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Tebasaki: Japanese Fried Chicken Wings

Recipe by Connie Veneracion
What makes tebasaki so crispy? The chicken wings are fried twice. First, over medium heat; then, over very high heat. Might sound like a lot of work but the result totally justifies all the effort.
When making the sauce, use a wok large enough to accommodate all the fried chicken wings and still leave room to allow you to easily toss everything together.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 4 people
Tebasaki

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kilogram chicken wings
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • ¼ cup sake
  • ¼ cup mirin
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1 teaspoon grated garlic
  • 2 tablespoons black vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons tapioca starch (corn starch or potato starch is okay, but flour is not okay)
  • cooking oil for deep frying

Instructions
 

  • Rinse the chicken wings and wipe dry. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
  • In an oil-free pan, toast two tablespoons of sesame seeds. Set aside.
    Toasted sesame seeds and tebasaki sauce
  • In a wok, heat the sugar, soy sauce, sake, mirin, ginger and garlic. Allow to boil gently over medium heat, uncovered, for a minute. Turn off the heat. Set the sauce aside to cool.
  • In another wok or frying pan, pour in enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least three inches. Set the heat to medium.
  • Wipe the chicken wings once more. Add the starch to the chicken and toss to coat each piece with a thin layer of starch.
    Frying floured chicken wings
  • Fry the chicken wings in batches just until lightly browned. Transfer to a strainer as they cook, go on to the next batch, and so on.
    Chicken wings after first and second frying
  • Turn the heat to high. Fry the chicken wings again, this time, in smaller batches of four or five.
  • Dump the cooked chicken wings into the pan with the sauce. Toss to coat each piece of chicken with sauce.
    Tossing fried chicken wings in sauce
  • Add the toasted sesame seeds. Toss a few more times. Scoop out and serve.

Notes

Updated from a recipe originally published in my other food blog on February 3, 2016.
Inspired by a recipe from No Recipes.
Keyword Fried Chicken