How to Cook Healthier "Fried" Chicken For Kids : Spicy Korean Wings

 

Crunch, crunch, crunch.  Why do we like crunchy foods?  In her best-selling book,  Gulp, Mary Roach writes, "Crispness and crunch appeal to us because they signal freshness…To a certain extent we eat with our ears."

My kids are especially fond of eating foods that pack a crunch.  That's one of the reasons they are so drawn to savory snacks like chips and crackers.  Another thing they like crunching on is fried chicken.  Unfortunately, most conventionally prepared fried chicken is dipped in a high glycemic batter then deep fried in a pool of saturated fat.

I have long been on the search for a substitute to crisp up chicken without all the unhealthy batter and saturated fat.  My search ended when I came across a tasty technique to make spicy Korean chicken wings.

In this recipe, the chicken wings are first tossed in a thin coating of egg white, salt, and baking soda.  Then, they are dried out in the refrigerator overnight.  Instead of using a deep fryer, the chicken is then simply baked in the oven.  Afterwards, the wings are slathered in a sauce made from gochujang, a Korean fermented chili paste.

My kids thoroughly enjoyed these spicy Korean chicken wings, but you may have to adjust the gochujang if your kids don't like things too spicy.  Best of all, it satisfied their craving for something crispy.  Now I just need to figure out why they don't like chomping on crunchy raw salad.

http://youtu.be/v5SL6imaDsE

References

Roach, Mary.  Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal.  New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013.