Irresistible Nagoya style fried chicken wings coated with savory-sweet garlic soy dressing, garnish with white sesame.
One of my husband’s favorite Japanese meals that he always requests to eat when we are in Japan is Yakitori. Yakitori means “grill (yaki) chicken (tori)” in Japanese and Yakitori restaurants typically serves their delicacies on wooden skewers.
With “chicken” in the name, you guessed right, the main ingredients are mostly from chickens. Typical chicken parts served on skewer include thighs, meatballs, skin, hearts, wings, cartilage, and gizzards. Based on your preference and chicken parts, you pick seasonings – either shio (salt) or tare (yakitori sauce) – for each skewer. Other popular skewers besides chicken parts are bacon asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, fried tofu, bacon quail egg, and pork cheek meat.
When a Japanese Yakitori restaurant Kokko opened close to our home a few years ago, my husband requested to go on nearly every special occasion. One of our family’s favorite items on the menu is their Nagoya style chicken wings. These are sooooo good! One order is not really enough for our family.
These chicken wings are deep-fried to perfection and then coated with sweet soy sauce. This style of deep fried chicken (we call it Karaage) with the sweet sauce is referred to as Nagoya style because they were originated from there (Nagoya is located in central part of Japan). Every time when these chicken wings are served, our family would need to divide the pieces into equal shares so our children wouldn’t fight over who had more or less pieces. Since my family loves this dish so much, I knew I had to come up with something similar, and finally, I was able to come close to duplicating the flavor.
I hope you enjoy these finger-licking chicken wings. Have a great weekend!
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Nagoya Style Fried Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken wings (flats/drumettes) (you can make 2 lbs (907 g) for the sauce you're making)
- ¼ cup potato starch or cornstarch
- 3 cups neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, rice bran, canola, etc.) (for deep frying)
- toasted white sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat all the ingredients for the sauce to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the sauce thickens and reduced. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. Keep the sauce in a mason jar and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.
- Meanwhile, cut the wings at the joint and pat dry with paper towels.
- Dredge the chicken wings in potato starch and remove the excess.
- Deep fry the wings at 320ºF (160ºC) until 80% cooked, about 8-10 minutes. Drain excess oil on a wire rack or a paper towel for 3-5 minutes.
- For the 2nd time, deep fry at 350ºF (180ºC) until the wings are crispy, about 3-5 minutes. The wings should be golden brown.
- Using a tong, coat the chicken wings in the sauce or serve the wings on a plate and pour the sauce over. Sprinkle white sesame seeds and serve immediately.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days or in the freezer for a month.
