If you grew up in the peninsula, then you know for the best chicken wings you go to Sky Dragon in South San Francisco. They are shaped like lollipops, deep fried and topped with a sweet sauce that has hints of garlic and ginger and ends with a tickle of heat from ground Szechuan peppers. The memories I have going to this restaurant are as priceless as the man in the back kitchen who created this recipe. Here’s my copy version.
Serves 4
10 chicken wings
For batter:
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of cornstarch
1/2 cup of rice flour
1 tbs of Szechuan pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tbs of garlic paste
1 tbs of ginger paste or powder if not available
2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups of water
For sauce:
2 tbs of sesame seed oil
1/4 cup of finely chopped shallots
2 tbs of finely chopped garlic
1 tbs ground ginger paste
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of rice wine
1/4 hoisin sauce
1 tbs or more of Szechuan pepper
3 tbs of palm or brown sugar
1 cup of water with 2 tbs of cornstarch dissolved in
Juice of one mandarin
Chopped green onions
Sesame seeds
In a small bowl sift and combine flours.
In a large mixing bowl add remaining batter ingredients and mixed while alternating flour and water until a smooth batter is formed.
Cut chicken wings into lollipops. In the video you see the tip of the wing is cut and discarded. Section the drumlette and wingette. The wingette has two bones, in which you’ll need to remove the thinnest one by scraping and separating the meat which a sharp paring knife. You may need to cut the ligaments or cartilage. Once the small bone is loosened and removed, you can start scraping the meat from one end to the other, leaving a bare bone with a ball of chicken at the end. Do the same to the drumlette.
Add chicken to batter and fry in batches until golden brown. Set aside to cool while you make the sauce.
In a skillet add oil, garlic, ginger and shallots and sauté until translucent. Add soy sauce, hoisin, wine, pepper and sugar. Bring to boil. Add water and cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil again. Add mandarin juice and turn heat off. Let it cool a bit
When ready to serve, pour sauce over wings and top with green onions and seeds for garnish. Serve with steamed rice and veggies for a complete meal.