Japanese fried chicken wings (tebasaki)
Crispy wings coated in salty-sweet-sour and subtly spicy glaze.
Servings 3 people
Ingredients
- 500 grams chicken wings (1.1 pounds)
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon rock salt
Glaze
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sake
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- ½ teaspoon grated ginger
- ½ teaspoon grated garlic
- 1 tablespoon black vinegar
To fry
- 2 tablespoons potato starch
- cooking oil for deep frying
To garnish
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken wings and wipe dry. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In a wok, heat the sugar, soy sauce, sake, mirin, ginger and garlic. Allow to boil gently over medium heat, uncovered, for a minute. Turn off the heat. Set the sauce aside to cool.
- In another wok or frying pan, pour in enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least three inches. Set the heat to medium.
- Wipe the chicken wings once more. Add the potato starch to the chicken and toss to coat each piece with a thin layer of starch.
- Fry the chicken wings in batches just until lightly browned. Transfer to a strainer as they cook, go on to the next batch, and so on.
- Turn the heat to high. Fry the chicken wings again, this time, in smaller batches of four or five (see the difference after the first and second frying).
- Dump the cooked chicken wings into the pan with the sauce. Toss to coat each piece of chicken with sauce.
- Add the toasted sesame seeds. Toss a few more times. Scoop out, sprinkle in scallions, and serve.
