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 put this batter on some sliced tofu (sans egg) and it came out delicious too!
Hi Aj, good thinking to apply our fried chicken wing method on tofu!
I’m very excited about finding this recipe and can’t wait to try it. I would like to know if these can be frozen to keep on hand (for quick reheating) and if it would be better to freeze them between fryings or after the second frying?
Hi Alice, If you plan on freezing them, I would let them cool and freeze them after the first fry. You can then reheat in the deep fryer, oven, or air fryer.
Came out and showed out!! POPPING GOOD! Wish I could show photos
Hi Brenda, share on Instagram and tag us!
What surprise ingredients! Now I see why mine NEVER were the same! I am so happy to have found this site…and your wonderful family! Thank you.
You’re welcome Janelle!
Delicious! Just made it tonight and they were a hit.
Excellent CC – enjoy!
Please send me the recipe for frying chicken wings Chinese way
Hi Dessie, not sure that you mean—this is our Chinese wings recipe!
Thank you for the recipes. I been looking for this HK style for a long time and have tried numerous recipe but hands down this is the best one. Taste and looks exactly like the resturant and was very simple to make.
Kids love it and asking for it to be made more often.
Hi Linda, if I was your kid, I would ask you to make it more often too! Try my HS buddy’s recipe for Korean fried chicken too :)
I’ve been using this recipe now for 6 months and I replace the all purpose flour with rice flour. The results are OUTSTANDING!!!!! Thank you for sharing such a great recipe.
Hi Sherry, agree that rice flour does make it even more crispy!
Made this yesterday for football Sunday. I ended up using a mix of rice and AP flour (I had one of those Asian pre-mixed flour packages for frying). And wow, it came out perfectly! First time I’ve ever fried chicken and the double fry was really easy!
Hi Julie, resting after the first fry and refrying again (double-frying) is the secret to a crispy chicken wing.
This was one of five dishes we made for NYE this year. They turned out amazing!!! So delicious and authentic, they tasted exactly like takeout!!! Not overly battered and super tasty!! And do not forget to double fry them, it really does make all the difference!!! Thank you for sharing these recipes!!
Hi Susan, sounds like you had a delicious NYE dinner!
It was truly excellent!! Thank you and Happy New Year!!
You’re welcome Susan. Happy new year!