There is nothing worse than biting into a piece of soggy fried chicken. This is often the case after fried chicken has been tossed in a sauce, but this recipe solves that problem with a secret ingredient:

Vodka.

I’m not even kidding. Adding vodka to the chicken marinade and coating will give you an extra-crunchy crust. Vodka evaporates very quickly, helping to dehydrate the crust rapidly while being fried. It also inhibits gluten formation, the thing that makes pizza crust a little chewy. Chewy is good for a pizza, but not so good for fried chicken.

Don’t worry, you won’t taste the vodka at all.

Or if you want to taste the vodka, just pour yourself a little cocktail.

I won’t judge.

I added half of the marinade to the flour mixture to make the coating nice and crumbly. These clumps will help make the chicken even more crispy.

Plus, now there are even more nooks and crannies for the sauce. Yum!

I used my homemade gochujang for this spicy Korean sauce. Its spicy, sweet, and salty. Perfect for some crispy fried chicken. If you don’t have a giant jar of gochujang that’s been fermenting for a few months, just grab a store-bought version (or you can find it online). The store-bought version might not be quite as spicy, but you can easily add a little cayenne pepper to the sauce.

I like to serve this super-crispy Korean chicken over a bed of creamy coconut rice. Instead of using water to cook the rice, substitute half of the water for an equal amount of coconut milk (you can even substitute all of the water for coconut milk for extra-creamy rice).

Once you’ve tried this Korean chicken, I promise that you’ll think twice about ordering take-out again!