WFT?!: Modified PokPok's Fried Chicken Wings

Hello Fellow Nom Seekers!

This recipe is one of those "OMG, it's so bad that it's good" sort of eats.  It's high in fat, sugar and salt.  But don't let this put you off!  It taste Fabulous!  It would go down well as a 'Death row' meal.  Definitely something to be shared with a crowd than singularly tackled on your own.  Unless you want to book yourself in for an angioplasty afterwards...

Let me walk you through this sinful delight.  It's chicken wings with a potato starch batter, deep fried with a salty sweet glaze.  It's a kaleidoscope of textures and contrasting tastes - succulent juicy meat with a super-crunchy exterior, the sticky sweetness with the saltiness of Vietnamese fish sauce.

The original recipe is from Andy Ricker's Pok Pok cookbook but I had to tweak the recipe as I was cooking this for friends who were allergic to wheat.  So I used potato starch which I think is an improvement on the original recipe.  The potato starch formed a really solid crunchy batter which stayed crunchy despite the wet glaze on top.  It also tasted wonderfully like chicken coated in french fries.

My tweaked version:

Ingredients for 24 chicken wings:

For the wings:

• 24 chicken wings.  I used the drummettes
• 16 garlic cloves crunched - yes!  That many. 
• 2 tsp salt
• 0.5 cup of warm water
• 1 cup of Vietnamese fish sauce
• 1 cup of sugar 

For the batter:

• 1.5 cup of potato flour
• 1.5 cup of water

Method:

• Mix garlic, salt, fish sauce, sugar and warm water.  Use half of this to marinade wings.  I used a zip lock bag for convenience and left it in the fridge overnight.  
• When you are ready to fry, use a saucepan and fill with enough oil to cover your wings.  Allow the oil to heat up until shimmering.  
• Mix the potato starch and water to make a batter.  Dip your wings into the batter and deep fry the wings in batches.  It takes approximately 8 - 9 minutes to cook through.  Be careful you don't turn the heat up to full whack because the batter will burn before the meat cooks inside.  I went by eye and turned the hob up / down depending.  
• Drain your wings on paper towels.  
• To make the glaze:  use the remaining half of the marinade and add 0.5 cup of water to this.  Cook over a low to medium heat until it has reduced to a stickier and thicker consistency.  Dip your wings into the glaze.  
• Apply to mouth.  

Until next time,
Nom Seeker, Glutt