Vietnamese Chicken Wings

These simple chicken wings consists of some fish sauce, sugar and loads of crispy garlic and is inspired by Pok Pok in Portland.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Vietnamese

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 40

Total Time 1 50

Servings

Calories 178kcal

Author Ryan Beck

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken wings, cut into flats and drumettes
8 garlic cloves (about 2 whole garlic)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup warm water
½ cup fish sauce
½ cup powdered sugar
vegetable oil for frying
1 tablespoon baking powder

Instructions

Finely chop the garlic, sprinkle with salt, then chop the two together for 15 seconds. Scrape mixture into small bowl and add ¼ cup warm water. Let sit for a few minutes.
Set a fine-mesh strainer over another bowl and pour garlic into strainer. Smooth garlic with spoon over same bowl to extract as much liquid as you can. Reserve the garlic. Add fish sauce and sugar to the bowl with garlic liquid water and stir until sugar is fully dissolved.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the chicken wings with about ¼ cup of the fish sauce mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, tossing every hour.
While chicken is marinating, pour oil into a small pan to reach a depth of about 1 inch. Set over high heat until it shimmers. As soon as it reaches high heat, decrease to medium-low heat and stir a couple of times. Add garlic and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Strain the garlic on a paper-lined plate and keep in airtight container at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 250°F. When wings are done marinating, transfer to a colander in the sink, shaking them occasionally. Let them drain at least 15 minutes. Pat dry with paper towel and then toss with 1 tablespoon of baking powder, making sure every wing is coated.
Line a baking sheet with foil, then place a cooling rack on the foil. Spray the rack with oil spray. Place wings on rack in a single layer with skin side up. Bake for 30 minutes at 250°F. Increase the oven temperature to 425°F and bake for an additional 50 minutes to 1 hour, rotating the tray halfway through. (If skin starts to brown too much, then flip them over)
To finish wings, heat large skillet or wok over high heat. Add ⅓ cup of water to remaining fish sauce mixture from earlier and stir. Then add ½ cup of mixture to skillet and cook until mixture has reduced by half, about 45 seconds. Add half of the chicken and cook, tossing frequently until the chicken is coated and liquid has become sticky. Add fried garlic and toss. Transfer wings to serving plate.

Notes

Use baking powder that is less than a year old since it has been opened. You can test it by stirring half a teaspoon of baking powder into a cup of hot water. It will immediately start to fizz and release carbon dioxide gas if it’s still fresh enough to use.
Cut the chicken wings at the joint using either kitchen shears or a sharp knife. See step-by-step instructions.
Bake chicken on a cooling rack which allows the air to circulate and cook all parts of the chicken wings.
Wait until the sauce has thickened before adding chicken wings to toss and coat so they are sticky.

Nutrition