If you follow the latest Korean food trendsz I’m sure you’d have stumbled upon croffles. They are croissants cooked in a waffle iron, usually served with whipped cream, ice cream, you name it.
Korean cafes also do savour versions with spring onions. It’s quite an idea and so simple!
I’ve been meaning to make it myself but inspiration struck when I fancied chicken and waffles. I’ve only had it when I was in the US and was dying to make it myself.
Of course I could just make chicken and waffles, the chicken had to be Korean fried and the waffle? Well, a croffle would work even better, because it’s much lighter than a Belgian waffle!
So this is a fairly basic recipe, don’t worry, you don’t need to make a laminated dough, I just bought frozen raw croissants and it worked perfectly!
Recipe for 2:
Marinade:
– 3 boneless chicken thighs, skin removed
– 1/2 cup buttermilk or kefir
– 3 tsp mild curry powder
– 4 cloves of garlic minced
– 1/2 tsp minced ginger
– pinch of salt and pepper
Dredging:
– 1 cup of Korean fried chicken flour
– 1/2 cup potato or corn starch
– 1/2 cup water
Croffle and sauce:
– 4 raw croissants, thawed (I bought mine from the freezer in M&S)
– 100 ml maple syrup
– 1 clove of garlic minced
– 1 tsp gochugaru
– 3 tsp soy sauce
– 1 tbs water
The night before, marinade chicken or at least 4h before.
On the day, thaw your croissants at room temp.
Heat vegtae oil to between 170-200C.
Mix 1/2 cup chicken flour with 1/2 cup water.
Pat the chicken thighs on some kitchen towel. Don’t be afraid to even out any thick bits with a mallet, it’ll cook more evenly.
Spread 1/2 cup of chicken flour on a plate.
Mix the other 1/2 cup of the chicken flour with water, it should be a thick pancake batter consistency.
Dip chicken into potato starch, then into the wet batter.
Now dip it into the dry chicken flour. This will give it the crispy exterior.
Do that with both thighs. Try and get the flour into every nook and cranny.
When the oil is hot, add the chicken and move it around so it doesn’t stick.
Fry for 5-8 min depending on thickness.
You can cook two at a time depending on your pan size but I recommend not to crowd it too much as the temp drops too much.
When nice and golden brown, take out and rest on kitchen towels.
Measure the internal temp of the chicken, it should be 75C for fully cooked. Don’t worry if it’s not quite there, you’ll be cooking it a second round!
Once all chicken thighs had a turn, let the oil get to 200C.
Add all the chicken this time and cook for about 2 mins until it has the colour you desire.
Again rest on some more kitchen towel.
Now add your croissants two at a time to your waffle iron.
While they cook, mix all the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer.
Once the croissants are cooked, assemble and drizzle with sauce.
Add spring onions and sesame seeds for garnish.
