Creating a Delicious Lum Choon Style Wings Recipe

When it comes to cooking Chinese wings, many people may think that crispy is the only way to go, but there are actually two separate words for crispiness in the Chinese language - 'su' and 'cui'. The former refers to a lighter kind of crispiness that quickly melts away in your mouth, similar to the texture of a Wu Gok at dim sum or American-style fried chicken. On the other hand, 'cui' refers to a heavier, crunchier type of crispiness, similar to the shell on Northern-style guobaorou or good American-style fried chicken. In this article, we'll be focusing on creating Lum Choon style wings that fall into the 'su' category - light and crispy, but still packed with flavor.

To start making our Lum Choon style wings, we need to make a few adjustments to the original recipe. First, let's add about 1-2 tablespoons of starch to dry out everything completely. This will help create a better texture when we fry the wings later on. We'll also want to toss our wings with some potato starch before frying to give them an extra crispy coating. When it comes to cooking, we like to do things outside in the fresh air - so, let's set aside our wings and heat up a wok filled with about 1 liter of oil over high heat.

Now that our oil is hot, we can add our wings back into the mixture for one final toss with some extra starch. We'll also want to knock off any excess starch from the wing before adding it to the oil. At this point, we're rolling around at a temperature of 160 degrees Celsius - and we like letting that coating on the flat side form for just a couple seconds before dropping each wing in. We'll aim for a frying time of around 140 degrees Celsius for eight minutes total.

After our wings have finished frying, it's time to take them out and let the oil drain off slightly. Then, we can toss them onto a paper towel-lined plate to absorb any excess moisture. And that's when we know - those Lum Choon style wings are done! Of course, before diving in, we want to make sure everyone knows a little bit about our Chinese language. You see, 'su' and 'cui' both refer to different types of crispiness, but for the sake of this recipe, we're going with 'su' - light and crispy.

To take it to the next level, let's try adding some furu fermented tofu to our wings. Furu is a type of fermented tofu that is commonly used in Cantonese kitchens - and when paired with chicken wings, it creates a truly unique flavor profile. We can marinate the wings in a mixture of fermented tofu, mijiu (or sake), soy sauce, sugar, salt, and white pepper for at least an hour before frying them up again. When we do fry them, we'll aim for a slightly hotter temperature - around 145-150 degrees Celsius for seven minutes total.

But here's the thing: furu fermented tofu with chicken wings is actually a very classic combination in Cantonesekitchens. And besides deep-frying it, you can also steam it to create a completely different texture and flavor experience. To do so, simply coat the furu in toasted sesame oil, lay it flat on a plate, add some julienned ginger on top, and then steam it for 10-12 minutes.

For those interested in trying this recipe out for themselves, be sure to check out the full recipe in the description box below. And of course, don't forget to subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos - thanks again to everyone who's supporting us on Patreon!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enFried chicken wing in Guangdong has to besome of my favorite fried chicken the worldover.I mean… lounging at a Dai pai dong on amuggy summer night, devouring some fried chickenalongside some world class congee and of coursea bit of mijiu has to be pretty far up thereas far as fried chicken eating experiencesgo.So we’ve been wanting to share this onefor a while, but… the trouble with thisdish is that it is one of those things wherethere’s not really all that much of a clearstandard.You see, while Cantonese cuisine has prettyalways had this mind numbing array of differentdeep frying techniques, the idea of eatingspecifically a chicken wing is bit of a modernwestern import.After all, the traditional and usual methodof chicken consumption in China is based aroundone entire chicken, freshly slaughtered, cleavedacross the bone.Not butchered into separate cuts like you’dsee in the west.But, as western food inched its way into theChinese diet, fried chicken wings, whetherfrom the street or from a western fast foodchain, ended up becoming a sort of perennialkid’s favorite.Steph would tell me how when she was growingup, for her, grabbing a bucket of fried chickenwith friends was pretty much her go-to wayto spend some New Year hongbao or maybe somejiangxuejin at the end of the school year,and in that she was far from alone.Of course, today, that post-opening KFC generationin China has grown up – and so, in response,these days fried chicken wings can be foundon menus at late night Dai Pai Dongs scatteredthroughout the delta.And while some variants could practicallybe a dead ringer for American southern friedchicken, others localize, making use one ofthe potpourri of Cantonese deep frying techniquesto arrive at something new and unique.So.With that in mind, we wanted to teach youtwo versions.For the first one we’ll be mimicking oneof our favorite Dai Pai Dongs in Shunde, alate night spot in Daliang called “Lum ChoonDai Pai Dong”.The fundamental idea of their approach isto first season the wings with what you couldonly call a brine, then toss with potato starchand fry at a relatively low temperature.This yields very tender wings with a lightcrispy skin.Then, we want to show you another sort – Furufried chicken wings.For this one you’ll marinate things witha fermented tofu based marinade, a classicfor deep fried dishes in Guangdong, then adda thin layer of egg, followed by the sameaggressive toss with starch.This variant will get you a more heavily seasonedwing with a thicker, crunchier coating.So then.First up, that Lum Choon style.Now, before we left Shunde, the owner of theshop graciously taught us how to make thesewings, but they… did end electing to keeptheir specific brine a secret - understandable,as those wings are pretty much their breadand butter.So fair warning that there was a touch ofguesswork here – the style of brine we endedgoing for was a restaurant sort that’s usedto make stuff like “Zha ji gai”.Which …seemed like a solid fit.So.To make it, first just grab six full chickenwings – or similar amount of flats, drumettes,whatever… and then to that first add inten grams of salt, fifteen grams of sugar,five grams of chicken bouillon powder, a gramof MSG, and two grams of white pepper powderand mix that well.Then, to that, add in 20 grams each of soysauce, liaojiu aka Shaoxing wine, and fishsauce – which just be aware is more of arestaurant ingredient in Guangdong.Then, to that just add in about two cups worthof water, or enough to barely cover it all– then just set that in the fridge for atleast 90 minutes, or up to overnight – thelonger, the more tender.So.Then, next day, we’ll be moving those overto a big basin to coat, but for this we’llwant to bring a bit of the marinade with usto help sorta form a kind of a base coating.Now, from a recipe writing perspective, thatis kind of an awkward practice to standardize,so for ease of replication we’ll take apage out of Kenji’s book and first we’lldrain the wings.. then add them to our basin,then add in two tablespoons of our marinadeto mimic that dynamic.Just mix that well, then we’ll go in withsome potato starch – but, doing so bit bybit.At first, we’ll just add enough to forma bit of a thin brine slurry to roughly coatthe chicken, and then one we’re at thatpoint, we’ll go in with enough starch tobe able to basically dry everything out.For reference, we added about one, one anda half cup’s worth of starch in all.Then just give that all a nice toss, n’I like doing this outside, and then set aside.Then.To a wok, fill everything all up with abouta liter’s worth of oil, and heat it up overa high flame.Then, right before frying, to those wingsgo in again with a touch more potato starch…about a two to three tablespoons, and givethat a good toss once more.Knock off any excess starch from the wing,add it to the oil, n here, we’re rollingat around 160 centigrade – and I personallylike letting that coating on the flat sideform for a couple seconds before droppingeach in.Then, just let those all fry, but dip yourflame to medium high because we’ll be aimingto fry these at around 140 for eight minutesin all.After that time, then just take those out…let the oil drain off a touch, then toss ona paper towel lined plate.And just like that, the Lum Choon style wingsare done, to the best of our ability.That said, before diving in, a quick disclosureand a quick word on the word ‘crispyness’.You see, the Chinese language actually hastwo separate words that can both mean ‘crispy’– ‘su’ and ‘cui’.The former is sort of a lighter kind of crispynessthat’ll quickly melt away in your mouth– think of a Wu Gok at dim sum, or maybein the western context something like a wafer.The latter is a heavier crispiness that couldalso be translated as crunchy – think somethingwith a real shell to it like Northern styleguobaorou, or maybe some good American stylefried chicken.The Lum Choon style wings are su – lightcrispy… but given the YouTube arms raceto get as much crunch as feasibly possibleanywhere and everywhere, we also wanted toteach you something a bit on the cui side,and the furu sort definitely fit the bill.So.This time we’ll be using a mix of flatsand drumettes, for no real reason, but tentotal in all.Then, to marinate them, just grab one bigcube of fermented tofu, toss it in with thewings… also together with one tablespoonof mijiu, and you could also sub in sake orShaoxing… one tablespoon of soy sauce, oneteaspoon of sugar, a half teaspoon salt, andanother half teaspoon white pepper.Take your time to really mush up that cubeof fermented tofu… then mix that all superwell, cover, and toss in the fridge to marinatefor at least a couple hours and up to overnight.Then, next day, move your wings over to abig basin, and then to that first crack inone small egg, or a half a one if you’vegot something medium or large.Mix that well, and then toss in your starchin the same way as before – make a thinsort of ‘slurry’ to coat, then keep onadding starch til it’s dry.Then just toss to coat, and set that asideuntil you’re ready to fry.So.Again, heat up an oil-filled wok up to 160centigrade at first, and right before movingthose in, give the wings the same final tosswith a couple tablespoons of starch.But this time, we’ll be frying those a littlehotter, at arout 145-150, for seven minutesin total.Then, just take those out, and if you’refeeling inclined, you can also optionallygive these a second double fry to furthercrisp things up.To do so, we’ll heat things up up to 185,dip the wings in for a final 30 seconds…and also feel free to go this route too withthe previous ones if you want.Then just remove, let the oil drain out, transferover to a paper towel lined plate, and thenthese Furu wings are also done.So, uh furu fermented tofu with chicken wingsis actually a very classic combo in Cantonesekitchens… and besides deep frying it, youcan also steam it, which may probably be themore method in home kitchens.So what you can do is first coat it with toastedsesame oil, and then lay it flat on a plate,then put some julienned ginger on it… andthen just steam it on high for 10-12 minutes.So right!As always, check out the recipe in the descriptionbox, a big thank you for everyone that’ssupporting us on Patreon… and of course,subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos.\n"