Gochujang Chicken

This recipe is an experiment wherein an air fryer recipe never made it into the air fryer.   As readers of this blog probably know, my beautiful Angel and I recently bought an air fryer.  I am intrigued by air fryers, because I have basically given up on a deep fryer.  I did not want to deal with the leftover oil.  When one adds the negative health aspects of deep fried food, that made it easy for me to move on from a deep fryer or event the cooking process.  When I recipe called for deep frying, I would broil it or grill it.  

Last Christmas, I got an air-fryer cookbook.  There are a lot of interesting recipes in that book, including one for Gochujang Chicken. The Gochujang sauce got my attention. I wanted to make that sauce.  However, the recipe in the book called for the use of chicken wing sections.  I had bone-in thighs.  While I could have thrown those thighs into the air-fryer, I needed the cooking times for bone-in thighs in an air fryer.  After looking around the internet, I just decided to cook the thighs in a conventional oven. 

Overall, the recipe worked very well.  I was able to get the skin crisp, the heat from the sauce was present, and, there were chicken thighs, which are perhaps the best part of the bird.  This is the type of experimentation that I hope to do more in the future!

GOCHUJANG CHICKEN

Sauce recipe from Urvashi Pitre, Every Day Easy Air Fryer, pg. 69

Serves 4

Ingredients (for the chicken):

1 pound of chicken thighs, with skin and bone

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon gochugaru

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Ingredients (for the sauce):

3 tablespoons gochujang (Korean chile paste)

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon agave nector or honey

Directions:

1.  Make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the gochujang, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, sugar and agave, set aside. 

2.  Cook the chicken.  Place the chicken skin side down and cook at 360 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes.  Spread some of the sauce on the chicken and flip the thighs.  Spread more of the sauce on the skin and underneath the skin.  Continue cooking for about 6 minutes more or until the chicken is browned with crispy skin and with an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from the heat, let rest for about five minutes, and serve immediately.

ENJOY!