Fish Sauce Wings Pok Pok Wings Recipe
During our recent trip to Vietnam, we had fish sauce wings or cánh gà chiên nước mắm at roadside eateries in Vietnam and love the sticky, shellac like layer of fish sauce studded with garlic on a crispy fried chicken wing. It’s the perfect balanced combination of sweet and salty that Vietnamese foods are known for, and in essence, a process of caramelization not unlike gà kho or thit kho that results in a perfect finger licking lacquer of fish sauce, sugar, and garlic.
Author: Theravenouscouple/Photo credit to theravenouscouple.com
Ingredients
- ½ cup Vietnamese fish sauce
- ½ cup superfine sugar (or just regular white sugar)
- 4 garlic cloves, 2 crushed and 2 minced (we used about 4 heads of garlic, divided
- 3 pounds chicken wings split at the drumettes (We used drummets and wings and find it's easier to fry.)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for frying
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon chopped mint
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk the fish sauce, sugar and crushed garlic. Add the wings and toss to coat. Refrigerate for 3 hours, tossing the wings occasionally.
- Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a small skillet. Add the minced garlic; cook over moderate heat until golden, 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
- In a large pot, heat 2 inches of oil to 350°. Pat the wings dry on paper towels; reserve the marinade. Put the cornstarch in a shallow bowl, add the wings and turn to coat lightly. Dust off any extra. Fry the wings in batches until golden and cooked through. Drain on cooling rack and transfer to a bowl.
- In a small saucepan, simmer the marinade over moderately high heat until syrupy (see photo above). Strain over the wings and toss. Top with the cilantro, mint and fried garlic and serve.
