Step 1. Google ‘Pok Pok wings recipe’
Step 2. double the marinade or there won’t be enough to glaze all the wings.
Step 2b. marinate only overnight. More than that and they’ll turn into salt bombs.
Step 3. Post picture for silly internet affirmation.
I find that impressive.
With a 2nd person on the coat-and-fry assembly line it’s not terrible.
Tricks that I learned doing this a few times:
A kernel of popcorn is a pretty good indicator of oil temp. You want at about 350, which is just about the temp that popcorn pops at.
Do a small batch of three or so to start. The first fried things are never quite as good as the rest.
Keep the oven low to store the wings between batches.
The chilli garlic paste you want to use is Hoy Fong, the same company that makes Sriracha.
Makes however many servings 3 lbs of wings feeds in your world. I have come to realize that portion sizes seem to differ among adults by an order of magnitude.
That’s a good recipe. You’re right that it’s not onerous.
That recipe taught me about dredging in cornstarch before frying.
I got the cookbook because a pal wanted to go to one of those special book dinners at a restaurant. The recipes all seem like too much work.
The wings recipe is actually pretty simple. Simple enough that I felt I could taste the difference using a different brand of fish sauce. I would imagine the marinade and glaze are much too big on flavor to leave room for super-duper farm-to-table this one’s name was Henrietta and she preferred shady spots organic all natural artisan chicken wings, but certainly the fish sauce and chili paste you use will impact your final dish.
Don’t skimp on the cilantro. A $.99 bamboo and brass spider scoop from the dollar store or local asian market is great for removing the wings from the oil. A standard tall stockpot filled about 1/3-1/2 with oil is all that’s needed for frying.
the plain cornstarch dredge seems ideal for this. you’re not going for super crisp KFC-like skin. Just enough tooth that it really holds onto the glaze.
Extra napkins and cold beverages highly advised. These are lightyears better than the neon orange buffalo wings with limp celery and packet ranch dressing.
this pok pok-style ribs recipe is also excellent; the “dipping sauce” is really clutch. I actually just cut up the ribs, lay them flat, and then pour the sauce over.
we made these too – came out great