Thai Style Chicken Wings Three Ways

Pok-Pok is a Portland OR Thai restaurant that has no equal in the region.  It is real, flavourful Asian food.  One of the signature dishes is called Fish Sauce Chicken Wings.  It is made using a standard Chinese Cooking technique that involves deep-frying meat and then briefly stir-frying it with aromatic ingredients such as ginger, scallions, and garlic (the so called Chinese Mirepoix), soy sauce, chile, vinegar and sugar. 

It is a true challenge to the home chef to recreate favourite fried dishes. I have done a lt of deep-frying at home.  I have never really enjoyed it.  It is a huge mess; it costs a lot for the oil; it is a pain to dispose of unusable oil; who has a pan big enough to cook everything at once?; the Frier (aka the cook, aka me or maybe you!) is so busy frying that they don’t get to eat their fill.  Although on rare occasions I will consider deep frying, I will not do it on a regular basis.  Unfortunately, I really, really love fried food.  With that in mind, I have developed three separate recipes which recreate the spirit if not the letter of Pok-Pok’s dish.   They all use basically the same ingredients, but they are each cooked a different ways

Roasted – For the Winter - 1

Heat oven to 400 F, cut each wing into two pieces at the larger joint, and add to a shallow roasting pan.  Toss with oil and seasonings.  Cook about 30 minutes, tossing the wings every five to ten minutes.  The result will be akin to a braise, but by the end they should have caramelized and absorbed all of the liquids.  Your pan will be a sticky mess, but the wings will be delicious.  Be sure to serve a lot of napkins.  Although I serve citrus with pretty much everything, it is especially necessary here.

Four Wings, cut at the joint

Neutral oil or lard

Soy Sauce

One Head of chopped garlic

A thumb sized piece of ginger, chopped

Sugar

Salt if needed

Lots and lots of ground pepper (1/8 cup)

Fresh Lime Wedges

Stir-fried – For the Spring - 2

This is the closest to the traditional Thai dish recipe.

Heat a pan to smoking hot on high, and oil wait till it shimmers.  Add your chile sauce, ginger, and then wings.  Cook until the wings start to brown and are cooked to safety.  Add your garlic, stir 15-30 secs, then your fish sauce (5 secs) and then your sugar.  Stir until the wings take on a delicious caramelized exterior.

Four Wings, cut at the joint

Oil

Fish Sauce

One Head of chopped garlic

A thumb sized piece of ginger, chopped

Sugar

Salt if needed

Fresh Lime Wedges

Grilled – For the summer - 3

This is great for the summer, and honestly works well with a whole chicken or other parts only if that is what you have.  Ideally the wings would have been marinated for 24-48 hours, but you can also do it up while the coals are starting.  Start your charcoal grill as normal.  Marinate the wings and simply grill as usual, cooking until done.  Then toss with the fresh herbs.  Serve with lime of course

Four Wings, cut at the joint

For the Marinade

Oil

Fish Sauce

One Head of chopped garlic

A thumb sized piece of ginger, chopped

Honey

Crushed tomatoes

Chopped Cilantro, Rau-Ram, and/or basil

Salt if needed

Fresh Lime Wedges