Underneath the wonderful batter you see in the picture below are chicken wing flats that have been ‘butterflied’. I know, I wouldn’t believe me either. Even if I was standing in front of you, telling you with a straight face, I wouldn’t blame you for being skeptical. But yep, these are deep-fried butterflied wings. It’s really simple. Kinda cool. And really crazy addictingly good! They’re very easy to eat, too. Maybe a little too easy.
Flat-Out Fun!
Deep-fried butterflied wings start with chicken wing flats. I saved the drumettes for another day. Technically, you can butterfly those too like you can chicken legs and cook them any way you want, but we’re here for the flats today. Butterflying them is actually really easy. If you’ve spent any time separating flats from the drumettes you know that there’s a ‘sweet spot’ where your knife can glide easily between the two pieces. Hardly enough effort is required. The same happens here.
You take a flat and poke your knife (a paring knife works well) between the two bones, with the blade parallel to the bones. Then you stand the flat up on one end and pull the knife downward. You’ll find that ‘sweet spot’ and cut the two bones where they meet. Then you repeat at the other end. You’ll end up with two wing ‘sticks’. Straight bones with meat and skin on them, ready to be battered and fried!
Batter Up!
I used a fairly straight-forward, almost fish-and-chips-like batter. Light. Crispy but not crazy crispy. Soft. You can use any batter you want. The one I used ends up making the wing flats look like and big. You don’t really realize that you’re eating wing flat halves. They seem almost like drumettes, but better!
Two-fer
Remember, two pieces equals one chicken wing flat when you’re done. You might think you’re eating two wings but nope, two equals one. Just something to keep in mind when you’re serving them!
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Also try my Brazilian-style deep-fried wings.
Deep-Fried Butterflied Wings
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Wings
- 2 pound chicken wings flats only, separated. See the instructions
For the Batter
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon paprika
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 splash buttermilk maybe more
Instructions
Butterflying The Wings
- Working in batches, stand the wing flats on one end.
- Slide a sharp paring knife between the two wing bones with the blade parallel to the sides.
- Pull the knife slowly downward until you hit the joint between the two bones. Find the weakest spot between them and push the knife down. The two bones should separate. This is much like separating flats and drumettes, the knife will help find the right spot to cut.
- Repeat the process with the other end of the wing. You'll end up with two straight pieces, the two halves of the wing flat.
Make The Batter
- Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. You want a batter that is pancake batter-like. You can use your finger to test it. Stick your finger in the batter. Does the batter stick and want to slowly run off? You nailed it.
- If the batter is too thick add a LITTLE buttermilk at a time and whisk again. If you add too much add more all-purpose flour to dry it back out a bit.
Fry 'Em Up
- Heat 2'-3" of oil to 375 F in a deep-fryer or Dutch oven.
- Working in batches if needed, place the butterflied wings into the batter and dunk and turn to coat well. You want all sides well-coated.
- Transfer to the hot oil and fry 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy.
- Remove to a wire rack-lined baking sheet or paper towel-lined plate to drain.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate and will not include any store-bought wing sauce or seasoning nutritional values.
