes.
- In a small bowl, add in all the mother sauce ingredients and mix well. Set aside until the chicken is fried.
- Make the batter: In a medium sized bowl, combine the 1 cup of frying powder and ⅔ cup of cold water. The batter should be kept cold so I often stick it in the freezer until I’m ready.
- When ready to fry, coat the chicken from step 1 with 2 Tbsp of frying mix (or starch). This will help the frying batter stick better to the chicken.
- Dip the chicken into the frying batter (step 3).
- In a deep pot, heat cooking oil (I use vegetable or canola oil) until about 170 C (340 F). Add a few pieces of the battered chicken into the oil pot. *Don’t overcrowd the pot or the temperature will drop too fast and/or the chicken pieces will begin to stick together.
- Depending on the size of the chicken, fry for about 4-5 minutes until the outside is golden brown. Once the first batch is done, take the chicken out and set aside on a mesh strainer or a paper towel covered plate. Set aside and continue to fry the next batch until done!
- Once all the chicken is fried for the first time, add the chicken pieces back in again for the second time - about 2 minutes only. This will help make the chicken even crispier.
- In a separate frypan on medium-low heat, place in all of the fried chicken. Pour in the mother sauce from step 2 and coat the chicken as the sauce reduces over the heat. Once the chicken is all coated and saucy, plate on to a pretty plate. Top with crushed roasted peanuts.
- Enjoy them when the chicken is still hot!
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