Dakgangjeong (Crispy Glazed Chicken)

Dakgangjeong belongs to the market stall more than the formal table. You buy it from a stainless tray, carry it home in a box, and somehow it is still crisp when the first cousins open it before dinner. That staying power is not luck. It is the whole technique.

The chicken is small on purpose: 3 cm pieces so every bite gets coating, and no piece waits long enough in oil to dry out. The first fry cooks it through and dries the starch; the second fry hardens that shell. Then the sauce must be reduced before the chicken touches it. If the glaze is watery, you have made sweet fried chicken soup, and I won't pretend otherwise.

My teacher had no patience for heavy red sauce hiding poor frying. Soy, garlic, ginger, and rice syrup are enough, with a measured spoon of gochujang only if you want the red market version. Tonight this dish asks for an orderly station, hot oil you respect, and the nerve to stop glazing while the pieces still look lightly coated. 손맛 is real. I measure it anyway, so the box stays crisp when it cools.