Stuffed Chicken Wings

Chicken wings stuffed with meat is a dish that I really like. This was also a very popular appetizer dish of the "Vietnam Little Home  restaurant", which was my family’s restaurant in Chicago for more than 15 years. My mom created a recipe for this chicken wing dipping sauce that no one can replace, and she was very proud to keep it a secret even with me until she retired and closed the business. During the Little Home days, each time about 500 pieces of chicken wings were deboned. The time to remove the bones from the chicken wings is also a process that requires patience; otherwise, the chicken wings will be torn and not looking good. One time when I deboned a chicken wing, my thumb was cut very deeply. Lorin was a friend then and now, my husband, had to take me to the hospital to have this cut stitched up. It's still a scar on my thumb. It is a sweet memory every time I look at this scar. For this recipe, I'm not going to show you how to remove the bone from the wing because there are many details as well as the right knife to do the job. You should go to a trusted site on YouTube to learn how to debone chicken wings, it will be safer. My mother is almost 94 years old this year, so I just want to introduce a dish that my mother loved very much in the days when our restaurant was still open. I hope everyone will accept this dish with a simple recipe that I can remember so that it can be presented at your parties.

Ingredients:

10 chicken wings (skin on, washed, and deboned)

The fillings:

½ lb. of ground turkey, chicken, or pork

2 oz. of glass noodles, soaked for 15 minutes

4 wood ear mushrooms, soaked for 15 minutes

1 carrot, finely diced (about 1 cup)

1 cup cabbage, finely diced 

1/2 white onion, diced

2 garlic cloves,, minced

Seasoning:

1 tsp. salt, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, black pepper, and fish sauce

For the breading:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup rice flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

Salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and onion powder to taste

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

For the sauce:

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 shallots, minced

1/4 cup honey or sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup water

2 tbs oyster sauce

Others:

2 cups of vegetable oil for deep frying

Directions:

To make the fillings:

Chop the glass noodles and wood ear mushrooms after soaking them. In a medium bowl, combine all the filling ingredients and mix well . Adjust the seasonings for your taste. I use almost 1 tsp for each.

Stuff the filling inside each wing.

Bring a steamer to boil and steam the wings for 20 minutes. Afterwards, let wings cool completely.

While the wings are cooling, make the breading.

In one bowl, combine the flours and cornstarch together with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder.

Using another bowl, whisk to combine the eggs and milk.

After the wings are cooled off, roll each wing twice: first in the egg-milk mixture and then the flour mixture. Repeat the process until all the wings are well coated with the flour.

Bring the oil to 375° and fry the wings until golden brown. 

Serve with the dipping sauce.

To make the sauce:

In a sauté pan, add 1/4 cup oil and fry the garlic and shallots until fragrant. Add vinegar, hoisin sauce, ketchup. oyster sauce, and water. Bring to boil . Adjust the seasoning with honey or sugar to suit your taste. Cook the sauce for 10 minutes. When serving, add hot fresh chili or Sriracha hot sauce.