There’s a reason this popular Korean street food has since become a staple in households across the world, Korean chicken skewers make a delicious and flavorful dinner, a surprising starter or an intriguing upgrade to your traditional BBQ fare… I know my recipe repertoire was forever changed when I came across these tiny little bamboo-skewered flavour bombs.

I discovered these Korean-style skewers when I was working at the magazine. I’m still not entirely sure what inspired me to try this particular recipe, but I do know that at this point in my life, I’d already decided I was going to have a lifelong love affair with gojuchang paste. (Intrigued? More information to follow!) So, when I saw it was one of the ingredients, I knew I just had to try them. And boy, was I on to a winner! Packed to the bring full of flavour they were the skewers I’d been missing all my life.

The most beautiful part of this recipe however, is that they were the first cook-along content I ever posted on the magazine’s socials… and without even thinking, they’ve been the first recipe I actually loaded up onto this blog. Serendipitous perhaps, but also probably on some subconscious level, more important than I knew; they were also the first recipe I shared into the social media ether that a stranger made, and gave me wonderful feedback about… and I wasn’t even supposed to be one of the cooks, but I’m realising now it must have caused more of a spark than I thought.

So with a write-up like that, it would almost appear you’re not allowed to try them and not fall in love with them, or I might cry or something. But no so my friend, I yield no control over what you and your fabulous taste buds get up to. I will challenge you with this however, try and find a more flavoursome skewer outside of a Korean BBQ… or actually Korea… I really think you’ll struggle to.

For the love of skewers…

Whilst they can be a little time-consuming to create, I truly believe that homemade skewers are always worth the effort. Plus, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a gathering where they didn’t all get snapped up on the first offering around. Apart from the fact that they can be flavored with a variety of seasonings and marinades to suit different tastes. They aren’t complicated to make and can be cooked quickly, making them a great option for busy weeknights or last-minute meals. They also tend to use less fatty cuts and types of meat making them a leaner protein option and they are an easy way to slip a few surprise vegetables onto the kid’s plate too.

Best skewers I’ve ever eaten!
HUGO BEuzeboc

You can easily make these skewers the day ahead making BBQ prep all the easier on the day and if the kids are old enough it’s an easy one to enrol them in, simple to put together and simple to cook.

Also Read: Honey-soy chicken skewers TBA

Korean chicken skewers — Exotic, bursting with flavour, irresistible. Photo: Brooke Murphy.

Best ways to serve up your skewers:

Obviously these little flavour packets are great straight off the BBQ, but if you’re looking for a complete meal out of them then here’s a few serving suggestions to help you get the hearty serving you deserve.

Rice: Any rice will do, I do brown if I’m feeling healthy and white rice if I’m not or just feeling time-poor.
Cauliflower rice: If you’re trying to keep the carbs down, these guys go perfectly well served on a bed of cauliflower rice. You can spice it up by keeping some of the marinade aside and mixing it through the cauliflower.
Grilled veggies: Another great low-carb option. Go all the way to skewer town and use the same marinade for veggie-only skewers (courgette, capsicum, onion, and eggplant work well here) or add some extra veg to your barbecue and cook with a dose of sesame oil or reserved marinade.
Asian slaw: In the mood for something a little more fresh and light? I make a carrot and red cabbage Asian-style slaw that goes really well with these skewers. Simply shred and coat with sesame oil, a dash of gojuchang and lime juice.
Peanut salad: Not the obvious choice but this simple side actually pairs very well with the other Asian flavours in the skewers.
Dipping sauce: Serve them as is as a starter or light dinner with a simple dipping sauce of kewpie mayo and gojuchang or top with peanut rayu.

Whether you are eating up a storm or entertaining, this versatile dish is sure to impress!

Preparing your skewers:

I don’t always have time to do this step because, I’m often rushing to get them on the table, but the traditional preparation does involve soaking the meat in some kind of acid or pre-digestive solution before placing on the skewers. If you have the time, there’s no doubt that this little extra step is sure to contribute to an overall more tender meat.

Rice wine – is what’s traditionally used about 1 tbsp per 500g of meat.
Lime juice – 1/2 a lime to 500g of meat. I also add lime to the finished skewers juce because I think it enhances the taste.
Pineapple or paw paw juice – I haven’t actually tried these, but I know from other recipes it’s likely this will not only help tenderize the meat but add a nice layer of complexity to the overall flavour of the finished skewers.

If you are grilling these on the BBQ it is suggested to soak the skewers in water overnight to help them stop burning and keep your meat tender from the inside out.

A note on ingredients:

The great thing about a dish like this is that all of the ingredients are pretty easy to come by, even the once illusive gochujang paste is readily available in most supermarkets in their Asian food section. But even if you don’t make this recipe, I’d highly recommend rushing out to the shops right away to get yourself some gochujang paste, it’s a one way trip to flavour town and it takes pretty much every dish it touches to the next level.

ingredients korean chicken skewers the tasty spoonful — Paired Perfectly.

Chicken: I use pre-boned chicken thighs because they are easy to come by, cost-effective and the little remaining touches of fat on the fillets make for a juicier piece of meat in the end. That said, you could easily substitute chicken breast or use a combination of both. I’m also aware that this marinade also goes well with pork and I’d hazard a guess white fish too.

Gochujang: The gochujang is made from Korean red chili paste, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, garlic, and ginger. It’s spicy, tangy, and slightly sweet, and it’s an absolute necessity for this recipe so please don’t try to substitute it for anything, you won’t get the same result. But also, please just make sure to incorporate this condiment into your life. You need it, like a little foodie flower needs the rain

Spring onions: One of the major reasons that I fell in love with this dish is the revelation that spring onions bring to your skewer game. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to skewer without them again!

Ginger & garlic: I prefer fresh, though it’s likely that you can get away with a pre-made paste.

Sesame oil: The toasted kind.

Ketchup: The more commercial the better in this case, although I’m sure a wonderful homemade or artisan tomato sauce may well contribute to the complexity of overall flavour, this recipe was designed with regular old supermarket ketchup and it works perfectly.

Sugar: Has to be brown sugar, I use rapadura or coconut sugar, I think you could get away with regular white sugar but I doubt it would taste quite as good.

Honey: I tend to use raw honey because it’s what I usually buy as the heating process they use to preserve the commercial brands breaks down the sugars and destroys the nutrients. As the honey is mainly a vehicle for the sweet sticky glaze effect in this marinade, and it will be heated anyway, you can pretty much use any honey that you have available to you.

Soy sauce: I use light soy sauce as I tend to find that dark soy is a little too strong and can overpower the other ingredients.

Print Pin

Korean Chicken Skewers

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

A fast favourite on the streets of Korea, packed full of flavour and super easy to prepare, you'll be making these incredible skewers time and again. A great dish for entertaining, an afternoon BBQ or a mid-week meal!

Ingredients

For the skewers

1 kg skin free chicken thighs (cubed)
300 grams spring onions (chopped into 5cm lengths)
2 tbsp rice wine
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt

For the glaze

1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp gochujang
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp brown sugar (dark like rapadura)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil (toasted)
1/2 tsp garlic (minced)

Instructions

For the sauce

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix them well. Set it aside until needed.

For the skewers

Place the chopped chicken pieces into a mixing bowl. Add the rice wine, some salt and pepper. Mix them well. Set it aside while other ingredients are being prepared.
Chop your spring onions into pieces around 5cm long. Put the chicken pieces and spring onion pieces onto a skewer in alternating order. Make sure all the meat and spring onions are tightly packed. It should give you 12 skewers based on mid-length skewers.
Coat the skewers with the marinade on both sides.
Spray or spread some cooking oil over your choice of cooking element (e.g. grill / skillet). Place the chicken skewers on a grill / skillet over high heat. After about 3 mins later turn the skewers around and start brushing more of the marinade on. You should have a nice browning on the side of the chicken you just cooked.
In about 3 mins, reduce the heat to medium and turn the skewer over again and brush on more sauce.
Option A: From here onward, continue to turn the skewers and brush the sauce on the skewers until the chicken is fully cooked and charred to your taste. Serve immediately.
Option B: Place the skewers into a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes to finish the cooking. Serve immediately.