Chinese take-out fried chicken wings are just the same as regular old fried chicken, right?
Wrong. This fried chicken wings recipe is special.
I remember my father used to make a tray full of wings piled high each day at our restaurant and it was never written down but rest assured that this special deep fried chicken wings recipe was in his head and he could make them in his sleep if he had to.
They were pre-fried in the morning and re-fried to order throughout the day, and those mountains would turn into molehills real fast during the lunch, dinner and late night rush hours. Once a week, at the end of the night, we would toss a few into the fryer and serve them with our dinner. No matter what we were having, they were always a favorite.
Do I have to Fry Chicken Wings Twice?
These chicken wings are best when they are fried twice. When frying for the first time, the chicken coating will lose its crispiness quickly because of the juicy chicken. It’s best to let them rest for a period after the first fry to let the juices settle back inside the chicken wing.
Once they are cooled but still warm, you can return them to the fryer for a second fry so they get nice and crispy on the outside. The length of time for the second frying depends upon if you refry when they are still warm, allow them to cool completely, or if you have refrigerated them and allowed them to come up to room temperature. The second fry really makes a difference and trust me, all Chinese takeout restaurants follow this practice.
What do I serve with Fried Chicken Wings?
Serve these tasty fried chicken wings on a nice bed of roast pork fried rice or vegetable fried rice. For me, I actually prefer a bed of white rice with some hot sauce or spicy hot oil, like the one used in our Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup, but hey, that’s just me.
Sooo, the next time you have a hankering for fried anything and are about to fire up a pot of oil, try this take-out fried chicken wings recipe and let me know what you think!
How to Make Fried Chicken Wings
Combine chicken wings, black pepper, white pepper, garlic powder, salt, sugar, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil and egg in a large mixing bowl. Mix everything until the wings are well-coated. Next, add the cornstarch and all purpose flour and mix again until the wings are coated.
Let the wings marinate for 2 hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight for best results. (If you refrigerate the wings, be sure to let them come to room temperature again before cooking).
After marinating, if it looks like there is liquid in the bowl, be sure to mix them thoroughly again. The wings should be well coated with a thin batter-like coating. If it still looks too watery, add a bit more corn starch and flour. Cornstarch is a key ingredient for these fried chicken wings. For more information, see our post How to use Cornstarch in Chinese cooking.
Fill a medium pot about 2/3 of the way up with oil, and heat it to 325 degrees F.
Check out our Chinese Cooking Tools page to see where to get this thermometer and also for a collection of tools we use in our kitchen!
Fry the wings in small batches for 5 minutes and remove to a sheet pan lined with paper towels. After all of the wings are fried, return them in batches to the oil and fry again for 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels or a cooling rack.
Serve your Chinese fried chicken wings with your favorite hot sauce!
Fried Chicken Wings, Chinese Takeout-Style
Ingredients
- 10 whole chicken wings (washed and pat dry)
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- oil (for frying)
Instructions
- Combine chicken wings, black pepper, white pepper, garlic powder, salt, sugar, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil and egg in a large mixing bowl. Mix everything until the wings are well-coated. Next, add the cornstarch and all purpose flour and mix again until the wings are coated.
- Let the wings marinate for 2 hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight for best results. (If you refrigerate the wings, be sure to let them come to room temperature again before cooking).
- After marinating, if it looks like there is liquid in the bowl, be sure to mix them thoroughly again. The wings should be well coated with a thin batter-like coating. If it still looks too watery, add a bit more cornstarch and flour.
- Fill a medium pot about 2/3 of the way up with oil, and heat it to 325 degrees F.
- Fry the wings in small batches for 5 minutes and remove to a sheet pan lined with paper towels. After all of the wings are fried, return them in batches to the oil and fry again for 3 minutes.
- Drain on paper towels or a cooling rack, and serve with hot sauce!
nutrition facts
I have always used this same recipie for frying chicken with a thin crust, and wet – dry method for flaky crispy chicken like Popeye’s. Both come out excellent depending your preference type. The double fry makes a big difference. The reason why I gave this recipie 4 stars instead of 5 is that your picture shows a ingredient that is not listed. A red powder on your chicken wings before its cooked… Even if we think it’s chili powder or cayenne it should have not been left out.
The red… is the soy sauce that he used. Pearl River Light Soy Sauce!! To be exact!!!
Since when is soy sauce red and in powder form? If you look at the picture it’s a red powder!
Hi A, trust me on this one when I say there is no chili or cayenne pepper powder in this recipe. What you see is the granulated garlic powder and the white pepper spread across the wings and the soy sauce splashed on top. I admit it does look like red powder and we have had many comments similar to yours but it just isn’t. Chinese take-out chicken wings are not spicy unless you order the spicy version if they have them on the menu.
Hi A, the red color in the photo is Pearl River Bridge light soy (regular) that splashed on the chicken wings when we added it. The lighter color soy sauce on the slightly yellow chicken makes it look orange/red. No secret ingredients in this recipe ;-)
The best recipe I have yet to find — as a native NYer, I get these all the time from my local Chinese takeout restaurant, and being able to do this at home is the best! Thanks!
Hi Janes, sometimes homemade is just better ;-)
8 minutes total frying time seems a little low, should it be a few minutes more? my wings are not small.
Hi Wes, if the wings are large, definitely increase the frying time. Use enough oil so the entire wing is submerged and turn them during frying for even cooking and crispiness.
This is not like the ones I get at the chinese restaurant. It’s ok.
Sorry to hear you didn’t like these wings JC. This was the way my parents made them in their Chinese restaurant
Omg soo good and spot on. I made some ate them all and had to go back to the store for some more wings!! Delicious
Awesome Krystal – so glad you enjoyed these wings!
Anybody ever tried sharing these with a group of people?
Hi kste, I’m sure everyone in the group will enjoy if you try!
I’ve made wings with this recipe several times and won’t use any other recipes, they’re outstanding. Haven’t been able to find wings lately so using drumsticks and they work wonderful too.
One question, I’m wondering.. can I use the remaining batter to stir fry some tossed noodles?
Hi Daisy, Happy toi hear you liked these wings! I wouldn’t recommend using anything left in the marinated chicken bowl for anything else ;-)
Tried this. This will be my fried hicken recipe from now on. Thank you.
You’re welcome Ems!
Hi Bill. How much time would you cook if using drumsticks instead of wings?
Hi Terence, I would increase the frying time by 8 minutes or so. Also, make sure you let the drumsticks come up to room temperature before frying so they will fry more evenly.
Fantastic results! This wing recipe has been my go to for wing night.
Hi Ellen, love hearing that you are enjoying our fried chicken wing recipe :)
So good. I found them a little salty so will reduce the salt next time from 1 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp, but otherwise, will definitely make these again. You don’t even need sauce on them! Highly recommend you try these; you won’t be disappointed.
Thanks Lou and yes, adjust the salt amount to your own taste ;-) Not sure what kind of salt you used, but for everyone’s benefit, iodized salt compared to other types is also really salty. (The grains are much finer, so when you measure out 1 teaspoon of iodized salt, it’s quite a bit!)