Asian Style Chicken Wings & Glass Noodle Salad

Asian Style Chicken Wings & Glass Noodle Salad

There is a restaurant in Portland called Pok Pok that has the most amazing chicken wings I have ever tasted. I don't eat a lot of seafood (as you may have guessed from the lack of seafood on my blog), and so I am not a big fan of fish sauce. Although this recipe requires it, you hardly notice. These little babies are the tastiest, scumptious chicken wings in the world. There are many different recipes online that claim to be the true Pok Pok recipe, but I have a feeling it isn't anywhere out there on the world wide web. If i was the chef that created those bad boys, I would LOCK. THAT. DOWN! Nonetheless, we found a recipe that was to our liking and went with it. We did find a recipe that claimed to be the original, but who knows. It didn't turn out like Pok Pok's chicken wings, but ours turned out tasting good.

I have never fried chicken before, so I ended up having to throw out 5 pieces of chicken...whoops! I strongly recommend having a liquid thermometer to make sure the oil doesn't get too hot, which I assume is what happened for me. Also, I don't normally like to use corn starch, but it seemed like there wasn't a good substitute to use in this moment. Because I don't know much about frying chicken, I decided it was best to stick with the recipe.

As for the glass noodle salad, I improvised. It was light, fresh, and really simple. Most recipes asks for shrimp and chicken to be added, but I just needed the salad part because I was already making chicken. I went with kale as the base, because I am not a big fan of eating large amounts of cilantro and mint.

Glass Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

1 6 ounce package dried bean thread noodles
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 garlic cloves, minced 
1/2 cup chopped green onions
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 teaspoon white sugar
3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice 
1 1/2 teaspoons minced, seeded Thai chilis or serrano chilis 
1 1/2 cups of green kale 
1 small tomato, cut into cubes 
1/4 cup peanuts, unsalted

Directions:


1. Put bean noodles in a bowl and pour in lukewarm water to cover. Let soak until soft and pliable (about 15 minutes). Drain

 2. Add noodles to a large pot of boiling water. Reduce to medium heat; cook until noodles are plump and glasslike (3-5 minutes). Drain and rinse with cold water; drain again
3. Pour oil into a hot skillet or wok. Add chopped green onions, kale, and garlic, and cook until fragrant and kale slightly wilted

4. Mix together chile, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, fresh sliced tomatoes, peanuts, and shallots
5. Pour over noodles and mix thoroughly 

6. Serve cold

Asian-Style Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

3 lbs chicken wings, split at the drumettes
1/2 cup Asian fish sauce
1/2 cup superfine sugar
4 garlic cloves, 2 crushed and 2 minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus A LOT more for frying
1 cup cornstarch

Directions:

1. In a bowl, whisk the fish sauce, sugar, and crushed garlic. Add the wings and toss to coat. Refrigerate for 3 hours, tossing the wings occasionally 
2. Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a small skillet. Add the minced garlic; cook over moderate heat until golden, 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels. 
3. In a large pot, heat 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees (medium-high heat)

Pat the wings dry on paper towels; reserve the marinade. Put the cornstarch in a shallow bowl, add the wings and turn to coat. 

Fry the wings in batches until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels and transfer to a bowl.
 

4. In a small saucepan, simmer the marinade over moderately high heat until syrupy, 5 minutes. Strain over the wings and toss. Top with fried garlic and serve