Cherry & Dennis Recipes
Vietnamese Garlic Butter Chicken Wings
越式牛油蒜蓉雞翼
Recipe overview
Vietnamese Garlic Butter Chicken Wings, or Cánh Gà Bơ Tỏi, pair fish sauce, butter, garlic, a little sugar and lime for a savoury, lightly tangy Vietnamese-style flavour. This version is oven-baked, not fried: fully thawed, dry chicken wings are chilled in a fish-sauce garlic marinade, baked on a rack, turned once and checked to at least 75°C at the thickest meat away from bone. Make the finishing sauce separately with clean ingredients that never touched raw chicken; cook garlic in butter only over low heat until pale gold, then add lime off the heat. Toss cooked chicken wings briefly so only a thin coating remains. Fish sauce is high in sodium and butter is high in fat; check labels for dairy, fish, soy, wheat and other allergens, and chill leftovers promptly before reheating thoroughly.
01
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 1.2 kilograms, about 16–20 pieces; use wingettes and drumettes, fully thawed, with no loose bone, feathers, blood clots, sour smell, slime or abnormal colour Chicken wings
- 80 grams; for the cooked finishing sauce only; check dairy allergens Unsalted butter
- 12 cloves, about 55 grams; 5 cloves for raw-chicken marinade and 7 cloves for the clean cooked garlic-butter sauce; keep portions separate
- 2; squeeze about 2 tablespoons for the cooked sauce and cut a few wedges to serve Limes
- 15 grams; wash, drain, chop and add at the end as wanted Fresh coriander
- 1; slice into fine rings for light aroma and garnish; omit completely for children Red chilli
Chilled chicken-wing marinade
- 2 tablespoons (check fish allergen and sodium; raw chicken contact means discard), sugar; 1 tablespoon (balance salt only), black pepper 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
Rack non-stick preparation
- 1 teaspoon, brushed thinly on the metal rack only cooking oil
Cooked garlic butter sauce
- 1 tablespoon, sugar 2 teaspoons (dissolve only), black pepper 1/4 teaspoon, plus butter, clean garlic and lime added off heat clean fish sauce
Final flavour adjustment
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce and up to 1 teaspoon sugar, added only after tasting tossed wings
02
Tools
- Oven
- rimmed baking tray
- metal rack
- foil or baking paper
- foil or baking paper
- medium non-stick skillet
- wooden spoon or silicone spatula
- wooden spoon or silicone spatula
- raw-chicken tongs
- raw-chicken bowl
- medium bowl
- two small bowls
- measuring cup
- knife
- raw-chicken board
- kitchen scissors
- tablespoon
- teaspoon
- chopsticks
- kitchen paper
- silicone brush
- instant-read thermometer
- citrus juicer
- oven gloves and white long serving platter.
- serving plate
03
Steps
Step 1
Thaw and inspect chicken wings
Thaw frozen wings fully in their packaging in the refrigerator; reject an icy core, sour smell, slime, grey-green colour or severe bruising, and discard thawing liquid.
Step 2
Trim and sort chicken wings
On the raw-chicken board remove feathers, loose bone and excess skin; group similar-sized wingettes and drumettes. Never rinse raw chicken wings.
Step 3
Dry chicken wings thoroughly
Blot every surface, joint and skin fold with kitchen paper so the skin can brown.
Step 4
Separate raw and cooked garlic
Chop 12 cloves with clean tools; reserve 5 cloves for raw chicken and cover/chill 7 cloves for cooked sauce. Never mix them.
Step 5
Marinate under refrigeration
Gently mix wings with marinade garlic, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, sugar and pepper; cover and chill about 30 minutes, never marinate long at room temperature.
Step 6
Preheat and prepare surfaces
Preheat oven to 220°C; foil the tray, set rack and brush it thinly with oil. Shake off wet marinade and large garlic pieces, blot wings, and discard all raw marinade.
Step 7
Arrange one layer
Put skin-side-up wings on the rack with at least 2 cm gaps; place larger drumettes in hotter spots and smaller wingettes outward, without overlap.
Step 8
Bake first side
Bake on the upper-middle rack at 220°C for about 18 minutes without frequent movement, until pale golden.
Step 9
Turn and finish baking
Use raw-stage cooking tongs to turn wings and bake 12–15 minutes more; colour and clear juices alone do not prove doneness.
Step 10
Check 75°C and brown briefly
Insert the thermometer in thickest meat of the largest wing away from bone; it must reach at least 75°C. Brown 2–3 more minutes if needed, then transfer to a clean cooked-food bowl.
Step 11
Make cooked garlic butter sauce
Melt butter in a black skillet on lowest heat; cook reserved clean garlic 1–2 minutes until pale gold and fragrant, never burnt. Add clean fish sauce, sugar and pepper until dissolved; turn off heat, then add lime juice.
Step 12
Toss quickly and serve
Pour warm sauce over cooked wings and toss quickly with clean tongs for a thin coating; add coriander and a little chilli, taste before adjustment, and plate immediately.
Common mistakes
- For all languages: do not thaw or marinate for long at room temperature
- do not use wings with an icy core, sour smell, slime or grey-green colour
- do not rinse raw chicken, skip trimming, mix widely different sizes or leave skin wet
- do not mix garlic portions, put all garlic in raw marinade, keep or reuse raw marinade
- do not overlap wings, use an unheated oven, turn repeatedly early, judge by colour alone or touch bone with the probe
- do not fry garlic on high heat, boil garlic butter hard or add lime while violently boiling
- do not soak cooked wings in butter, make syrup with excess sugar, return them to raw containers or call this low-sodium/low-fat.
Tips
English: Refrigerate-thaw completely; reject spoiled wings; never rinse raw chicken; trim, size-sort and dry every fold; separate and cover the cooked-garlic portion before handling raw chicken; chill-marinate only 30 minutes; shake off and discard raw marinade, oil the rack lightly, arrange one layer with gaps and preheat fully; turn once; verify 75°C away from bone; keep garlic pale gold on low heat and add lime after heat is off; use clean cooked-food bowl/tongs and a thin sauce coat; check dairy/fish labels, watch fish-sauce sodium, and chill/reheat leftovers safely.
