Award Winning Korean Fried Chicken Mac & Cheese with Miso 3-Cheese Sauce

What's better than mac & cheese? Korean fried chicken mac & cheese. Need I say more?

Time: 1.5 Hours

Serving Size: 12

Allergy Notes: Gluten Free

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It all started with a YouTube video. I was watching a vlog from one of my favorite YouTubers (shoutout to Jessica Braun!) and she mentioned something about going to the state fair. Having lived in the Triangle for 7 years at this point, I was VERY aware of how popular the State Fair is around here. My husband and I had tried going in the past, but we always ended up bailing in favor of something less chaotic. I don't know what changed my mind, but on a whim, I decided to check on the North Carolina State Fair website and on the home page was an ad for the Home Chef Competition.

As it turns out, each year the State Fair puts on 2 weeks of home chef competitions with each day being a different theme and prize money up for grabs. After scanning the categories, I found my target- the mac & cheese competition. Now I had made mac & cheese plenty of times, but this needed to be bigger and better than ever before. If I was going to go out on a limb and enter this competition, I needed to make a splash; enter the Korean Fried Chicken Mac & Cheese with Miso 3-Cheese Sauce. I've always loved Korean food and Asian flavors in general- in fact I cook with them often. I think part of that goes back to having grown up with a version of these flavors as my mom would occasionally make dishes she learned when we lived in Korea when I was 3. The other part of me loves Asian cuisines because of their depth and combination of flavors that hit every part of the palette from savory to sweet to salty to the ever powerful umami. So the idea was set, next came the recipe development. I wanted to use this platform as an opportunity to show that gluten free cooking can be absolutely delicious and doesn't have to be limiting. Besides, I needed a taste tester and my GF husband was more than willing to be my test subject. Between the two of us and my wonderful coworkers, I developed the recipe after two trial runs.

The day of the competition arrived and I woke up early to bake and garnish the dish and package it up so it would stay nice and warm for the ride. Hell, I even ordered a reusable hot pack just for the occasion! Now with signing up for the competition, I received 2 free admission tickets and a parking pass which was incredibly generous. We left in plenty of time to get there... and then missed our turn for the parking and got stuck in stand still traffic. Entries had to be in by 10 AM and it was 9:45 so I did what any logical person would do, I jumped out on the side of the road and hoofed my mac & cheese through security and across the fair grounds in the cold up hill both ways (I kid you not). I don't think I have walked so frantically since my college days trying to get to class on time. I'd managed to cut a few minutes off my estimated time when I finally got to the arena and of course immediately walked right past where I was supposed to go- although to my credit, the sign was turned around and they were holding the competition in the concession stand.

All that being said, I got my dish turned in on time- number 23. That meant they were tasting over 20 other mac & cheeses before they even considered mine. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I knew I cooked good food, but did 5 judges think so? I had an hour to kill so my husband and I wandered the freezing maze of weird food stands and split a GF gyro and some fries before heading back for the judging announcement.

"In 3rd place: Korean Fried Chicken Mac & Cheese!"

I was in absolute shock when they called me name as the 3rd place winner; I couldn't stop smiling. After all the work I had put in, it felt so validating for other people to say "yes, you're actually really good at this!". I promised myself that with the prize money I won, I would buy a new laptop and finally start my food blog. Needless to say, it only felt appropriate for this recipe to be the first of many after a long anticipated wait. I hope you all enjoy and bon appétit!

Ingredients

Cheese Sauce

• 7 oz Gouda Cheese, Shredded (I tend to buy all of my cheese from Trader Joe's, Lidl, or Aldi- best prices in town!)

• 6 oz Medium Cheddar Cheese, Shredded

• 4 oz Low Moisture Mozzarella, Shredded

• 2 1/2 cups 2% Milk

• 1 cup Heavy Cream (I typically go for a plant based heavy cream as it's a little easier on the tummy, especially with how much dairy is in this dish)

• 4 tbsp Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

• 2 1/2 tbsp Salted Butter

• 1 1/2 heaping tbsp Gluten Free White Miso Paste (I typically get mine from H-Mart)

• 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

• 1/8 tsp Black Pepper

For the Pasta

• 1 lb GF Dry Elbow Pasta (My preferred pasta for this application is Barilla GF)

• 5 qt. Water

• 1-3 tbsp Kosher Salt

For the Chicken

• 4 oz Diced Chicken Breast

• 2 cups Vegetable Oil

• 2 tbsp Corn Starch

• 1 tsp Garlic Powder

• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

For the Chicken Sauce

• 3 tbsp Gluten Free Gochujang (Korean Chili Paste) (I typically get mine from Wegman's)

• 3 tbsp Water

• 2 tbsp Tamari (Tamari is the Japanese version of soy sauce that is naturally GF.)

• 1 1/2 tbsp Gochugaru (Korean Chili Powder)

• 2 tsp Sesame Oil

• 1 1/2 tsp Honey

• 1 tsp Minced Ginger (I always have a jar of this in my fridge to make life MUCH easier!)

• 1 tsp Garlic Powder

• 1 tsp Seasoned Rice Vinegar

• 1 tsp Brown Sugar

• 1/2 tsp Onion Powder

• 1/4 tsp White Pepper

• 1/4 tsp Fish Sauce

Garnish

• 1 cup Gluten Free Kimchi, Diced

• 2 Green Onions, Sliced
  

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Directions

To Make the Cheese Sauce:

1. Using a box grater or other shredding equipment, shred the gouda, cheddar, and mozzarella and place into a medium sized bowl. Mix to combine and set aside. You could use pre-shredded cheese, but I promise that shredding it yourself yields in a creamier, more delicious end result- plus you get an arm workout! HOT TIP: Pop your mozzarella into the freezer for a bit to make shredding a breeze!

2. Melt the butter in a medium sized pan over medium-low heat. Once melted, add the miso pate and flour, whisking until combined to form a roux.

3. Slowly add the milk, followed by the heavy cream, whisking until all the lumps are gone. This may take a few minutes as the miso paste warms.

4. Take two thirds of the shredded cheese mixture and slowly whisk into the pan until melted and smooth.

5. Whisk in the garlic powder and black pepper. Set aside.

To Make the Noodles:

1. Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil over a medium-high heat. Add the salt and mix to dissolve.

2. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, pour in the noodles and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. We're baking this in the oven so we don't want to overcook our noodles at this step.

3. Drain the noodles and once drained, pour back into the pot.

4. Pour the cheese sauce into the pot with the noodles and gently stir to combine as to not break the noodles.

5. Once combined, pour the mixture into a 9 x 12 baking dish (preferably glass). I've found that you don't need to prepare the dish, but a little cooking spray can be used if you're nervous! Take the remaining one third of the shredded cheese and sprinkle evenly over the noodle mixture. Set aside.

To Make the Chicken:

1. In a heavy bottomed pan (I like to use a wok), heat 2 cups of vegetable oil until it reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Meanwhile, combine salt, garlic powder, and corn starch in a bowl until well combined.

3. Cut the chicken breast into bite sized pieces and add to the bowl with the other ingredients, mixing until the chicken is evenly coated.

4. Once the oil is to temp, carefully fry the chicken, working in batches, for approximately 4 minutes, making sure to occasionally move it around the pan so that all sides of the chicken can cook and it doesn't stick to the bottom. Working in batches insures an even fry and that the oil temperature does not drop.

5. When the chicken is done, drain it on a paper towel lined plate.

To Make the Sauce for the Chicken:

1. Combine the gochujang, water, tamari, sesame oil, honey, rice vinegar, and fish sauce in a small bowl until well combined.

2. Add the gochugaru, minced ginger, garlic powder, brown sugar, onion powder, and white pepper. Stir until everything is well combined.

3. Pour the sauce into a medium sized pan over medium heat and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until the sauce starts to become caramelized/sticky. Pour in the cooked chicken and toss to coat.

Final Assembly:

1. Arrange the chicken evenly on top of the noodle mixture in the pan. Top with sliced green onions and diced kimchi.

2. Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes on the middle rack of a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven.

3. Remove the foil and broil on high for 5 minutes or until the cheese becomes golden brown.

4. Serve and enjoy!

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Here's some pictures of the big day plus some ridiculous behind the scenes of when I made this for my family this past Christmas. They're really trying to get all the angles!