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Buldak-Style Barbecue Chicken Drumsticks

5.0

(3)

Grilled buldak chicken drumsticks on a platter being served with scallion salad.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Susan Kim

Buldak, which translates to “fire chicken” in Korean, is a chargrilled dish identified by its bright red sauce—sweet, savory, and spicy thanks to the one-two punch of gochugaru and gochujang. You’ll often find buldak featuring boneless chicken pieces; here the buldak-inspired mixture is used as a marinade and glaze for chicken drumsticks, which are cooked low and slow on a grill until sticky and just lightly blistered in spots. If you’d rather sub in a different chicken part (like chicken thighs or breasts) or use a broken-down whole chicken instead, feel free; you’ll be licking the sauce off your fingers no matter what. Get the full menu and tips for our Korean Barbecue Disco Party here.

What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    2 hours

  • Yield

    4 servings

Ingredients

⅔ cup gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
½ cup soy sauce
⅓ cup brown rice vinegar or unseasoned rice vinegar
⅓ cup sugar
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup gochugaru (coarse Korean red pepper powder)
¼ cup grapeseed or vegetable oil, plus more for grill
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
2 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. plus ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt
2 Tbsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
12 large chicken drumsticks (about 3 lb.)
Steamed white rice (for serving)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Whisk ⅔ cup gochujang, ½ cup soy sauce, ⅓ cup brown rice vinegar or unseasoned rice vinegar, ⅓ cup sugar, ¼ cup fish sauce, ¼ cup gochugaru, ¼ cup grapeseed or vegetable oil, ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce, 3 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil, 2 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. plus ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 2 Tbsp. ground coriander, and 2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl to combine. Reserve and refrigerate ½ cup buldak sauce for basting.

    Step 2

    Place 12 large chicken drumsticks (about 3 lb.) in a large resealable plastic bag and pour in remaining buldak sauce. Seal bag and chill at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.

    Step 3

    Prepare a grill for high indirect heat (for a gas grill, leave 1 or 2 burners off; for a charcoal grill, bank coals on one side); oil grate. Remove drumsticks from sauce, letting excess drip back into bag, and arrange over indirect heat; transfer sauce to a clean small bowl. Cover grill and grill drumsticks (this is a low-and-slow heat situation), brushing with reserved sauce and turning every 5 minutes or so, until sticky, well-coated, and cooked through (an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken and avoiding bone should register 165°), 30–40 minutes.

    Step 4

    Transfer drumsticks to a platter and serve with copious amounts of steamed white rice.

    Do ahead: Buldak sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

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