• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Umami Days

Umami Days

Meaty with a dash of veggies

  • Pick a meal
    • One Bowl Meals
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch / Dinner
      • Appetizers
      • Salads
      • Soups
      • Main Courses
      • Side Dishes
      • Sweets
    • Snacks
    • Drinks
      • Summer drinks
      • Cold weather drinks
      • Cocktail hour
  • Pick your protein
    • Chicken, duck & turkey
    • Meat
    • Seafood
    • Eggs
    • Mushrooms
    • Tofu
    • Vegetables
  • Pick your carb
    • Rice & grains
    • Noodles
    • Bread
  • Newsletter
  • Sidebar
    • Kitchen
    • Dining
    • Edible Garden
    • Food Tales
  • Newsletter sign-up!
  • Recipe index
    • By Meal
      • One Bowl Meals
      • Breakfast
      • Lunch / Dinner
        • Appetizers
        • Salads
        • Soups
        • Main Courses
        • Side Dishes
        • Sweets
      • Snacks
      • Drinks
        • Refreshing summer drinks
        • Cold weather drinks
        • Cocktail hour
    • By Main Protein
      • Chicken, duck & turkey
      • Meat
      • Seafood
      • Eggs
      • Mushrooms
      • Tofu
      • Vegetables
    • By Carb
      • Rice & grains
      • Noodles
      • Bread
  • Sidebar
    • Kitchen
    • Dining
    • Edible Garden
    • Food Tales
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Contact
Chicken, duck & turkey Lunch / Dinner Main Courses Salted duck egg

Fried chicken wings with salted duck egg yolk sauce

Published: 01.21.2023 » Last updated: 01.22.2023

Seasoned chicken wings are dredged in starch, deep fried until crisp then tossed in a sauce made with garlic and salted duck egg yolk paste. Crispy Thai basil complete the dish.

Fried chicken wings with salted duck egg yolk sauce garnished with crispy Thai basil

Today’s lunch. I could wait for a couple of days or weeks before posting the recipe but I’m much too excited to share it. I’ve been planning on making this dish for a while and mustering enough guts to do it.

Guts? Yes, well, I sometimes have an allergic reaction to chicken. Too much or too often and I break out in rashes. Combine chicken with duck egg yolk and the chances of spending uncomfortable days until the allergy has run its course multiply exponentially.

But… I couldn’t resist. Drinking brew made by boiling lagundi leaves should solve the problem. If you haven’t discovered yet, lagundi (Vitex negundo also known as the Chinese chaste tree) which is used to relieve cough works well as an anti-histamine. For me, at least, and that’s why we planted a tree in the garden.

Anyway… about these fried chicken wings with salted duck egg yolk sauce. Cooking the dish consists of four parts, although one of them is optional.

The first step is seasoning and marinating the chicken. This is not the optional part. This is a must. You simply can’t reply on the salty sauce to season the chicken wings all the way through. You want the meat of the wings to be as tasty as the sauce that will coat them. Toss the chicken wings with salt and pepper, place in a covered container and marinate in the fridge for at least six hours (overnight is best).

Frying chicken wings in batches and resting them on a rack

The second part is frying the chicken wings. For extra crispness, take them out of the fridge, lay them on a rack in a single layer and let the air dry their surfaces while, at the same time, the chilled chicken comes to room temperature. Half an hour or so will do the job.

Then, toss the chicken wings in starch (cornstarch is used here but potato starch is an even better choice) and fry in batches. Place the fried chicken wings on a rack in a single layer to prevent steam buildup which will make the crust soggy.

Frying Thai basil leaves

The third part is the optional one. I took a handful of Thai basil leaves and dropped them in the hot oil in which I fried the chicken wings. I left them there just long enough for them to turn translucent. At that point, they were perfectly crisp.

Why is this part optional? Because the fried basil leaves served as garnish. Just like the basil leaves in Taiwanese popcorn chicken — not really essential but desirable for the added texture, color and flavor.

The last part is making the salted duck egg yolk sauce and tossing the fried chicken in it. Salted duck egg yolk paste (sold in jars) is used here. If you’re unfamiliar with the product, or if you’re totally unfamiliar with salted duck eggs, see the linked post below.

Salted duck eggs

Salted duck eggs

The Chinese have been making them since the sixth century, and use of the delicacy has spread throughout Asia. Today, imaginative cooks have discovered non-traditional ways of integrating them into savory and sweet dishes.

Tossing fried chicken wings in salted duck egg yolk sauce

To make the sauce, pour off the oil from the frying pan leaving only a trace. In that meagre oil, drop in minced garlic and cook over low heat until lightly browned.

Still over low heat, drop in the salted duck egg yolk paste and cook, stirring, until it liquefies. Once the sauce spreads to a thin layer, dump in the fried chicken wings and toss, thoroughly and repeatedly, until each piece is coated with the sauce.

Transfer the fried chicken wings with salted duck egg yolk sauce to a plate, garnish with the fried Thai basil leaves and serve.

Full recipe below

Fried chicken wings with salted duck egg yolk sauce

Connie Veneracion
In Malaysia and Singapore, curry leaves serve as garnish. If you have access to curry leaves, you may use them in place of Thai basil.
Fried chicken wings with salted duck egg yolk sauce garnished with crispy Thai basil
Print
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 12 mins
Marinating time 6 hrs
Total Time 6 hrs 22 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Servings 3 people

Ingredients
  

Chicken

  • 12 to 15 chicken wings
  • 1 tablespoon rock salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • cooking oil - for deep frying
  • ⅓ cup cornstarch - or potato starch (please don't use all-purpose flour)

Garnish

  • 20 to 30 Thai basil leaves

Sauce

  • 6 cloves garlic - peeled and minced
  • 4 to 6 tablespoons salted duck egg yolk paste - the actual amount depends on the size of the chicken wings

Instructions
 

  • Rinse the chicken wings and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
  • Toss the chicken wings with the salt and pepper.
  • Place in a covered container and marinate in the fridge for six hours or overnight.
  • Place the marinated chicken in a bowl, add the cornstarch and toss to coat each piece evenly. Shake off any excess.
  • Heat the cooking oil in a wok or frying pan, and fry the chicken wings in batches until lightly golden and crisp.
  • In the same oil in which the chicken wings were fried, drop in the Thai basil leaves and cook until translucent and crisp. Scoop out and place in a bowl lined with paper towels.
  • Pour off the oil leaving only a small amount to coat the bottom of the pan.
  • Over low heat, cook the minced garlic until lightly browned.
  • Add the salted duck egg yolk paste and cook, stirring, until the paste thins out and spreads.
  • Drop in the fried chicken wings and toss to coat each piece.
  • Serve your fried chicken wings with salted duck egg yolk sauce garnished with fried basil leaves.
Print
Keyword Chicken Wings, Fried Chicken, Salted duck egg

More recipes, cooking tips & food tales

Cajun fried chicken wings with sweet corn on the side

Cajun fried chicken wings

Chicken gizzards and banana stir fry inspired by the Nigerian gizdodo

Chicken gizzards and banana stir fry

Chicken a la king served over noodles

Chicken à la King

Fried chicken with chili honey sauce

Fried chicken with chili honey sauce

Molo soup

Molo soup

Hollandaise Chicken Sandwich

Hollandaise chicken sandwich

Sidebar

Connie Veneracion, Chiang Mai, 2020

Hi, I’m Connie!

Welcome to Umami Days, a blog that advocates innovative home cooking for pleasurable everyday dining. No trendy diets, no food fads and definitely no ludicrous recipe names like crustless quiche, noodleless pho or chocolate lasagna.

  • About
  • Recipes
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Contact

Umami Days is powered by Apple, Canon, coffee & one bowl meals · Copyright © 2023 Connie Veneracion · All Rights Reserved