Grilled Korean Chicken Wings recipe. Korean BBQ Chicken wings from the grill with a gochujang-based barbecue sauce. These grilled wings are a sweet and spicy treat.
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I'm still on my gochujang kick - and it looks like I'm not the only one. Recently, Korean BBQ wings have been popping up all over the place. Now, why didn't I think of that? Sweet, spicy Korean gochujang paste is halfway to barbecue sauce already. Looking for a new Korean BBQ flavor? Try it on these grilled chicken wings.
Korean BBQ Sauce Vs. Traditional BBQ Sauce
Barbecue sauce has a tomato, sweet, and tart flavor profile. The three major ingredients in my barbecue sauce recipe are a tomato base (I use ketchup), sweetener (molasses, honey, or brown sugar), and vinegar. Then I add some seasonings (Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, hot sauce).
For the Korean-style BBQ sauce in this recipe, I keep the same flavor profile, but replace the tomato with Gochujang (korean red-pepper paste). I use honey as the sweeteneer, then use sweet-tart marinade instead of vinegar. (See the ingredient list, but the main ingredients are Mirin, Soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and a little more Gochujang).
Ingredient Notes
- Gochujang is a thick Korean spice paste that is sweet and slightly hot. It gets its heat (and red color) from its main ingredient, hot red chili peppers. It also has fermented soybeans, rice, and salt. It's a fantastic flavor and one of my favorite new finds. (My wife loves it so much she puts it on everything.) If you can't find it, ketchup plus a tablespoon of hot sauce is a pale substitute. It is worth seeking out the real thing, especially since it is becoming more common in the international aisle of American grocery stores.
- Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine used in lots of recipes. It is low-alcohol, with added sugar to make it sweet. If you can't find it (or don't want to have any alcohol), substitute seasoned rice vinegar plus a teaspoon of white sugar or brown sugar.
- Toasted sesame oil has a strong, nutty flavor, and is used as a finishing oil in many Asian recipes. This is the kind you will find in most grocery stores. You will occasionally find regular sesame oil, which is not toasted, used for cooking, and doesn't add any flavor to the recipe. Seek out the toasted sesame oil - it will be a dark brown in color, instead of the light yellow of a cooking oil.
Recipe Tips
- Cooking time: The cooking time of 40 minutes is for average-sized wings. My last batch of wings was massive. (I think they came from a pteranodon.) They took an extra ten minutes to get browned and crispy. It's hard to overcook chicken wings, so if you don't think they're browned enough, cook them longer.
- Use Indirect heat to grill chicken wings: Chicken wings have a ton of fat under the skin, and it takes a long time to render it out. When I cook chicken wings over direct heat, I am constantly fighting fires caused by the dripping fat, and my wings usually end up both burnt and with rubbery skin. That's why I grill wings with indirect heat. Cooking the wings takes longer, but I can leave the wings alone and let them get nice and crispy before I glaze them with sauce.
- Sauce the wings during the last five minutes: Sweet barbecue sauce - or gochujang sauce - will burn in the high heat of the grill. That's why I wait until the last five minutes to give the wings a coat of sauce. I let them sit on the grill just long enough for the sauce to tighten into a glaze, then brush on another coat immediately
Storing Leftovers
Leftover wings will last for a couple of days in the refrigerator in a sealed container. I like to eat them cold, but some people (ahem, my kids) won't touch cold wings, so I'll reheat them in the microwave before serving.
Equipment
- A grill with multiple burners, or a charcoal grill. I love my massive Weber Summit gas grill, which gives me six burners of space to work with.
Grilled Korean BBQ Chicken Wings Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 24 to 36 wings 1x
Description
Grilled Korean Chicken Wings recipe. Korean BBQ Chicken wings from the grill with a gochujang-based barbecue sauce. These grilled wings are a sweet and spicy treat.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken wings (If you buy whole wings, separate into wing and drumette portions, and discard the wingtip)
Marinade
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
- 1 scallion (green onion), root end trimmed, cut into 2 inch lengths
- ¼ cup gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
- ¼ cup mirin (or rice wine vinegar plus 1 teaspoon sugar)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil (or vegetable oil)
Gochujang Glaze (Korean BBQ Sauce)
- ¼ cup of the marinade
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken wings: One piece at a time, drop the garlic, ginger, and scallion into a running blender or food processor, and blend until they are completely minced, about 30 seconds. Add the rest of the marinade ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. Reserve ¼ cup of the marinade for the glaze. Put the chicken wings in a gallon zip-top bag, pour the marinade over them, squeeze all the air out of the bag, and seal. Flip and turn the bag to completely coat the chicken wings with the marinade, then let rest at room temperature for one hour, turning the bag every fifteen minutes. (Or refrigerate for up to 4 hours, turning the bag occasionally to redistribute the marinade.)
- Make the glaze: Whisk the reserved marinade with the rest of the glaze ingredients and set aside.
- Prepare the grill for indirect high heat (450°F): Set the grill up for cooking with indirect high heat, about 450°F. For my Weber Summit, I preheat the grill with all the burners set to high for fifteen minutes, brush the grate clean with my grill brush, and turn off the middle burners. (To get 450°F, I have to leave three burners on. I turn off burners 3, 4, and 5 and leave burners 1, 2, and 6 lit).
- Grill the wings for 40 minutes over indirect heat: Put the chicken wings on the grill over indirect heat (that is, away from the lit burners). Close the lid and cook for twenty minutes, then flip the wings and cook until the wings are browned and crispy, about twenty more minutes. Keep the lid closed as much as possible.
- Glaze the wings and cook for 5 more minutes to tighten the sauce: Brush the wings with glaze, close the lid, and cook for five more minutes to thicken up the glaze. Brush the wings with another layer of glaze, then immediately remove from the grill to a serving platter. Serve, passing any leftover glaze for dipping. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Grilling
- Cuisine: Korean
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Related Posts
Looking for some more grilled wings? Try my Grilled Chinese Chicken Wings (Chaunr Chicken Wings), Grilled Miso BBQ Chicken Wings, or Grilled Buffalo Chicken Wings. This sauce from this recipe will work well with my Instant Pot Chicken Wings. If you want a more traditional Korean barbecue, check out my recipe for Kalbi (Korean Short Ribs).
Looking for something else? Check out my Grilling Recipes index.
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Rita Y says
Sadly, I have lost my beloved Weber grill.
I am a Breville Toaster OvenAir Fryer Newbie. Can anyone give me some pointers to make these fabulous-sounding wings, please? This gal has to have her Gochujang habit fulfilled. I get it that the glaze should be applied near the end of cooking.
Sue says
Have you tried this with chicken breasts?
Chrissy says
I made these for dinner tonight and they were delicious!! The glaze was fantastic - lots of flavor, not too spicy and the perfect balance of sweetness! I think I may try this recipe with drumsticks and thighs - always need new flavors for chicken!!
Bob Paluck says
I usually do chicken wings on the rotisserie on the grill. Cant wait to try your recipe because we love gochujang (eg your Korean short ribs are our favorite). Any thoughts about doing this wing recipe on the rotisserie? ....just replace the indirect grilling step with the rotisserie and then applying the glaze for maybe the last 10 minutes?
Mike V says
That sounds about right - let me know how it goes on the rotisserie.
Bob Paluck says
The rotisserie worked great. Perfectly browned. I just substituted it for the indirect grilling step. Followed everything else in your recipe.
Mike V says
Thanks for the follow up!
Amy @ Pressure Cook Recipes says
Hi Mike!
These grilled sweet & spicy wings are one of our favorites. I can probably eat the whole batch myself! haha~
Actually, we just made some Coca Cola wings the other day. Have you tried them before? They're quite popular in Hong Kong.
Anyways, hope you're enjoying your summer. 🙂
Amy