**The Art of Making Crispy Chicken Wings**

Making crispy chicken wings is an art that requires patience, attention to detail, and a bit of practice. In this article, we will guide you through three different methods of making crispy chicken wings, each with its own unique characteristics and flavor profiles.

**Method Number One: Frying**

To make crispy chicken wings using the frying method, start by preheating your oil to around medium-low heat. Once the oil is hot, add a batch of 4-6 chicken wings to the pot in a single layer. Fry the wings for about a minute on each side, or until they are golden brown and crispy. Repeat this process with the remaining wings, making sure not to overcrowd the pot.

Next, increase the heat to high and ladle hot oil over the wings for about one minute. This will help to create a nice crust on the skin of the chicken. Flip the wings once again so that the skin side is up, and continue ladling oil over the wings until the skin turns a dark golden brown, or about three minutes more. At this point, move the wings over to a baking tray and let them cool for a few minutes.

**Method Number Two: Shallow Frying**

Alternatively, you can also make crispy chicken wings using a shallow fry method. Fill a non-stick pan with about two centimeters of oil and heat it up to around 130 degrees Celsius. Add a batch of 4-6 chicken wings to the pan in a single layer and fry them skin side down until the skin is golden brown, or about five minutes.

Flip the wings over and continue frying for another three minutes, or until they are crispy and golden brown. Be careful not to let the oil temperature get too high, as this can cause the wings to pop. If you notice the oil starting to bubble too much, reduce the heat to medium-low or even low.

**Method Number Three: Oven Baking**

For a crisper exterior without deep-frying, you can also try baking the chicken wings in the oven. Preheat your oven to 230 degrees Celsius with the convection fan on if possible. Dip each wing into oil before placing it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Bake the wings for 12 minutes, or until they are crispy and golden brown. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes before serving. However, keep in mind that this method will result in a slightly different texture and flavor profile compared to the frying methods.

**Garlic Sand**

To add an extra layer of flavor to your crispy chicken wings, try making garlic sand using deep-fried garlic and breadcrumbs. To make the garlic sand, finely mince 30 grams of garlic and toss it with another 30 grams of minced shallot (optional). Add a quarter teaspoon of salt, sugar, and MSG, and mix everything together over low heat until well combined.

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding any excess liquid. Mix in 25 grams of breadcrumbs and let it cool for a few minutes. This garlic sand is perfect for sprinkling over your crispy chicken wings before serving.

**Tips and Variations**

To achieve the crispiest exterior possible on your chicken wings, make sure to not overcrowd the pot or pan when frying. Also, don't be afraid to experiment with different seasonings and flavor profiles, such as adding a sprinkle of chili powder or a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

For an extra crispy coating on your chicken wings, try using Japanese-style panko breadcrumbs instead of regular breadcrumbs. You can also add some grated Parmesan cheese or chopped scallions to the garlic sand for added texture and flavor.

By following these three methods and tips, you'll be well on your way to making deliciously crispy chicken wings that will impress your friends and family. Happy cooking!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enToday, I wanna share my cooking white whale.See, there’s this Cantonese chicken dish,Tsui Pei Gai, that is the perfect chicken.The meat - tender, the skin - crispy, andsomehow they figured a way to pack a ton offlavor in the process – my favorite is thegarlic sort.We’ve been wanting to teach you the dishfor a while, but unfortunately most restaurantstend to get there by using one of these classicCantonese hanging ovens at least somewherealong the way.That said, there are alternative oven-freeapproaches out there that involve this mixof poaching and ladling hot oil over the skin.But after months, years even, of trying differentthings we just… could never really quiteget there.Maybe we will someday, maybe we won’t, or,I dunno, maybe one day we’ll just end upbreaking down and trying to squeeze a onemeter oven onto a two meter balcony.But.Over the course of this perpetually frustratingjourney, we found that the poach and ladlemethod does seems to work phenomenally on..the wings.So while my white whale is still out therenagging me, if you can forgive us for doinga bit of a creative interpretation… at thevery least, I think we can make a pretty damntasty garlic-y chicken wing.So.For that garlic wing?You’re need gunna need… a borderline unreasonablequantity of garlic.Here I’m using 500 grams worth of pre-peeledgarlic because I am lazy, but if you’reusing proper bulbs just go ahead with aboutthree heads worth.Just add that to a blender together with 100grams of light soy sauce, 100 grams of fishsauce, 45 grams of salt, 15 grams of chickenbouillon powder, an optional teaspoon of garlicpowder, and a pint of water.Give that a good blitz, using the smoothiesetting if you got one, then toss about 20-30chicken wings in a pot together with thatmarinade and another pint of water to actuallysubmerge the wings.Now just cover, and let that marinate forat least thirty minutes, or up to overnight..and today, we opted for a soak of about anhour or two.Now.After that time, uncover your pot and overa high flame bring all that up to a boil.This’ll likely take a bit, about five minutes,but once it’s at a rolling boil just letit go for one minute more.Then shut off the heat, cover, and let thatsoak in the hot water for 15 minutes more.So then as that’s soaking, let’s prepour cui pi shui, or crispy skin liquid.This is key here and relies on this stuff– maltose – the very same stuff that’sused to brush over Beijing Duck.That said, if you can’t find Maltose, goldensyrup can serve much the same function, dittowith that cheap-o sort of mass produced honey.Now, because Maltose is probably the mostaggravatingly sticky substance known to mankind,I like making my cuipishui by ratio.Just scoop out as much maltose as you canconveniently obtain – aiming about fifteengrams worth, and mix it with white vinegarat a ratio of three to one.So here I got 12 grams of syrup, so I’llbe mixing that in with 36 grams of white vinegar.Then hit that with a spritz of lemon, about3 grams worth… give it a patient mix, andthis is ready for chicken.So.After the soak, remove your wings from yourgarlic liquid, and give them a quick rinsewith hot water to get off any stray marinade.Now move those over to a big bowl, toss inyour crispy skin liquid, and give it a nicemix… being careful not to break up the wings.Then move those over to a baking sheet skinside up, and brush a bit of the excess liquidon top for good measure.And… at this point, these.. need to dry.What people like to do over here in Chinais toss them in front of a fan for the day,which works perfectly: six to eight hourslater, and they’ll be ready to go.That said, whenever we keep anything out atroom temperature on this channel, the internet’sresident ServSafe experts all seem to comeout of the woodwork and lecture us about theever ominous “Danger Zone”.And while the danger zone doesn’t reallyseem to be all that dangerous over here inAsia, the last thing we need is the AmericanFDA banging on our door freedom-ing up ourkitchen, so today we’ll dry our wings inthe fridge.Takes a bit longer that way though, so we’llbe coming back to them the next day.So right.18-24 hours later, your chicken wings shouldbe looking pretty dry and leathery.You can finish them for an hour in front ofthe fan if they’re not quite there, buteither way, these guys are good to cook.So.Three options for you: first technique, mimickingthe authentic Cantonese crispy skin chickenwith the oil ladling method; second, shallowfrying if your kitchen’s not set up forhandling a whole pot of oil; and lastly…for those that really just can’t be bothered,we’ll also just blast a few in the ovenand see how they turn out.So right, oil ladling method up first.To go this route, just toss four or five wingsskin side down on a spider and lower theminto 130 centigrade oil, keeping the flameat around medium low.A minute later, flip, and dunk them in againfor another minute.At this point, up your flame to high and witha target temperature of about 170, ladle theoil over the wings for about one minute.Then flip the wings once again so that theskin side’s up – and continue ladlingover the wings til the skin turns a nice darkgolden brown, or about three minutes more.At that point, just move them over to a bakingtray and that is method number one.But.You can also reach much the same point witha shallow fry.To do so, fill something non-sticky with abouttwo centimeters of oil and get that up toabout 130.Then with the flame on medium, toss the wingsin skin side down, and fry those til the skinside gets nice and golden.Now, it should be said that with this methodif your oil temperature ends up getting alittle too high, you will be at risk for somepoppages… so be careful, don’t push it,and do keep a lid handy.So then, after about five minutes our wingswere looking pretty good, so just give thema flip and fry for three minutes more.And after that time, those ended up lookingpretty much indistinguishable from the ladlingmethod, I think.Last approach – oven.For this one, we’re gunna be dunking thewings in oil before putting them back on thebaking tray… without this oiling processthe wings actually won’t end up really browningmuch at all.Just toss those in the oven at 230 centigradefor 12 minutes, with the convection fan onif you got one.In the end, these guys do end up a bit dryer,a bit less evenly crispy… but they are alsodelicious enough.But if at all possible, one of the two fryingmethods would be our personal recommendation.Now.To go along with these wings, we’ll be servingthem on a bed of fengsha or ‘garlic sand’,to dip.This stuff is basically a combination of breadcrumbs,deep fried garlic, and seasoning.Now if you happen to have a Chiu zhou or Thaigrocer near you, you might just be able tobuy some deep fried garlic, in which case…your life’s easy: just set aside 25 gramsworth.For the rest of us though, we’ll need tomake some deep fried garlic ourselves, which’sa little annoying but not too bad I promise.So.To make it, just finely mince 30 grams worthor about a half a head of garlic… but forthis, really try to do your best bang up jobmincing.And to go along with that, we’ll also minceup and deep fry another 30 grams worth ofshallot – optional of course, also feelfree to just do 60 grams of all garlic ifyou prefer.Just toss those in a small non-stick saucepantogether with about an inch of cool oil, thentoss the flame to medium.The idea here is to slowly fry these aromatics– keyword?Slowly.Your goal’s to get the garlic to expel itsmoisture but not burn, so if you find things’rebubbling a bit too fast, swap your flame downto medium-low or even low.After about 30 to 40 minutes, that garlicshould be dry, hard, and nice and golden brown…so strain, and move over to some paper towels.That leftover garlic oil though?..Definitely don’t toss it.While we won’t be using it in this recipe,it is super delicious… and we’ll put someuse ideas in the pinned comment below.So then.To a saucepan toss in 25 grams of breadcrumbs– here we’re using Chinese-style panko,but a Japanese style panko would also workgreat, color aside…5 grams of chicken powder, a quarter teaspooneach salt, sugar, and MSG… together withyour deep fried garlic.Mix that together over a low flame for a coupleminutes, or until everything is evenly incorporated…then layer that garlic sand over your servingplate.Toss your crispy wings on your crispy garlic,sprinkle a bit on top for good measure…and with that, you’ve got yourself a prettyexcellent wing.Even if the whole bird still eludes us yet.So, let’s set our expectations straighthere.The crispy that we’re talking about withthese wings is not “southern fried chicken”-crispy,it’s more “Peking duck”-crispy.It’s actually a concept in Cantonese cooking…we can it ‘fa pei’ – which means itgives you a really nice pop, but then it justmelts away.\n"