Braised Chicken Wings in Soy Sauce
Tender, tasty, and very simple to make, these Braised Chicken Wings require minimal effort, for maximum effect. Mix the sauce, marinate and braise for 40 minutes, and lunch and dinner are ready for 8 adults. The chicken wings and drummettes are tender and juicy, coated with a thick, velvet-like soy sauce that matches well with white rice.
If there’s not a lot of time and effort to spare, but a meal is needed, just get the rice going, and make some Braised Chicken Wings!
Ingredients
Chicken wings – the main meat for this dish. It’s the perfect part that when cooked until tender, it’s very enjoyable to eat. The fat beneath the skin encasing the meat gives additional flavour, and the meat, although limited, is not dense like the breast meat. However, don’t let it stop you from using pieces of chicken thigh, or even the whole chicken!
Tapioca flour, water – the gravy thickener for this braised chicken wings dish. Cooked flour gives the liquid a substantial body and consistency that’s velvet-like and very smooth, as opposed to being thin and watery. While the norm is to use cornstarch, I’ve used tapioca flour to accommodate my allergies. If using cornstarch, make sure to reduce the flour amount by 1/3 as cornstarch is a more potent thickener than tapioca flour.
Herbs – garlic, ginger and spring onions. These herbs add caramelized flavour and earthy sweetness to the braised chicken wings dish. Ginger lends a little more heat and is warming to the body; making it perfect for cooler weather. Spring onions also add some natural sweetness to the gravy.
Seasonings – light and thick soy sauce, Chinese cooking rice wine, brown sugar, sesame oil, and salt; when in the perfect amounts, this combination makes a very tasty marinade. It’s salty, with a mild sweetness that goes well with chicken meat.
Steps
Here are the brief steps to Braised Chicken Wings in Soy Sauce:
- Combine flour and water to make the flour slurry, set aside.
- Combine all the ingredients for the sauce mix, set aside.
- Marinate chicken with salt and sauce mix for 1 hour.
- Stir fry the cooking oil, garlic, ginger and spring onions until fragrant.
- Stir the marinated chicken in the pan. Cover and braise on low heat for 20 minutes.
- Check for the tenderness of the chicken.
- Quickly stir in the flour slurry and spring onion leaves. Switch off the heat.
- Garnish with chopped spring onion leaves & serve.
Tips
- Cornstarch is commonly used instead of tapioca flour. As I’m allergic to cornstarch, I have adapted this recipe. If using cornstarch, be sure to reduce the amount by 30% as it is more viscous than tapioca flour.
- If pressed for time, the chicken can be cooked straightaway without leaving time to rest in the fridge.
- Setting the heat to low and braising the chicken slow-cooks the chicken, letting it release the juices (which make delicious gravy) and soften its meat.
- Poke the chicken meat with a fork. If it goes through easily, the chicken is tender. If there is resistance, the chicken needs more time braising in the pan.
- If the chicken meat is not soft, add 250ml water and braise it on medium heat for 20 minutes. The added water makes up for evaporated liquid lost as the chicken continues braising.
- Once the flour slurry is added, make sure to stir immediately to prevent the gravy from clumping.
- The spring onion leaves will soften and cook in Braised Chicken Wing gravy’s residual heat.
- Make sure to watch the full video to see how I made it exactly!
Storage Instructions
This Braised Chicken Wings in Soy Sauce dish can be kept in the fridge overnight, to be reheated and consumed the next day.
It can also be kept frozen for up to 1-2 months.
Let’s Eat!
Tender, salty-sweet flavour chicken, with a smooth, thick gravy that coats the rice. The small chicken pieces are easy to eat and enjoy.
The ginger gives off a mild heat once every few bites, and the gravy is thick with melded herbs and juices from the chicken. It’s very delicious, yet super simple and requires very little effort.
Serve with plain white rice and a stir fry vegetable dish for a complete meal!
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Braised Chicken Wings in Soy Sauce
Equipment
- Stainless Steel Pan
- Spatula
Ingredients
Flour Slurry
- 50 ml water
- 1.5 tbsp tapioca flour
Sauce Mix
- 1/2 tbsp thick soy sauce
- 1 tsp black sesame oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing Wine, Chinese cooking rice wine
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
Herbs
- 50 g garlic, chopped
- 75 g ginger, cut to strips
- 80 g spring onions, cut to 1 inch in length, and finely chopped for garnishing
Meat
- 1.2 kg chicken wings, wings and drummetts separated
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 250 ml water
Instructions
- Make tapioca flour slurry. Mix together tapioca flour with 50ml water until well-combined. Set aside.
- Whisk together light soy sauce, thick soy sauce, black sesame oil, brown sugar, shaoxing wine, pepper and 1 tbsp of cooking oil until well-combined. Leave aside.
- Crush garlic and mince roughly. Slice the ginger into long, thin strips. Cut spring onions's stems and leaves into 1 inch length pieces, chopping the last 1/3 of the leaves into smaller pieces for garnishing.
- Cut the chicken wings into half, drummettes and wings.
- Sprinkle salt over the chicken, and rub to marinate evenly. Repeat with the mixed sauce. Cover with cling wrap and leave in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
- Add 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger and stems of the spring onions. Stir fry until soft, translucent and fragrant.
- Add the chicken wings. Stir to coat the chicken with the oil. Cover the pan and switch the heat to low. Let it braise for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the bottom layer from burning.
- After 20 minutes, the chicken should be cooked. Check the tenderness of the meat. If it's still tough, add 250ml of water, raise the heat to medium, cover the pan and continue braising for another 20 minutes.
- Once the chicken is softened, taste and adjust as preferred.
- Add the flour slurry and the 1 inch-length spring onions. Give it a quick stir and switch off the heat.
- Dish out on a serving plate and garnish with cut spring onions. Serve with rice.
Video
Notes
- Cornstarch is commonly used instead of tapioca flour. As I’m allergic to cornstarch, I have adapted this recipe. If using cornstarch, be sure to reduce the amount by 30% as it is more viscous than tapioca flour.
- If pressed for time, the chicken can be cooked straightaway without leaving time to rest in the fridge.
- Setting the heat to low and braising the chicken slow-cooks the chicken, letting it release the juices (which make delicious gravy) and soften its meat.
- Poke the chicken meat with a fork. If it goes through easily, the chicken is tender. If there is resistance, the chicken needs more time braising in the pan.
- If the chicken meat is not soft, add 250ml of water and braise it on medium heat for 20 minutes. The added water makes up for evaporated liquid lost as the chicken continues braising.
- Once the flour slurry is added, make sure to stir immediately to prevent the gravy from clumping.
- The spring onion leaves will soften and cook in Braised Chicken Wing gravy’s residual heat.
- Watch the video to see exactly how it was made!