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Craving for Chinese takeouts? Why not make your own with this easy recipe, Chinese salt and pepper chicken wings! It’s the juiciest and most scrumptious chicken wings you’ll ever have with the most satisfying distinct flavor of salt and pepper seasoning.
Nope, it’s not your regular salt and pepper, but it’s the traditional Chinese powder mix made with 6 spices. The chicken wings are sprinkled with Chinese salt and pepper seasoning, giving you a mouthwatering flavor experience. It’s sweet, salty, peppery, earthy, and many more.
All About Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings
Take your fried chicken wings to the next level by adding Chinese salt and pepper seasoning. It’s just like your typical fried chicken wings dish that is marinated, coated with batter, and fried. The only difference is that it is sprinkled with salt and pepper seasoning as a final touch.
What is Chinese salt and pepper seasoning anyway? This seasoning is made up of 6 spices, including Sichuan peppercorn, fennel seed, shrimp skin, white sesame, salt, Chinese Five Spice Powder, and paprika. Other variations of this seasoning may include caster sugar, garlic powder, ground white pepper, and ground ginger.
You can buy this seasoning at the grocery store or make your own at home with my salt and pepper seasoning recipe. I suggest making a large batch of this seasoning so you can cook other salt and pepper dishes, such as salt and pepper tofu, salt and pepper potatoes, and salt and pepper pork chops.
Storage And Reheating Methods Of Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings
As I always say, food is best served while hot and fresh. You want to enjoy the juicy and crispy skin of chicken wings. If you won’t consume it right away, you can store it in the fridge for up to three days in a sealed container.
It should be airtight in order to keep air out and prevent the food from deteriorating rapidly. When you are ready to eat it, I recommend reheating it in an oven, air fryer, or skillet. In my opinion, reheating using a microwave will make the skin soggy and lose its crunch.
Reheat the chicken wings in an oven or air fryer at 350°F for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the number of chicken wings to reheat. A skillet can be used to reheat it with or without oil on medium heat until both sides are hot.
Tips And Alternatives For Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings
It is possible to customize this dish in a number of ways. Several alternative ingredients are given below so you can substitute the main ingredients if they are not available to you. Here are some tips and alternatives for making this recipe.
- Chicken Wings – The parts of a chicken wing include the joint, tip, wingette, and drumette. You can have the whole chicken wing with all parts intact or chopped off to give you pieces of wingettes, drumettes, and wing tips. If you don’t have enough chicken wings, using other chicken parts such as legs, thighs, and breasts is perfectly fine. The chicken wings are sliced with 45-degree cut marks on each side to help soak up all the amazing flavors of the marinade.
- Marinade: Marinating the chicken wings is important to boost the flavor and add moisture. The chicken is marinated with cooking wine, light soy sauce, salt, pepper powder, ginger, green onion, and garlic. It gives the chicken notes of peppery and mild oniony taste. You get the nutty and pungent flavors from garlic and the umami taste from soy sauce. Fresh ingredients such as ginger, green onion, and garlic can be substituted with their powder or granule forms. For soy sauce alternatives, use tamari, liquid aminos, coconut aminos, or mushroom broth. Lastly, you can swap cooking wine with alcohol-free red wine or red wine vinegar.
- Batter:After marinating the chicken wings, it is coated with wet batter. The batter is made with 2 beaten eggs and 1 tsp cornstarch. The cornstarch is responsible for giving the chicken wings its crispy exterior. Tapioca flour and potato starch are excellent alternatives to cornstarch if you do not have cornstarch. Alternatively, you can use rice flour or all-purpose flour to create a crunchy exterior. The eggs are needed to serve as a binder to help the batter stick to the meat. However, you can always substitute beaten eggs with flour and water slurry. Simply mix 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water in a bowl. You can also make a thinner consistency by mixing 1 cup of flour with 2 cups of water.
- Cooking oil: Cooking oil will be needed when frying the wings. Using an oil with a high smoke point causes the oil to oxidize less and is able to withstand high temperatures. I recommend frying chicken wings with oils with high smoke points such as sesame, avocado, sunflower, canola, and peanut oil.
- Salt and pepper seasoning: This seasoning has no alternative because it is a blend of six or more spices. It is the most crucial ingredient that cannot be omitted since the main flavor of the dish heavily relies on this. You can make this seasoning yourself and store it in an airtight container or spice jar. This seasoning can be used in countless recipes, so it will be worth the time and effort. Sprinkle it on fried tofu, pork chops, potatoes, pork, and shrimp.
What To Prepare To Make Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings
Adding this recipe to your menu plan is as simple as it gets since it only requires a few basic ingredients and kitchen items. You will need a non-stick pan to fry and a knife and chopping board to slice. Moreover, your local supermarket should carry all the ingredients you need for the marinade and batter. Here’s everything you need to start cooking.
Kitchenware
- Pan
- Spatula
- Knife
- Chopping board
- Bowl for marinade and batter
Ingredients
Marinade
- 500g chicken wings
- 2 tbsp cooking wine
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper powder
- 5g ginger
- 5g green onion
- 20g garlic
Batter
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Frying
- Oil (adjust the amount according to the number of chicken wings)
- 10g salt and pepper seasoning(or add as much as you want)
Steps On How To Cook Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings
In summary, you will prepare the chicken wings by cleaning and slicing them. Then, the chicken wings are marinated with a delicious sauce mix and coated with a wet batter. For the last part, simply fry and drizzle the wings with salt and pepper seasoning. Get an overview of these steps with my short video guides on Tiktok and Instagram.
Prepare The Chicken Wings
Clean the chicken wings by rinsing them under running water while removing the impurities.
Dry the chicken wings by shaking the water off and pat drying with paper towels.
Next, slice the chicken wings with lines of cut marks at a 45-degree angle and about 1cm deep.
Repeat step 3 on the other side of the chicken wing.
Marinate The Chicken Wings
Put the chicken wings in a bowl or container for marinating.
Next, add 2 tbsp cooking wine, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper powder, 5g ginger, 5g green onion, and 20g garlic.
Combine the ingredients well and massage them with the chicken wings to ensure even coverage.
Marinate for 30 minutes. A longer marinating time will allow the flavors to penetrate more deeply.
Make The Batter
After marinating the chicken wings, remove the pieces of ginger, green onion, and garlic.
Then, add 2 beaten eggs and 1 tsp of cornstarch.
Mix the batter with your hand. The chicken wings should be evenly coated without clumps of cornstarch.
Fry The Chicken Wings
When the oil is hot, fry the chicken wings on low heat until golden brown. Do not overcrowd the pan to be able to cook the chicken wings thoroughly and get a consistent color.
Repeat step 1 for the other side of the chicken wings.
Once fully cooked, drain the excess oil with a strainer or paper towel. You want to drain as much oil as you can to prevent the wings from going soggy.
Lastly, coat both sides of the chicken wings with salt and pepper seasoning.
Serve while hot and crispy and enjoy it with a refreshing Winter Melon Tea
Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings
Equipment
- Pan
- Knife
- Chopping board
- Bowl for marinade and batter
Ingredients
Marinade
- 500 g chicken wings
- 2 tbsp cooking wine
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper powder
- 5 g ginger
- 5 g green onion
- 20 g garlic
Batter
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Frying
- Oil adjust the amount according to the number of chicken wings
- 10 g salt and pepper seasoning or add as much as you want
Instructions
Prepare The Chicken Wings
- Clean the chicken wings by rinsing them under running water while removing the impurities.
- Dry the chicken wings by shaking the water off and pat drying with paper towels.
- Next, slice the chicken wings with lines of cut marks at a 45-degree angle and about 1cm deep.
- Repeat step 3 on the other side of the chicken wing.
Marinate The Chicken Wings
- Put the chicken wings in a bowl or container for marinating.
- Next, add 2 tbsp cooking wine, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper powder, 5g ginger, 5g green onion, and 20g garlic.
- Combine the ingredients well and massage them with the chicken wings to ensure even coverage.
- Marinate for 30 minutes. A longer marinating time will allow the flavors to penetrate more deeply.
Make The Batter
- After marinating the chicken wings, remove the pieces of ginger, green onion, and garlic.
- Then, add 2 beaten eggs and 1 tsp of cornstarch.
- Mix the batter with your hand. The chicken wings should be evenly coated without clumps of cornstarch.
Fry The Chicken Wings
- When the oil is hot, fry the chicken wings on low heat until golden brown. Do not overcrowd the pan to be able to cook the chicken wings thoroughly and get a consistent color.
- Repeat step 1 for the other side of the chicken wings.
- Once fully cooked, drain the excess oil with a strainer or paper towel. You want to drain as much oil as you can to prevent the wings from going soggy.
- Lastly, coat both sides of the chicken wings with salt and pepper seasoning.
- Serve while hot and crispy and enjoy it with a refreshing Winter Melon Tea
