If you loved our OG Korean cheese corn dogs, you'll love this Korean french fry corn dog. These Korean corn dogs are half and half hotdog and mozzarella and battered in a fluffy, almost donut-like breading. Rolled in potato cubes and panko, this Korean french fry corn dog is the ultimate corn dog, all in one!
Because we got a lot of positive feedback of our original Korean cheese corn dog, we thought it'll be nice to make one of the french fry version. Well, partially because I really wanted to eat some, lol. These Korean french fry corn dogs are no joke, the best darn corn dogs EVER. I mean, you've got crispy corn dog, light fluffy breading that resembles donut, ooey-melty mozzarella, AND fried potatoes that are basically french fries, hence the name. I don't think it can get better than this. Actually...it can. If you enjoy the marriage of sweet and savory, roll this corn dog in some cinnamon sugar. It will send you to paradise! At least food paradise, haha.
Have you guys got around to watching Start-Up, the Korean drama? We've been meaning to but never got around because we've been super busy with new projects...and partially because I'm afraid of getting hooked, lol. But we are looking forward to watch Minari, the recently released movie about a Korean-American family's journey to finding their American Dream. We heard promising reviews. So we're very excited!
Back to the food! We hope you guys enjoy this french fry version of the Korean corn dog!
Why par cook the potatoes?
The reason we par cooked the potato cubes for this recipe, boiled in this case, is so that they have a shorter cook time when they are fried. The batter on these Korean corn dogs only take about 5 minutes to fry, so we needed the potato cubes to use about the same time or less. If the potatoes are not precooked, it will take a much longer time. One very important to note: dry off the potatoes after boiling! Make sure to dry these par boiled potatoes before rolling the Korean corn dogs in them. If they are wet, they will not adhere to the corn dog. They will wet the panko, and they will not be fryer friendly and can be a fire hazard. So take an extra minute to dry these potato on some paper towel.
Active dry yeast vs instant yeast
For this Korean french fry corn dog recipe, the type of yeast used doesn't really alter the result of the dough batter. I listed active dry yeast in the recipe card because it's more common for us to use active dry yeast than instant or fresh yeast. But if you only have instant yeast in your pantry, don't fret! To substitute instant yeast for active dry yeast, use the same amount. The only difference is that, you won't have to pre-dissolve the yeast in warm water. You can combine the yeast, flour, sugar, salt, and water all together.
Proper dredging batter for Korean French Fry Corn Dog
When we were recipe testing for the dredging batter for our Korean cheese corn dog recipe, we found two batters that resembled the corn dogs we saw Korean street food videos and Start-Up (the Korean drama). One type of batter we tried is baking powder based. This type of batter yielded a nice puffy corn dog shell but lacked the slight chew you'd want in corn dogs. It also soaked up more grease than what we liked.
The other type of batter we tried, and much preferred, was a yeast dough batter. This batter coated the cheese and hotdog skewers really nicely and almost perfectly even. When fried, this batter puffed up like the baking powder based batter but without all the greasiness. This dough batter also created a nice tender, chewy texture, similar to a really nice fluffy donut, which worked really well with the cheese corn dogs. So, if you're wondering, yes, we used the same dough batter recipe as our original Korean cheese corn dog because it worked so well!
Success lies in resting the dough batter
For Korean corn dogs, a yeast dough batter is used to coat the corn dogs. So it is crucial to allow the dough batter to proof/ rest until the gluten strands are well developed and can withstand the pulling and twisting when we batter the corn dog skewers.
The dough batter usually takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how warm your proofing area is to double. You know the dough batter is ready when you can pull the batter up easily. The batter should also have a lot of visible gluten strands. You can also make the dough batter the night before and allow it to slowly proof in the fridge overnight. If you are proofing the batter overnight, do take the batter out of the fridge and allow it to warm up at room temperature for about 15 to 30 minutes.
Use thick bamboo skewers
We recently found these 5mm thick cake dowels at our local baking supply store, and they are perfect for these Korean corn dogs! Unlike the thinner skewers, these thicker dowel/ skewers kept the hotdog and mozzarella cheese in place as we twisted it in the dough batter. That made battering the corn dogs sooo much easier. Plus, they are reusable! We highly recommend these thicker skewers. But, if you already have disposable bamboo chopsticks at home, they work amazing as well!
How to dredge Korean french fry corn dog
After our many Korean corn dog testing attempts, we nominate using the twisting technique as the easiest way to coat Korean corn dogs in the dough batter. To use this twist method, dip the skewered corn dog into the batter horizontally. Next, while hovering the corn dog over the batter, start to slowly pull the corn dog up horizontally while turning the skewer until the batter gets completely wrapped around the corn dog. If you prefer, you can also start at the tip of the corn dog and slowly twist the dough batter around the entire corn dog. Try to be as even as possible and make sure to not wrap too thick of a layer of dough batter around the corn dog, or the corn dog will take a long time to fry and will have a thick layer of breading.
We also found it very helpful to use a pair of kitchen sheers to help pick up more batter, wrapping the batter around the corn dog, and to snip off excess batter. If you don't have kitchen sheers, you can also use a fork to help maneuver the dough.
Twist the dough batter onto the corn dog and mozzarella with the help of a pair of kitchen sheers. Roll the battered corn dog in the pre cooked potato. Generously pack the panko onto the corn dog.
Slippery batter
Now that the weather in Louisiana is warming back up and becoming humid again, we found that the dough batter seem thinner and less tacky than before. Because of the weather and temperature difference, we were struggling a little trying to coat our corn dogs in the batter and adhering our potato cubes to the batter. So if you are having similar issue as us, here's a couple of solutions we found. First, you could add a couple more tablespoons of flour to the dough batter, depending on the severity of your dough batter. The second solution is more for the sake of adhering the potatoes to the batter, if your dough batter isn't tacky enough. To help adhere the potatoes to the dough batter better, dust the par cooked potato cubes with a little bit of all purpose flour. The dusting doesn't have to be thick, just enough so all the cubes are coated.
Troubleshooting leaking cheese
One of the best part of this Korean cheese corn dog is the gooey, melted mozzarella. So, to prevent this cheesy goodness from oozing out of the cheese corn dogs while frying, here's a few tips:
- Keep the mozzarella cold. If the mozzarella stays chilled before frying, the batter will get nicely golden browned and cooked before the cheese starts to ooze out. You can preassemble the mozzarella and hotdog skewers, then pop them into the fridge until needed (best if chilled for 30 minutes or more). For a faster method, pop them into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Work with a couple of corn dogs at a time. Until you become more comfortable with battering the corn dogs, we highly suggest working no more than two corn dogs at a time. This way, the cheese will stay chilled and the dough batter around the corn dog won't slide off or droop all to one side.
- Cover the entire corn dog with a good layer of dough batter. If there are any thin spots, mend the area by apply more dough batter to it. Just keep in mind to keep the batter around ⅛ inch thick. The batter will expand when fried.
- Be generous with the panko. Once the corn dog is wrapped with dough batter, roll the corn dog in the par cooked potato, then the panko. Use your hands to gently pack the panko around the entire corn dog. You shouldn't be able to see any patches of dough. This will keep the dough compact around the corn dog and prevent the mozzarella from escaping.
- Fry at the right temperature. It is very important that these Korean corn dogs are fried at 350°F because low temperature frying won't seal the batter fast enough before the mozzarella starts to melt and ooze. Too high of a temperature means the outside of the batter will brown before the interior is cooked.
If you're looking for other Korean snacks, you may like these:
- Korean Fried Chicken Wing Gyoza: A Food Wars Inspiration
- Korean Mochi Bread
- Korean Style Corn Ribs
- Vegetarian Bao Buns (Korean Style)
Cook with love!
Mei ❤️
If you’ve made this recipe or any recipes from our blog, please tag us on Instagram using #twoplaidaprons! You can also tag us in your Instagram stories using @two_plaid_aprons. We would love to see your creations! It absolutely makes our day! 🥰
📖 Recipe
Korean French Fry Corn Dog
Ingredients
For the batter:
- 1 cup warm water , around 95°F (or 237mL)
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast (or 3g)
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour (or 180g)
- 3 Tablespoon granulated sugar (or 36g)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the french fry corn dog:
- 2 russet potato , peeled and cut into ¼-½ inch cubes (roughly 12oz/ 240g)
- 6 ounce mozzarella block (or 170g)
- 4 hotdogs , cut in half
- 2 cup panko (or 125g)
- Oil , for frying
- Ground cinnamon (optional; refer to notes below)
- Granulated sugar (optional; refer to notes below)
Instructions
For the batter:
- Sprinkle the active dry yeast over the warm water. Give the mixture a stir and set it aside for a few minutes to let the yeast dissolve.
- In a shallow pan (or something like a pie dish or Pyrex container), mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Once the yeast has completely dissolved into the water, pour the mixture into the flour mix. Stir the batter together until no more dry flour is visible. Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a lid and let the dough proof in a warm area for about 45 minutes or until doubled.
For the potato:
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the potatoes and boil for about 3 to 7 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. The potatoes need to be cooked about ¾ of the way. After the potatoes are par cooked, drain them and let them dry in one layer on some paper towel or clean towel. Set aside until needed.*You can also salt the water to season the potato if you'd like. Just add enough salt to make the water tasty "seasoned" (roughly 1 cup water to ¼ to ⅛ teaspoon salt)*
For the french fry corn dog:
- Cut the mozzarella block into 8 pieces, each around 2½ inches long and around the same widths as the hotdogs. Assemble the hotdog and mozzarella cheese onto skewers or disposable chopsticks. The hotdog should be the bottom half while the cheese is on the top half.*Feel free to assemble your skewers ahead of time and keep it refrigerated until needed. We highly recommend keeping the cheese cold for easy battering and frying. You could also make this corn dog with only the hotdogs and omit the cheese.*
- In another pot large enough to accommodate an entire corn dog, add about 2 ½ inches of oil and preheat the oil to 350°F.*You can also use a fryer if you'd like. Also preheat the fryer to 350°F.*
- While the oil is heating up, batter the corn dogs. Dip the tip of the skewered cheese and corn dog into the batter and start turning the skewer in one direction until the entire skewer is evenly covered with the dough. Make sure it is not too thick of a layer.*Tip: Use a pair of scissors to help pull the dough around the skewer and snip off excess. Refer to the post for some picture reference.*
- Immediately, roll the battered cheese corn dog in the par boiled potato then right into the panko. Gently pack the panko around the corn dog with your hands to cover all the still exposed dough that the potatoes did not cover. Carefully place the corn dog into the hot oil and fry it for about 5 minutes, or until it turns a nice golden brown color.*We recommend battering and frying only one or two corn dog at a time until you get comfortable with the process. If you batter all of the corn dogs at one time, it is very likely that the batter will fall off the corn dog or become very thick on one side and thin on the other.*
- Remove the corn dog from the oil and let it cool for a few minutes on either a cooling rack or paper towels. Repeat the battering and frying process until the remaining corn dogs are complete.
- Enjoy the cheesy corn dogs while they're hot with or without some ketchup and yellow mustard!
Notes
- After the french fry corn dogs come out of the fryer, let it sit for about 5-10 seconds to cool down and to drain some oil.
- Roll the corn dogs in the cinnamon sugar mix or sprinkle the cinnamon sugar. Enjoy!
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