Don’t get me wrong, the American corn dog is good; I still love it. It just so happens that I discovered something better. The Korean version combines regular corn dogs, mozzarella sticks, and fries — all rolled in one!
What’s not to like?
In fact, Korean corn dogs have received attention since 2021 in the West, yet it remains popular to this day.
✦ Fun Fact: It’s also called “French fries corn dog” and “Gamja-hotdog (감자핫도그),” according to Maangchi.
Some also call it cheesy Korean corn dog, Korean hot dog, Korean mozzarella corn dog or Korean cheese dog. Well, it all means the same.
Anyway…
To be honest, it’s not simple to make (even if I already made some shortcuts while retaining the best quality).
But, get this… It’s absolutely worth it!
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Cheesy Korean Corn Dog
✦ You can find the exact measurements of the recipe ingredients and customize the serving size in the recipe card after the detailed step-by-step instructions section.
Here’s what you need to make the Korean Corn Dog in an air fryer.
Dough
- Lukewarm water
- Instant dry yeast
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Salt
While ready-made doughs would have been faster, it’s not ideal for this recipe. Korean mozzarella corn dog dough’s consistency is between a regular batter and a thick dough.
Corn Dogs
- Hot dogs
- Mozzarella
You can also use sausages instead of hot dogs.
While mozzarella cheese is optional, it’s absolutely recommended!
It’s challenging to coat hot dogs without the cheese block. I suppose it has something to do with the corners and texture of mozzarella cheese.
For Assembly
- French fries
- Bread crumbs
Potatoes are optional but highly encouraged. Hmm, deja vu, I just said this with mozzarella.
Anyway…
You can substitute fries for diced fresh potatoes, but you have to cook your potatoes:
- Place your diced potatoes into a medium-sized pan, and pour water. Just enough water to submerge the potatoes. Season generously with salt.
- Transfer the pan to your stovetop and boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, cook for 2 – 3 minutes.
- Immediately drain and set aside to cool completely.
✦ This is why we suggest frozen French fries—they’re easier and require less cleaning. Same results, less hassle.
By the way, when I bought frozen french fries, I found diced hash browns. You can get that instead if you want to make the process a bit faster. There’s no need to cut; simply thaw.
Toppings
- Sugar
- Ketchup
- Yellow mustard
I bought this Korean Cheese dog one time and it was coated with crushed Cheetos. That’s a great substitute for the breadcrumbs!
✦ Pro Tip: You can go bananas with the toppings. No one stopping you from adding your favorite condiment.
Recipe Video
How to Cook Korean Mozzarella Corn Dog in an Air Fryer?
The Air Fryer Korean Corn Dog Recipe is one of the most challenging dish we’ve tried. Nevertheless, it’s doable.
Make sure to take note of all the tips I’m going to mention in this recipe to avoid repeating my mistakes.
If you’re up for the challenge, let’s begin!
Step 1: Thaw and dice your frozen french fries.
The first step is to thaw the frozen French fries and cut them into small cubes, about half a centimeter in size.
Step 2: Mix lukewarm water and instant dry yeast.
Mix until the yeast is fully dissolved.
You can also use active dry yeast if that’s what you have on hand. Although it’s not as “instantaneous” (pun intended).
Besides, one of our goals is to make easy air fryer recipes. So, we’ll go with the shortcut, yeah?
Don’t worry; you won’t sacrifice flavor.
In fact, I actually tested the difference between using active vs. dry yeast for Korean corn dogs. And… I can’t tell the difference flavor-wise.
But if you’re adamant about using active dry yeast, follow these instructions:
- In a small bowl, add 1 cup of lukewarm water from 98ºF to 105ºF (36ºC to 40ºC). Use a thermometer to make sure it’s the correct temperature. Too hot or too cold will kill the yeast.
- Place a bit of sugar and 1¼ tsp of active dry yeast into the water. Mix thoroughly. (The active yeast must be 25% more than the instant dry yeast counterpart.)
- Bloom for 10 – 15 minutes. Some foam or bubbles should form; otherwise, your yeast might have expired already.
- Once bloomed, you can combine the slurry mixture with the rest of the dough ingredients.
If you use instant dry yeast, you don’t need to wait for an extra 15 minutes.
Step 3: In a separate large container, combine the dry ingredients—flour, salt, and sugar.
🚨 Important: While it’s not as complicated as baking bread, making thin dough is also the most common pitfall for the Korean Corn Dog recipe.
Hence, the measurements, specifically for flour, must be followed to the tee. Thus, you should use a weighing scale instead of measuring cups to get a more accurate measurement.
Measuring cups are usually optimized for volume, which isn’t great for dry ingredients. So, let me just reiterate: please use a weighing scale for the flour.
Step 4: Prepare the dough by combining the wet and dry ingredients.
In a large bowl, combine the yeast-water mixture with the dry ingredients.
Continue mixing until they’re homogenous and there are no more visible lumps. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour or until it doubles in size.
You’ve probably added too much flour if your dough is too thick. It’s still manageable, but coating the hot dogs will be much more challenging; same with too thin of a batter.
Step 5: Slice the hot dogs and mozzarella cheese.
💡 Pro Tip: Wipe the hot dogs dry with a kitchen towel. Doing this step will allow the dough to stick better.
Using a skewer, or disposable chopsticks, skewer the hot dogs and mozzarella sticks. Make sure there’s still space for you to hold on to. Then, set aside for assembly.
🤔 Here’s an idea: Why not skewer an entire mozzarella stick for a cheesy gooey goodness bite?
Step 6: Prepare the coating ingredients.
Cut your French fries into small cubes and get the bread crumbs ready. Then, place them onto a loaf pan, separately. You can use anything large enough that can hold those ingredients.
Step 7: Preheat your air fryer to 350ºF (177ºC) for 4 minutes.
If your air fryer doesn’t have a preheating option, you can set the temperature to 350ºF (177ºC) and then let it run for 4 minutes.
🚨 Important: I don’t recommend skipping this step. Longer cooking time will make the mozzarella to burst out, ruining the recipe.
Step 8: Put the Korean corn dogs together.
a. First, dip the skewered hot dogs into the dough. Make sure it’s completely coated. You can remove excess dough by hand.
b. Then, immediately roll it into the chopped French fries.
c. Finally, transfer it to your breadcrumbs plate and roll. Again, make sure it’s fully coated. Do this for all your Korean corn dogs.
For a visual reference, you can check the recipe video above.
Step 9: Air fry the Korean hot dogs for 10 – 13 minutes at 350ºF (177ºC).
Add a liner to your air fryer basket, first. Then, transfer the prepared corn dogs into the air fryer basket. The corn dogs mustn’t touch each other. So, depending on your air fryer, the maximum amount could be two per batch. Don’t forget to flip halfway through.
You can brush the Korean corn dogs with cooking oil. But there’s barely any difference.
Korean Corn Dog: Deep Fried vs Air Fried
Unfortunately, achieving that lovely golden brown finish of deep-fried foods is incredibly challenging with air frying.
However, even if air-fried Korean corn dogs aren’t golden brown, it still tastes as good! I’d consider that a win, nonetheless.
✦ I used a 6-quart air fryer to test this recipe. Cooking time and temperature may vary depending on your air fryer and the number of servings you are making. For optimal results, begin with the lower end of the suggested cooking time.
Step 10: Form corn dogs immediately after cooking.
Immediately after air frying, shape the corn dog into a round form using tongs.
Without doing this step, your corn dog will be flat like in the picture above.
Step 11: Serve and enjoy!
Transfer onto a plate, sprinkle sugar, and drizzle ketchup and mustard.
The toppings are optional but highly recommended. It’s good, but it can be better, so why not?
Oh, you can also serve the ketchup and mustard as a dipping sauce on the side.
👩🍳 Author’s note: It took me about 5+ tries just to get it right. Fortunately, you don’t have to go through all that trouble. I already wrote down the all the tips and tricks in this recipe. Hopefully, you’ll get it right the first time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can make Korean corn dogs in an air fryer. Follow these instructions to make Korean corn dogs.
Yes, you can make Korean corn dogs in an air fryer. Follow these instructions to make Korean corn dogs.
This ingredients checklist is interactive; you can use it as your grocery list.
Ingredients
- 2 beef hot dogs
- 1/2 mozzarella cheese block
- 4 barbecue sticks / skewers
Dough
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 3.7 oz (105 g)
- 1 tsp instant dry yeast (1 tsp is about 1/2 packet) or 1¼ tsp for active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup water lukewarm
- 1.5 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
Breading
- 1 cup frozen french fries
- 1 cup bread crumbs
Condiments
- ketchup to drizzle
- mustard to drizzle
- sugar for garnish
Instructions
- First of all, thaw your frozen French fries. It will be easier to cut into cubes later.
- In a small container, combine lukewarm water and instant dry yeast together. Mix until the yeast is fully dissolved.
- In a separate large container, whisk the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and sugar. The flour should be an exact amount according to the ingredients listed above. Use a weighing scale rather than relying on measuring cups, otherwise your dough will be too tough.
- Then, pour and mix the yeast slurry onto the dry ingredients container. Continue mixing until they’re homogenous and there are no more visible lumps. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour or until doubled in size.
- Slice the hot dogs and mozzarella cheese into 2-inch long sections, or however you want it. Using a skewer, or disposable chopsticks, skewer the hot dogs and mozzarella sticks. Make sure there’s still space for you to hold on to. Then, set aside for assembly.
- Prepare coating ingredients. Cut your French fries into small cubes and get the bread crumbs ready. Place them onto a loaf pan, separately. You can use anything large enough that can hold those ingredients.
- Preheat your air fryer to 350ºF (177ºC) for 4 minutes.
- While the air fryer is preheating, assemble the Korean corn dogs. a. First, dip the skewered hot dogs into the dough. Make sure it’s completely coated. You can remove excess dough by hand. b. Then, immediately roll it into the chopped French fries.c. Finally, transfer it to your breadcrumbs plate and roll. Again, make sure it’s fully coated. Do this for all your Korean corn dogs.
- Air fry the Korean hot dogs for 10 – 13 minutes at 350ºF (177ºC). Add a liner to your air fryer basket, first. Then, transfer the prepared corn dogs into the air fryer basket. The corn dogs mustn’t touch each other. So, depending on your air fryer, the maximum amount could be two per batch. Don’t forget to flip halfway through.
- Immediately after cooking, using tongs, press the corn dogs to form the round shape. Without doing this step, your corn dog will be flat like in the picture below.
- Serve and enjoy! Transfer onto a plate, sprinkle sugar, and drizzle ketchup and mustard.
Recipe Video
Notes
- If your air fryer doesn’t have a preheat button, set the temperature to 350ºF (177ºC) and let it cook for 4 minutes. Preheating is essential for a more accurate result.
- The water must be lukewarm; otherwise, it might kill the yeast if it’s too cold or hot. To check, you can use a thermometer, which should read around 98ºF to 105ºF (36ºC to 40ºC).
- Precision is key! Use a weighing scale to measure the flour. It’s difficult to coat the cheese-dog skewers with tough dough.
- You can also cut the hot dogs and mozzarella into quarters. By doing so, you can alternate them in the skewer.
- To allow the dough to stick to the corn dog skewers, wipe the hot dogs dry with a kitchen towel.
- Right after air frying, form the corn dogs into a round shape using tongs.
- You can add your own choice of condiment if you want.
- Instead of drizzling ketchup and mustard, you can serve them as dipping sauces on the side.
- I used a 6-quart air fryer to make this Korean Corn Dog recipe. Cooking time (and temperature) may vary depending on your air fryer and the number of servings you are making. For optimal results, begin with the lower end of the suggested cooking time.
Nutrition
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