My goodness gracious me are these sticky crispy garlic wings ever good. The chicken cooks up crazy crunchy. It’s good enough to serve by itself. The batter is well-seasoned and is definitely not boring. Then there’s the sauce. Slightly sweet with a slight Asian-inspired flavor, it brings the garlic big time. And oh yes, it’s sticky. Get out the paper towels, because wimpy napkins aren’t going to cut it here. The thick paper towels. Not the ones you can hold up to the light and see through. The 10-ply stuff.
If you’ve been having troubles with vampires, these wings’ll take are of that for you. They did for me.
Watch your sauce
The one thing you need to know before you dive in and make these sticky crispy garlic wings is that the sauce needs to be watched the entire time it simmers. Trust me on this. It’ll want to boil over. You might be thinking it won’t….. and then it will. Just keep an eye on it. If it starts to rise, just grab the pot handle and take it off the heat for a minute or two. Once it subsides, put it back. And keep keeping an eye on it.
No Tossing Zone
If I’m saucing deep-fried wings, specially ones with a thicker coating like these, I don’t like to toss the wings in the sauce. That’ll tend to knock off the crispy coating. Instead, I’ll put the wings in a bowl and drizzle them in the sauce then stir them gently with a rubber spatula. Or I’ll just serve the sauce on the side and dip my chicken wings in it instead.
Read about how to sauce your wings without hurting them in my full guide. It covers everything you’ll ever need (or want) to know about it!
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Also try my crispy baked honey BBQ wings.
Sticky Crispy Garlic Wings
Equipment
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup honey
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the wings
- 3 pounds chicken wings flats and drumettes separated, tips saved to make stock
- vegetable oil for frying
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 tablespoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
For the sauce (Warning: Do not leave the sauce un-attended while simmering)
- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add the honey, soy sauce and pepper. Stir. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 10 minutes. Stir often and keep a close eye on the sauce as it simmers. It will want to expand and boil over the side of the pan. If this starts to happen, remove the pan from the heat until it subsides. Return to the stove and continue simmering.
- Reduce heat to low and keep warm until ready to use.
For the wings
- Heat 3-4" of oil to 350 F in a Dutch oven or deep fryer.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, ginger, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs and cold water.
- Working in batches as needed, dip wings into the egg wash and coat well.
- Shake off any excess and transfer to the flour mixture. Turn to coat well.
- Transfer the wings to the oil and fry 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate or wire rack over a baking sheet to drain.
- Transfer the cooked wings to a large bowl. Drizzle with the sauce and stir gently to coat. Click here for our guide on how to sauce your wings.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate and will not include any store-bought wing sauce or seasoning nutritional values.
