The BEST damn chicken wings — yep, you read that right — the BEST. And I’ve had a lot of chicken wings in my life. There’s a secret to these wings, which I’ll get to, but these are legitimately some of the best wings I’ve had in a long time. Plus you can put any sauce on them or just eat them plain, however you like your wings. They are a blank canvas! and I love that about them.
So now, these are fried chicken wings — so put your adult pants on and lets talk about frying. I know that over the years, frying something has gotten a bad wrap, and we’ve all been there….the greasy fries, soggy donuts, fatty wings…but it doesn’t have to be that way! Now, I’m not saying frying something isn’t going to contribute fat to your diet, because that would be lying, but if you fry something RIGHT, it will not come out greasy or soggy and the food itself will not absorb *much* of the fat that you cook it in.
It’s all about temperature control.
If you maintain your temperature, either on your stove top or in a fryer, then you will have perfectly cooked wings with a crispy outside and tender middle. Trust me.
A great way to maintain temperature is, shocker I know, a thermometer. You can pick up a lot of different kinds of thermometers these days, but a regular fry or candy thermometer will work just fine. You can find them fairly cheap on the inter-webs and in kitchen stores. This one from amazon would work great for an indoor frying session.
Another key item to have in your fry inventory is a large heavy pot. For these wings, I used a 7.25 Quart dutch oven, but you could use anything that has a wide mouth and is made of a heavy material, such as cast iron. Cast iron will maintain the level of heat in the pan as you cook, so it is critical to temperature management.
Once you have your pot and your thermometer, lets talk about the oil that you should use to fry. You want an oil that can handle the heat (350 degrees+) without smoking up your kitchen or burning. Canola Oil, Peanut Oil, Sunflower Oil are all good choices for frying as they have fairly high smoke-points (i.e. the temperature at which the oil will begin to smoke).
Other oils that are on the market, like extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, flaxseed oil, etc have lower smoke points and therefore are not recommended for frying. Save them for your vinaigrettes and other light dishes where the true flavor of the oil can shine.
So now that we’ve talked about the hardware that you’ll need to fry, let’s get back to these wings!
So the secret to these wings is a double fry. Yep that’s right, not one, but two fries. This double-fry action allows the wings to have a crispy texture and juicy inside, without the grease. This is also made possible by the cornstarch that these babies are dredged in before frying. mmmhmmm, so good! and so simple! Not greasy! Amazing!
The sauce that I used on these wings is also super simple and lends a lot of flavor to the wings, the wings themselves don’t have a ton of seasoning (just salt and pepper), although you could change that if you’d like in the preparation process.
I personally think that if you’re going to have wings, you better be ready to get a little messy in the process, so it’s sticky sauce all the way for me! 🙂
So give these wings a try and let me know what you think! Where have you had the best wings from? How do you prefer yours? Dry or wet? Let me know! 🙂
See ya tomorrow!
xo,
Danielle
The Best Damn Chicken Wings
Ingredients
For the Wings:
- 2-3 Pounds Chicken Wings Trimed
- 2/3 Cups Cornstarch
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp Pepper
- 3-4 Cups Canola Oil
Spicy Korean Sauce
- 1/4 Cup Korean BBq Sauce
- 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
- 2 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
- 3 Cloves Garlic minced
- 2 tsp Ginger minced
- 1 tbsp Chili Garlic Sauce
- 2 Scallions chopped
- 1 tsp Sesame Seeds
Instructions
- In a large heavy pot (like a Dutch oven), heat oil over medium heat until it reaches 350 degrees F. Place chicken wings in a large bowl and rinse with water 2 to 3 times. Pat the wings dry and toss with salt and pepper.
- Place cornstarch in a separate bowl. One at a time coat the wings in cornstarch, pressing to adhere with your fingers. Once coated, place on a plate or dish.
- Fry the wings in batches, do not overload the oil in the pan. Wings will be light golden brown, after abut 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to drain on paper towels. Once all of the wings have been fried, return the initial batch to the oil for a second fry, about another 10 minutes. Repeat with remaining wings. Allow to drain and then toss in your chosen sauce.
- For the Korean sauce, whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into a sauce pan and heat over medium heat until thick. Toss with the wings and serve topped with scallions and sesame seeds.
Leave a Reply