Hawaiian pupu chicken wings
These sticky, crunchy, garlicky, intensely flavored chicken wings come from a recipe I learned to make in my childhood in Honolulu. I wok fry them in coconut oil and then dunk them in a garlicky soy sauce and rice vinegar dip.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 -8 servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 3/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 T sesame seed oil
- 2 T unseasoned rice wine vinegar
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 T toasted sesame seeds
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 4 green onions, finely chopped, including white and green parts, plus more for garnish
- 1 t crushed red pepper flakes or more if you like heat
- 2 pounds mini chicken wings, tips removed (about 16 wings)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour or potato starch
- 2 – 3 cups coconut oil or other high smoke-point oil
Instructions
- Make the sauce in a small sauce pan. Put first 9 ingredients in the pan, bring briefly to a boil to
- Pat chicken dry. Dip chicken in your choice of flour or potato starch, coating thoroughly. Shake off excess and set aside while you heat up the oil.
- In a wok or Dutch oven, heat 2 – 3 cups coconut oil until 350 degrees. One-by-one, gently lower 5 – 6 wings into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd. Don’t drop from a distance as the splashing oil will cause burns. Lower chicken using tongs, a slotted spoon, a Chinese spider ladle or a very steady hand. The oil will bubble up around the chicken. Move the chicken periodically as it fries. When one side has browned carefully turn each piece over and continue cooking until both sides are brown and crispy. This should take about 15 minutes for each batch.
- Scoop the cooked wings out of the oil using tongs, a perforated wok ladle or a Chinese spider ladle and transfer to the sauce pan. Let the wings soak in the sauce while you work on the next batch.
- Using a perforated wok ladle or Chinese spider, scoop out any brown bits and put on a plate to cool before discarding. Check that your oil temperature is back to 350 degrees and add your next batch of wings.
- Remove the first batch of wings from the sauce and drain on plates lined with paper towels. Continue working in batches until all the chicken is fried and then soaked in the sauce for a few minutes before it is drained. Serve hot or at room temperature. Garnish with additional green onion slices or green onion curls if you desire.