Fried chicken wings with garlic, ginger and soy recipe

It seems appropriate to share the first fried chicken dish I remember eating, and also the first I learned to cook on my own.

This is my mother’s recipe, and when I was at university and teaching myself how to cook, I called my mother and asked for this recipe. I have changed it just slightly: she used cornflour to coat the wings, but I prefer to use potato flour.

Timings

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Serves

4-6

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled

• 4-6 thin slices of peeled ginger

• 140ml soy sauce (Kikkoman or your favourite brand)

• 4 tsp granulated sugar

• 2-4 spring onions

• a few leaves of  iceberg lettuce For coating and frying the chicken

• 1kg chicken wings: mid-joint and/or drumette (which look like miniature drumsticks) portions

• about 120g potato flour or cornflour

• 750ml cooking oil

Method

1. For the sauce, thinly slice the garlic cloves then put them in a pan with the ginger slices, soy sauce, sugar and 75ml water. Do not cook yet; set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas mark 4.

3. Dredge the wings in the potato flour or cornflour and shake off the excess. Lay the wings on a cooling rack placed over a tray and air-dry for 10 minutes.

4. Pour the cooking oil into a pan, preferably a medium wok, and place over a medium heat. Fry the chicken at 160C in four or five batches. Fry for 5-6 minutes, then drain on the rack placed over the tray. After frying the last batch, fry the wings again, this time at 170C for a minute and a half.

5. Turn on the heat under the garlic and ginger pan and bring the sauce to a simmer. Quickly coat the hot wings in the sauce, several at a time, and lay them on a foil-lined tray. After coating all the wings, use a pastry brush to brush them with any remaining sauce.

6. Place the tray in the oven and bake for five minutes. While the wings are baking, finely chop the spring onions and cut the iceberg lettuce into shreds. Spread the shredded lettuce on a plate, add the chicken wings, then scatter with the spring onions.

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