Crispy Twice-Cooked Wings (GF)

These Vietnamese style crispy twice-cooked wings are marinated for an hour and steamed in a steamer. Then they are deep-fried to achieve amazingly crispy texture. Not to mention these are 100% gluten free chicken wings

This post was originally published back in 2015 (you can still see the watermark on the photos). And until this day, the recipe is remaining one of my favorites.

I promise these amazing wings are the most crispiest and tastiest you've ever made. Not to mention they will remain that crispy texture for a long time even with that tremendous amount of coating sauce.

Furthermore, they are gluten free chicken wings so if you're on GF special diet, this recipe is definitely for you.

Cooking schedule

Here is a proposed cooking schedule for these super crispy, gluten free chicken wings. It takes a while for the wings to chill and their skin to dry in refrigerator (at least 2 hours).

So it'll depend on the amount of wings you want to cook to plan accordingly.

• 2:00pm - marinade chicken wings (at least 1 hour, max 6 hours)
• 2:15pm - make sweet & spicy sauce
• 3:00pm - steam chicken wings
• 3:30pm - chill chicken wings in refrigerator (at least 2 hours)
• 5:30pm - leave chicken wings at room temperature for 15 minutes
• 5:45pm - deep fry the wings in small batch
• 6:15pm - toss wings with pre-made sauce
• 6:30pm - serve

Tips

Whole wings are cumbersome to eat and take a long time to marinade. Splitting the wings into flats and drums allowed less time to marinade and make them easier to handle.

These chicken wings need to be marinated in an equal amount of salt and sugar for at least an hour, maximum 6 hours, to achieve their flavor to the fullest. If you're not in a hurry, go for 6 hours (under refrigeration of course).

In order to have the most crispy skins, these wings need to be fully dried (at least 2 hours) after steaming. The drier the skin, the crispier the wings. Don't rush this process.

To prevent chicken wings from sticking to your steamer basket, you can line it with multiple coffee filters or parchment papers (remember to cut a few holes on parchment paper to let the steam go through).

Essential ingredients

• Fish sauce - I use Red Boat fish sauce in most of my recipes. This brand is 100% gluten free so it is definitely safe to use for GF folks.
  • Keep in mind that not all fish sauce brands are GF, there are few of them add wheat in the products. So always read the label first.
• Sriracha - the famous Vietnamese spicy sauce made from sun ripened chilies pureed into a smooth paste. And yes, this is a gluten free chili sauce.
• Palm sugar - I use palm sugar to tone down the saltiness of fish sauce instead of regular granulated white sugar.
  • You can substitute palm sugar for the same amount of brown sugar or white sugar. But keep in mind, your gluten free chicken wings might look less appeal without that warm golden color from palm sugar.

How to make crispy twice-cooked chicken wings

For chicken wings:

1. Marinade chicken wings in salt & sugar mixture for at least 1 hour (maximum 6 hours).
2. Line your steamer with coffee filters or parchment papers to prevent chicken wings stick to the bottom.
3. Set up a steamer. Arrange chicken wings, about an inch apart, in a steamer. Depend on how big your steamer is, you might need to divide the wings into multiple batches.
4. Steam the chicken for approximately 30 minutes on medium high heat. Don't let the water touch the wings when boiling.
5. Arrange fully steamed chicken wings, 1 inch apart, nicely on a cooking tray (lined with parchment paper). Then chill them in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
6. The chicken wings need to be completely chilled and dried before proceed to next steps.
7. Take the wings out of the fridge and leave at room temperature for 15 minutes.
8. In a shallow pan/pot, heat enough vegetable oil on medium high heat. Make sure the oil reaches 350F before adding chicken to the pot.
9. Fry chicken into small batches, 5 minutes for each batch or until the skin is crispy and turns golden brown color.
10. In a large mixing bowl, toss chicken wings with sweet and spicy sauce. Garnish with scallion oil (if desired). Serve hot immediately.

For sweet and spicy sauce

1. In a small non stick pan, combine palm sugar, fish sauce and cook over medium heat until sugar dissolve completely.
2. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the stove.
3. Stir in Sriracha sauce and lime juice. Set aside, at room temperature, for later use.

For scallion oil

1. In a small cooking pan, heat the vegetable oil on medium high heat.
2. When the oil is hot enough, approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute, add chopped green onion to the pan.
3. Stir constantly then turn off the heat immediately, about 30 seconds.
4. Set aside for later use.

Related recipes

Other chicken recipes that you might find interested in:

• The Best Gluten Free Chicken Wings - another gluten free chicken wings recipe that you can add to the list
• 12 Best Homemade Chicken Wings Recipes - amazing list of super tasty, delicious chicken wings with a lot of details
• Baked Parmesan Chicken Wings - Quick & Easy to Make - these wings can be done within 30 minutes and still taste delish
• Bonchon Style Crispy Chicken Wings - copy-cat recipes of the famous Bonchon chicken wings
• Japanese Confit Chicken Wings with Sweet Sake Sauce - a creative fusion style to enjoy chicken by using different cooking method

Did you make this recipe? If so please leave a rating and let me know how it went in the comment section. Also, don't forget to tag me #cookmorphosis @cookmorphosis on social media.