Potatoes are forever entwined in the lovely combinations of crispy and pillowy, crunchy and smooth, it is the shocking bite that makes us dive in for more. Here, these Korean Honey Butter Potatoes have the duo combination of being crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, coated in a sweet and salty sauce. It has all of the qualities of a potato chip but in a more dressed-up dinner side dish.
If one goes to Seoul, South Korea’s capital, the abundant restaurants that line the narrow, winding maze of streets show an interesting array of food. There are places for international and traditional cuisine, and then there’s a genre of food that blends the two into a modern, fun fusion. If you come across pizza, pasta, fried chicken, and hamburger joints, you’re guaranteed to find the peculiar topping of honey butter. It coats the pizza crust, the focaccia, the fried chicken, the bread sticks, and the french fries. The sweet rich sauce may look out of place, but is amazingly in sync with the dishes coated in savory sauces, and packed with rich salted meats. Honey butter is the black horse of the butters, that’s just waiting to hit it big Stateside.
Here, potatoes are a great vessel for the honey butter sauce as they soak up the flavor, but also work with the butter and honey to create a great crispy coating.
Start by boiling the cubed potatoes. Yukon golds have the most buttery texture, but you can use any potato you have available to you.
Once the potatoes are soft and tender, you can start warming up the butter and honey in a saucepan.
When the butter is completely melted, go ahead and add in the drained but still warm potatoes. Toss to combine the potatoes with the honey butter.
Increasing the heat and letting the potatoes cook away in the sauce will crisp up the potatoes and give them a nice lacquered sheen.
After a good pinch of salt and pepper, fresh herbs are added to the potatoes and cooked until everything is just incorporated.
Served straight from the skillet, these Korean Honey Butter Potatoes are a side dish you wish you had encountered sooner! The outside is crispy and coated in a glossy, smooth sweet-and-salty buttery sauce while the inside is delicate and tender. The sweetness of the honey is balanced by the rich butter, salt, and pepper.
Fresh herbs may seem like a garnish, but they play a big, flavorful role. The herbaceousness of the chopped parsley cuts through the sweet, salty, and buttery elements of the potatoes for a well-balanced bite.
It’s a great side dish as well as a fun alternative for a game day french fry, so they can be skewered and dipped into a variety of sauces. With these Korean Honey Butter Potatoes, you’ll find countless ways (excuses) to whip them up!
Korean Honey Butter Potatoes
Yield(s): Serves 4
10m prep time
25m cook time
Ingredients
- 1 pound potatoes, cubed into 2-inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh parsley
Preparation
- Fill a large pot with cold water, and add the potatoes. Set over a medium heat and bring to a boil.
- Cook until fork tender and drain potatoes.
- Heat a large skillet and then add the butter, honey, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
- When the honey butter is simmering, carefully add in potatoes.
- Increase the heat to medium high, cooking the potatoes for 5 to 6 minutes to give them a good golden sear on one side. Carefully flip the potatoes over and cook for an additional 5 to 7 minutes.
- Toss in fresh herbs, serve warm, and enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Seonkyoung Longest.