Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

UPDATE: Over the years I’ve made many changes and I think I finally found the recipe that tastes the way I want it to.

You can find that recipe HERE.


Vietnamese Chicken Wings

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A couple of weeks ago we were watching The Best Thing I Ever Ate and someone described these wings at Pok Pok in Portland.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

It didn’t take me long to find the recipe. Chef-owner Andy Ricker’s recipe for his wings at Pok Pok can be found HERE.

I used his recipe and also this recipe from the blog Food.People.Want.

I only played around with the ingredients a little bit.

For the marinade you’ll need fish sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, salt, and water.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Smash the garlic with the side of your knife:

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Give it a good whack. It will come right out of the skin.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Then chopped it up.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Add a few pinches of course kosher salt:

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

And then smoosh the garlic with the side of your knife to make a paste.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

I think the word smoosh is the best word to describe this technique.

Grate some fresh ginger.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

That part isn’t in the recipe but you know I can’t follow directions.

Put the garlic paste and grated ginger into about 1/2 cup of water and let the flavors marry.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Grab your wings and rinse them.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

I always rinse meat and seafood before I cook it.

You can leave the wings whole if you want to. I like to cut mine with kitchen shears since I like the flippers and John likes the drummettes.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Well, he likes both but I always suggest that he likes the drummettes more.

Do you want to know what grosses me out?

Raw chicken.

I hate touching it. And I hate for anything else to touch it.

Okay, moving on.

Put the chicken into a large zip-top bag until you are finished with the marinade.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Whisk together equal parts fish sauce and sugar.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Fish sauce smells as strong as you think it does. Maybe stronger. But don’t be afraid. It’s lovely.

Add the garlic-ginger water.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

The recipe says to pour it through a cheesecloth but I don’t have one of those. A small strainer works very well.

Use the back of a spoon to push out all of the liquid into the marinade.

Save this for later.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Add the marinade to the zip-top bag and put it into the refrigerator for as long as you have. Overnight would be best.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

I only left mine for about an hour.

Take the chicken out of the marinade and pour the marinade into a saucepan.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

I added the garlic & ginger, too.

Bring this to a slight boil over medium-high heat and then add Roasted Red Chili Paste.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Boil until it is reduced to the consistency of syrup.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

The first couple of times I made these, I fried them in batches like the recipe says.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

If you do it this way, you can keep the wings in a preheated 200F oven until all of the wings are cooked.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

The other night I grilled them on my Big Green Egg.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

I liked it a lot more than the bread and fry option. But that’s the fun part about cooking — it’s all up to you!

I grilled them at 300F with a raised grid.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

That means there is more space between the fire and the food. There is a lot of sugar in the marinade so be careful of flareups.

I cooked these for almost an hour:

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

And they were ready for final steps.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Chop some cilantro:

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Then toss the cooked wings in the sticky sauce and cilantro.

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

Make sure every nook and cranny is covered.

Grab a handful of napkins and dig-in!

Sweet & Spicy Sticky Wings

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