Dak Kang Jung

Despite my self-lessons in the french language and memoir on top of memoir of Paris, I've been kinda obsessed with Asian cuisine lately. Well, I shouldn't say lately, because I've always been a little obsessed and find myself cooking and craving various regions constantly.

A close friend of mine, who happens to be part Korean, made this dish for my son's 2nd birthday party when I invited friends and family to a potluck in his honor. It was a major hit, and though very rich and almost too intense I couldn't stop eating. She had fried some chicken and tossed it in some kind of delicious sweet soy sauce. This opened my horizons of fried chicken, since being from the south I've never known it much other way then being fried and served with gravy and mash potatoes.

The first few times I made this at home I followed my friend's simple directions: fry some chicken (dipping in milk + egg then dredging in flour with some spices), then bringing part soy sauce part brown sugar to a simmer until it reduces and becomes very thick. After that you of course put the chicken right into the sauce so it is heavenly coated.

Just two weeks ago I stumbled across a new food blog (new to me), Notions & Notations of a Novice Cook, that escalated dak-kang jung even further. The dish is still so simple to make and yields amazing flavors. You can find her recipe at the link provided. I made a few simple changed, such as a little more brown sugar and soy sauce to the sauce recipe. I also served it on top of jasmine rice which is a nice balance to all the sauce.