Limpeh's crunchy "not fried" chicken wings

Hi there - it's time for another cooking lesson with Limpeh. Now like many, I love fried chicken but am aware that it is unhealthy because of the deep fat frying. If only there was a way to enjoy fried chicken that wasn't deep fried but still crispy and tasty. Now there is! With this recipe, we are using the oils that are already in the chicken skin to cook the batter and make it crunchy without any additional oil added in the cooking process. This recipe is simple and will leave your kitchen a lot cleaner. Deep fat frying can be a messy process but baking is so much cleaner.

This recipe isn't totally new - there are many versions of this recipe around but I have worked on this recipe a few times and have improved it to the point where I am happy to share it on my blog.  The skin with the batter is oh so crunchy and tasty, but it is not greasy!

These wings were baked not fried. 

Ingredients: 

6 to 8 chicken wings
1 cup flour
Half a teaspoon of salt
A teaspoon of pepper

Seasoning for the marinade 

A splash of soy sauce
Generous dollop of your favourite chilli sauce
Juice of 1 lime
A splash of sesame oil
Any other spices you like: Szechuan pepper, belachan, tumeric, basil, garlic etc.

Step 1: Clean the chicken wings and chop them up into 3 pieces each at the joint.

Step 2: Combine the seasoning with the chicken and leave it to marinade for at least 30 mins, preferably longer.

Step 3: In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, pepper and salt.

Step 4: Take a piece of marinated chicken and roll it in the bowl, covering it with salty flour, then set it down in the baking dish.

Step 5: Repeat until all the chicken wings are coated.

Step 5: Bake the chicken wings for at 135 degrees - note that this is not a particularly high temperature as we want to cook the wings slowly, allowing the fat and juices from the skin to seep out and combine with the flour, forming a golden brown crust. If you cook it at a higher temperature, you risk burning the flour before the skin starts oozing fat.

Step 6: Flip the wings every 10 minutes or so to ensure that both sides are cooked evenly. The wings should be ready in about 60 mins - check that you have a beautiful golden brown colour on the wings.

Step 7: Once the wings attain the right kind of colour, shut off the heat and allow the wings to sit in the oven for a further 10 minutes. Just before serving, give the wings a squeeze of fresh lime juice for an extra bit of citrus zing.

Step 8: Your baked "not fried chicken" should be ready and your diners would be amazed that you didn't deep fry those wings! Enjoy!

The great thing about this recipe is that the skin is well cooked and dry - I have had fried chicken before where the batter is crispy but the skin is still oozing with oil. That is because the chicken was fried in oil that was too hot - ideally, you want to drive the fat out of the chicken skin, so it is crispy but not oily. Deep fat frying cooks the chicken too quickly without giving the skin long enough to sweat all the fats out - so this slow-baked version achieves the ideal chicken skin texture. I usually serve this with salad and some chilli sauce - try it and let me know what you think. Here's another photo when I tried the recipe with another batch of chicken, not just wings this time.