Ingredients:
For the batter
- 1/4 cup (35 g) flour
- 1/4 cup (30 g) cornstarch or other starch
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground red chili pepper
- 10 chicken wings, tips removed, then each wing cut into two pieces
- 1 tbsp frying oil (peanut, olive, or canola)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water or beer
- 3-inch (7 cm) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 tbsps soy sauce
- 1/2 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar
- 3 tbsps rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup (160 g) light corn syrup or rice syrup
- 1/3 cup (35 g) roasted walnuts (or peanuts), very coarsely chopped
- 2 tbsps toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, starch, egg, salt and ground chili pepper until it's a thick paste. Add the wings and mix well with your hands until they're thoroughly coated. You may need to add a bit of water or milk if the paste is too dry.
- Put the coated wings in the ActiFry and drizzle with the oil. Close the lid and cook for 35 minutes, until brown and crispy. (Or deep-fry the wings in a pot of hot oil twice, in batches. Drain well.)
- In a large pot or wok, bring to a boil the water or beer, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and syrup. Let cook until the mixture becomes syrupy and thick, and is foaming. It should be about as thick as honey.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the cooked wings, nuts, sesame seeds, and chili flakes, until completely coated.
The chicken wings took 35 minutes to cook. Here's a time-lapse image compilation of the process:
1) The raw chicken wings coated in batter.
2) Wings after 10 minutes of cooking.,
3) After 20 minutes.
4) Done after 35 minutes.
Afterward, the clean up was a breeze. The loose batter became crisp, so it was really just a matter of wiping it out with a paper towel and giving the pan a quick wash. No scrubbing required. What *was* a big pain to clean was the wok I used to create the sticky coating. Needed to soak in plenty of hot water before the syrup would wash off.
