Unlike traditional fried chicken, which is batter dipped and fried, these chicken wings are tossed in a thin coating of egg white, salt and baking soda then they are dried out in the fridge overnight to be baked in the oven. The result is a super crisp-skinned chicken without the deep-frying, which means an easier clean up and cooking (no constantly checking the deep fryer!). The sauce requires a trip to the Asian grocery store to get gochujang, a Korean chile paste. It’s a deep red fermented chili paste that has a nice deep dark flavor (not too much heat, with a little bit of sweetness). You’ll have to refrigerate the chicken overnight to let the egg white coating dry so keep that in mind if you are planning to make these.
Course Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine asian, Korean
Keyword chicken wings, fried chicken, korean
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 35 minutesminutes
Resting Time 8 hourshours
Servings 6
Calories 375kcal
Author Irvin
Ingredients
2large egg whites
1teaspoonkosher salt
1teaspoonbaking soda
2lbschicken wingsdrumettes and flats separated with tips discards or saved for stock
4medium garlic cloves
1inchknob of fresh ginger
1/4cupgochujangKorean chile paste
2tablespoonsdark soy sauce
1tablespoonrice wine vinegar
3tablespoondark brown sugar
1tablespoonAsian fish sauce
1tablespoontoasted sesame oil
Instructions
Place the wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet. Place the egg whites, baking soda and sea salt in a large bowl and beat until the salt and baking soda is dissolved into the egg whites (feel the egg white, you shouldn’t be able to feel any grains of salt).
Toss the chicken wing pieces in the egg white mixture, making sure to coat all sides of the wings. Pick the wings up from the bowl, letting any excess egg white drip back in to the bowl, and put on the wire rack, making sure the wings aren’t touching. Put in the refrigerator, uncovered for 8 hours or overnight to dry out. If you can, flip the wings once to let both sides dry out evenly.
Once the wings have dried, preheat the oven to 450˚Place the wings (still on the rack) in the oven for 15 minutes, then flip the wings over and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Flip one more time and bake for 10 more minutes or until the wings are crispy golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
While the chicken is baking, prepare the sauce by forcing the garlic through a garlic press or finely mincing it. Peel then finely grate the ginger. Place the garlic and ginger in large sauté pan or wok and add the remaining ingredients (gochujang, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, fish sauce and sesame oil).
Once the wings come out from the oven, turn the heat to medium and cook the sauce until it starts to thicken slightly, about two or three minutes. Toss the still warm wings in the sauce and serve immediately.
Notes
Adapted from Maximum Flavor by Aki Kamozawa and Alexander H. Talbot and Serious Eats.[Editor’s Note: Numerous people have asked me where you can get gochujang. Amazon has gochujang and a lot of well stocked grocery stores nowadays have it. Keep in mind it’s often cheaper to get it at an Asian grocery store if you have access to one! And if you are a looking for a gluten free option, check out We Rub You’s Hot Korean Gochujang Sauce which is vegan and gluten free. The above Amazon links are an affiliate link, so if you click through and buy it, I earn a small percentage off of the link. Feel free to just bounce directly to Amazon.com and search for gochujang if you want.]