These Asian Style Chicken Wings are crispy, sticky, spicy, sweet – seriously the BEST chicken wings!
I love all kinds of chicken wings. Honestly, these Asian Style wings just might be my all time favorite. Crispy baked wings coated in a super flavorful and sticky sauce loaded with fresh garlic and ginger? They are finger-lickin’ good!
This recipe calls for three pounds of chicken wings, enough for about four people, but you won’t have any leftovers. My advice – make more than you think you need because everyone will not be able to stop eating them.
This recipe is super easy to make and all of the ingredients can be found right in your local grocery store. Don’t forget to hit up the international aisle!
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What Ingredients do I need to make Asian Style Chicken Wings?
Chicken wings – most important question – are you team drums or flats? I’m flats all the way. For this recipe I always try to buy wings that are “party”, meaning that the whole wing is already broken down for you into two sections – the drumstick part that resembles a mini leg and the flat part of the wing with two bones. You can make them with the full three section wings but you may need to adjust the cooking time to make sure that they are cooked through. “Party” wings are the move here and your grocery store will likely have them.
Fresh garlic and ginger – This is a non-negotiable. Garlic and ginger add so much flavor and the pop of freshness is just next level. Do not substitute for ground, it will be delicious, but you’ll be missing out.
Soy Sauce – I always buy low sodium soy sauce. Soy sauce is very salty and low sodium always gives you more flexibility in adjusting the salt levels. You can also sub tamari if you are gluten free.
Sweet Chili Sauce – Sometimes also referred to as Thai Sweet Chili Sauce or Asian Sweet Chili Sauce, it’s a simultaneously sweet, savory, tangy and spicy sauce incorporating red chilies, garlic, ginger, sugar and vinegar. I like the Thai Kitchen brand and you can pick it up at Target.
Rice Vinegar – I always grab unseasoned rice vinegar. Whatever you have on hand for this recipe is fine. The difference is that seasoned rice vinegar has a bit of extra sugar and salt added to it. Rice vinegar balances out all of the flavors going on here with a little acid.
Honey and brown sugar – I like to use both honey and brown sugar. They both add flavor and the honey adds the stickiness that make the sauce so lip-smackin’ good!
Cornstarch – this helps thicken up the sauce a bit so it coats the wings perfectly.
Baking powder – This key ingredient is what makes the wings crispy! It dries out the skin and makes is crunchy. Make sure you have aluminum free baking powder. If you’ve ever experienced a bitter, “tinny” flavor in a baked good it’s because the baking powder was not aluminum free. While not harmful, we don’t need that in our lives.
All purpose flour – before you bake the wings, you’ll dredge them in a bit of flour mixed with baking powder to get them super crispy. You can also substitute measure for measure gluten free flour.
Lemongrass paste – this ingredient is definitely optional but it’s a welcome addition to the mix of flavors going on here. I love to add a teaspoon or so to most asian inspired dishes I’m making. This lemongrass turmeric paste is my favorite.
Scallions and sesame seeds – for garnish!
Tips for making the best Asian Style Chicken Wings
- PAT YOUR WINGS DRY. I can’t stress this enough. Dry wings are the key to getting the crispiest skin. Use a paper towel and thoroughly dry them. Do not skip this step. Also, I never rinse chicken but you do you.
- Fit your baking sheet with a rack. The best way to make the crispiest baked wings is to cook them on a rack over a baking sheet lined with foil. The rack allows air to circulate around the entire surface making them super crispy. If you don’t have a rack, you can definitely bake them right on foil. Just be sure flip them halfway through and they might stick a bit. They will still be delicious but if you don’t have a rack, treat yourself.
- Start out on a low oven for the first 20 minutes to help render the fat, then crank it up to cook the wings through and make them super crispy!
- Toss wings in sauce right before serving. If you’re making these for a party, you can bake your wings and make the sauce and then coat them in the sauce right before serving. This way they stay crispy, get sticky and are just unbelievably good. As the sauce sits on the wings, they will become a bit less crispy but no biggie. If I bake the wings ahead of time, I heat them in a warm oven and then toss the warmed wings in the sauce and serve. Do in batches as people gobble them up!
- Make extra. Trust me, you will be glad you did.
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!
Asian Style Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken wings party style
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or other neutral oil
- 1 tbsp minced garlic 2-3 cloves
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger thumb sized chunk (peeled)
- 6 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp lemongrass paste
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ cup cold water
- sriracha to taste for heat
- a few pinches of salt
- sesame seeds and scallions for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees and fit a foil lined baking sheet with a rack.
- Pat the wings dry with paper towels and sprinkle lightly with salt.
- Whisk together flour and baking powder in a shallow dish. Dredge each wing with flour mixture and place on baking rack.
- Bake the wings in the oven at 275 degrees for 20 minutes and then turn the oven up to 425 and bake for an additional 35-45 minutes until wings are crispy, golden and cooked through.
- While the wings are baking, make the sauce. In a small saucepan whisk together oil, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, honey, brown sugar, rice vinegar and lemongrass paste if using. Bring the mixture to a simmer over low heat. In a separate bowl whisk together cornstarch and cold water to make a slurry.
- Once the sauce is simmering, add in the cornstarch slurry and whisk until the sauce thickens. It should coat the back of a spoon and be dark in color. Remove from heat and set aside. If the sauce is too thick, just thin it out with extra water one tablespoon at a time. Check for seasoning and whisk in sriracha to taste.
- When the wings are done, use tongs to place them in a large bowl. Pour sauce onto wings and toss in the bowl to thoroughly coat.
- Transfer to serving dish and sprinkle with sesame seeds and thinly sliced scallions (green parts only)
- Serve immediately
Jazz
These were so well balanced, flavor-wise. I don’t normally like lemongrass flavor but am glad I followed your recipe as written because I LOVED the final result.
Chenée
So good!! The sauce on these wings was incredible. I especially loved the lemongrass paste — it added another level of flavor that I loved!
Kaluhi
Listen, these were the BEST wings i have ever put in my mouth! So tender and juicy but with the perfect crispy exterior. So sticky, so delicious and the lemongrass note in particular elevated the taste! Love it and I’ll make it again!
Lilly
I am so happy I came across this recipe! It is just what I was looking for! I made these wings and they were so crispy and flavorful! My family is begging me to make them again! Thanks for the recipe.
Mila
I love the sticky sauce and the intense flavor of these wings. Your low and slow, and then crank it up method made the wings tender, but nice and crispy.
Crystal DaCruz
These wings were so crispy, I would have never guessed that they were baked! And the Asian sauce was amazing! Thank you for reeling me in with these gorgeous photos!
Robin Sparks
The lemongrass paste gave these wings an added zest! They were savory and simply succulent.
Marta
As advertised, these were delicious. They were exactly like you described them and every bite was filled with contrasting flavors. Glad I listened and made a few extra, because there were none to save for later.
Thank you!