Momofuku Chicken Wings Recipe
David Chang is known for his love of pork fat, and this recipe shows why: It adds tastiness to anything it touches. At his restaurant, Momofuku, the wings are cold-smoked before being finished off on the grill or griddle. We’ve adapted the recipe to make it slightly easier for the home cook, while still preserving the essence of the original. Try serving these at your next cocktail party.
What to buy: Pickled red chiles add underlying spice to this recipe and can be found at most Asian markets.
Game plan: Tare is a generic Japanese term for a basting sauce. This version is essentially a chicken-infused soy sauce that adds lots of flavor to the finished dish.
The wings can be made through step 5 up to a day in advance. Bring the chicken to room temperature before finishing.
This recipe was featured as part of both our Spicy Holiday Cocktail Party menu and our Chile Pepper Recipes photo gallery.
- 20 chicken wings, with wing tips attached (about 4 1/2 pounds)
- 8 cups lukewarm water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups sake
- 1 1/2 cups soy sauce
- 5 cups duck or pork fat (can substitute vegetable oil)
- 6 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 5 to 6 pickled red chiles, seeded and ribs removed
- 1 1/2 cups mirin
- 1 bunch scallions, finely sliced, for garnish
- Separate wings into 3 pieces (tips, wings, and drumettes) by cutting at both joints. Reserve wing tips for the tare.
- Combine water, sugar, and salt in a large container with a tightfitting lid or a large resealable plastic bag (at least 4 quarts) and stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Add chicken wings and drumettes to brine mixture, cover, and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours.
- To make the tare, heat the oven to 400°F. Combine wing tips and 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large oven-safe pan and toss to coat. Roast until wing tips are dark golden brown, about 1 hour.
- Remove the pan from the oven, place over medium heat, and slowly add sake and soy sauce, scraping up any browned bits with a flat spatula. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by 1/2, about 40 minutes. Strain and set tare aside (discard the wing tips).
- Once chicken wings and drumettes have finished brining, heat duck or pork fat in a large pot with a tightfitting lid over low heat until fat is 190°F to 200°F. Drain wings and drumettes from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Add wings and drumettes to hot fat and cook, covered, over very low heat until just cooked through, about 30 to 40 minutes. (Don’t overcook the chicken; there should still be texture and bite to the meat.) When wings and drumettes are done, remove to a baking dish or baking sheet using a slotted spoon and reserve fat for another use.
- When ready to finish wings and drumettes, heat the broiler to high and arrange a rack at the top. Broil wings and drumettes, rotating the pan halfway through, until skin is crisp and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Once shimmering, add garlic and chiles and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. (Make sure the garlic does not brown.) Add mirin and cook until the alcohol smell is gone, about 2 minutes. Add tare and reduce sauce to a light syruplike consistency, about 10 minutes. Add wings and drumettes and toss to coat, top with sliced scallions, and serve.
Beverage pairing: Henriot Champagne Brut Souverain NV, France. Sticky, spicy, and sweet finger foods need something clean and tight to maintain balance. This complex Champagne does the trick with flavors of apples and peaches and a slightly smoky edge.
This recipe, while from a trusted source, may not have been tested by the CHOW food
team.
I wonder if anyone out there has thought about using the oven, set at 200º to do the 40 minute cooking of the wings? It sure seems like an easy way to maintain such a low temperature of the oil.
These sound yummy. I do an Asian hot wing that our customers love. I bake the wings and toss them in a sauce made with a touch of toasted sesame oil, canola oil, crushed garlic and sriracha sauce. Amazing.
Here's a extremely fast, delicious chicken wing recipe that seems as if it would at least duplicate if not better the taste experience. Start with a couple dozen wings, render them, reserve the tips for other use.
Deep fry, your choice of fat, but duck is great. Drain on paper towels. Procure a jar of VH Dry Garlic Spare Rib Sauce- Forte. (this can be found on line) put chicken and sauce...+READ
Here's a extremely fast, delicious chicken wing recipe that seems as if it would at least duplicate if not better the taste experience. Start with a couple dozen wings, render them, reserve the tips for other use.
Deep fry, your choice of fat, but duck is great. Drain on paper towels. Procure a jar of VH Dry Garlic Spare Rib Sauce- Forte. (this can be found on line) put chicken and sauce together in large fry pan, medium heat, stirring and basting frequently. When suace begins to thicken to med syrup consistency, you're done! Serve this with crackers or French bread chunks, people will be sopping up the sauce when the chicken is gone. My parents came across this sauce in Canada approx. 50 yrs. ago. It has taken on mythic status in our family and to every person that we've treated to this sauce. The easiest way to get the sauce is to take a trip to Canada and strip the shelves in whatever supermarket you can find it in. It is produced in Quebec, and is not imported into the states. I contacted the company directly and was told that they would not ship less than a skid(approx. 100 cases) My wife won't let me do it though I believe between family and friends all would be spoken for in a couple weeks. I'm still working on that. Usually, we pair the sauce with pork riblets-1in to 11/2 in pieces of rib bone with meat. Finger lickin' good! This is so intrinsic to our family that a case is welcomed as a Holiday or Birthday gift with profuse thanks.-COLLAPSE
Confited in fat.
I have recieved the cookbook for Christmas and I understand now.
These wings are part of a system of food.
The rendered pork fat they are fried in comes from the pork belly they cook daily.
The tare is a seasoning that they use in many of their dishes, many of thier dishes produce numerous chicken bones as scrap.
As one reads the Momofuku cookbook, you become aware how all...+READ
Confited in fat.
I have recieved the cookbook for Christmas and I understand now.
These wings are part of a system of food.
The rendered pork fat they are fried in comes from the pork belly they cook daily.
The tare is a seasoning that they use in many of their dishes, many of thier dishes produce numerous chicken bones as scrap.
As one reads the Momofuku cookbook, you become aware how all the recipes dovetail into each other. It is actually quite impressive and well thought out.
It is whole buffalo cooking at its finest.
That said, David Chang appologizes at the beginning of this recipe, saying it is the longest chicken wing recipe in the world.
Next time I cook a 10 pound pork belly, I'll be sure to reserve the fat for frying chicken wings.-COLLAPSE
so these are poached, not fried, in fat?
French champagne and chicken wings? Bah!
Keep it local: I'd pair the dish with Brooklyn Local 1 in a New York minute!
Well, I just re-read and I guess it is more like an order of 40 wings once they are broken down, but still.
"We’ve adapted the recipe to make it slightly easier for the home cook"
You have got to be kidding.
This recipe sounds borderline ridiculous (time wise) for the production of 20 wings. I consider myself a proponent of slow food, but these would have to have to be better than I can imagine (and I have a good imagination) to be worth the time.
Perhaps the per wing time investment would be more...+READ
"We’ve adapted the recipe to make it slightly easier for the home cook"
You have got to be kidding.
This recipe sounds borderline ridiculous (time wise) for the production of 20 wings. I consider myself a proponent of slow food, but these would have to have to be better than I can imagine (and I have a good imagination) to be worth the time.
Perhaps the per wing time investment would be more reasonable if the recipe were quadrupled or more.
If someone has tried these at home, what is the verdict?
If someone has tried these at Momofuku, what were they like?
Also, how many per order and what does an order cost?-COLLAPSE
Had the wings at Momofuku Noodle Bar...didn't think it was worth the effort to do it at home.
This is an absurdly over complex recipe for a food that should be super easy to make.
Makes no sense at all to me.
dick
How in the world can 20 chicken wings make 10-12 servings? This looks like a ton of effort for wings. I dont think its realistic.
So instead of finishing them in the oven, smoke them on low heat for a while and then finish them off on the grill to crispen up the skin?
My only issue with this recipe is that at Momofuku these are smoked, and that really "makes" them. No smoke here. You can buy one of those stovetop smokers, I guess, since that is what they use at Momofuku, although I would like to know exactly how to "cold smoke" them before grilling....
"an asian slant on this classic"
Was that intentional?
only an unenlightened chowhound would throw away wing tips! Most of us would devour them!
1/2 cup salt + 1/4 cup sugar for 1 quart of water is what I use for brining. This is 2 cups for 2 quarts so it's not far off. I have not made it yet, but it seems like 1 quart of brine might work for only 20 wings.
1 cup of kosher salt is alot of salt!
Tried it once, time consuming...definitely, but really flavorful. Came out a little saltier than i'd hope
Has anyone tried this yet. It sounds good, but a bit time consuming.