How to make Colm O'Gorman's air fryer crispy chilli chicken wings

'Trust me, they are phenomenal'

These fabulous air fried chicken wings are crispy and delicious, and smothered in a beautiful caramel chilli sauce.

The sauce uses a classic Vietnamese ingredient, Nuoc Mau, a dark caramel syrup that is very easy to make.

This is the base for the sauce which is then packed full of fabulous flavour using shallots, garlic, ginger, chilli that are fried in a little butter.

The two final ingredients that really transform this sauce into something very, very special are fish sauce and lime juice.

The fish sauce may seem an unconventional ingredient to use in a caramel based sauce, but trust me, it is phenomenal.

It brings lots of salty, umami, slightly funky flavour.

Fish sauce caramel is the new salted caramel, and if you try this recipe, you will see why.

Air-fryer Crispy Chilli Chicken Wings

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

These fabulous air fried chicken wings are crispy and delicious, and smothered in a beautiful caramel chilli sauce.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Starter

Ingredients

• Ingredients

• 1kg chicken wings

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 2 tsp potato starch or cornflour

• 125g brown sugar

• 100ml cold water

• 1 shallot

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

• 1-2 red chillies

• 20g butter

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1 star anise

• 125ml fish sauce

• 1 lime

• To serve

• 2 spring onions

• Handful fresh coriander

• Thinly sliced red chilli

• Handful roasted peanuts

• 1 lime

Method

1. Portion the chicken wings. Cut each wing into three pieces at the joints, discarding the tips. Dry them using some clean kitchen paper to remove any excess moisture. Do not skip this step, it is important as it helps the wings become super crispy. Put the wings into a large bowl and add the baking soda and potato starch or cornflour. Toss the wings to coat them thoroughly in the baking powder and starch, you will know they are well coated when there is little to no dry powder left in the bottom of the bowl.

2. If you are using an air-fryer and cooking the full kilo of wings, you will likely need to cook them in two batches, or if you have a two-drawer air fryer, you can just use both drawers at the same time. The air fryer method is best, but you can also cook these wings in the oven. Place a layer of wings in the pan of your air-fryer, leaving a little space between each one. Cook at 190 Celsius for 20 minutes, tossing them once halfway through to make sure they cook evenly.

3. If you are cooking the wings in an oven, roast them at the same temperature. You will not need to batch cook them obviously. Just spread the wings out in a single layer on a roasting tray, again, leaving a little room between each one. Cook them for 25 minutes turning halfway through.

4. While the wings are cooking, make the sauce. Put the brown sugar and 100ml of water into a small saucepan. Fill your sink with cold water to a depth that will come about two thirds up the sides of the pan you are using for the syrup. Place the pan over a medium/high heat and stir the sugar until it has dissolved. When the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring and let the syrup cook without disturbing it. After about seven or eight minutes, the syrup will be bubbling vigorously. Leave it on the heat until it turns dark brown. When the bubbles on the surface of the syrup are very orange and the syrup is close to the colour of black coffee, take the pan off the heat and carefully put the pot into the sink of cold water to stop it cooking.

5. Peel and finely chop the shallot. Peel and mince the garlic and grate the ginger. Finely chop the chillies. If you prefer a mild sauce, remove the seeds and pith before you chop the chillies. If you like a good kick of chilli heat, leave them in.

6. Warm a saucepan over a high heat and add the butter. When it melts and starts to foam, reduce the heat to medium and add the chopped shallot. Fry the shallot for three to four minutes, until it starts to soften, and then add the garlic and the ginger. Fry for one more minute and add the chopped chilli. Add the cinnamon stick and the star anise. Cook for another two to three minutes, stirring regularly.

7. By now the syrup will have cooled a little. Add it to the pan of fried shallot, ginger, garlic and ginger. Stir in the juice of one lime. Bring the pan back to the boil and then reduce the heat to medium/low and allow it to simmer away for five to ten minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens to the point where it coats the back of a spoon. Remove it from the heat when it gets to that stage.

8. When the wings have had their first twenty minutes in the air fryer, remove them from the air fryer and toss them in half of the caramel and chilli sauce. Remove the crisper plates or racks from your air fryer basket and pop the wings back in, along with the sauce that you have just tossed them in. There is no need to cook them in batches at this stage, they can all go in together in just one basket.

9. Turn the temperature up to 200 Celsius and air fry the wings for another five to six minutes, tossing the halfway though, until they are dark, golden, crispy and sticky with sauce. If you are cooking the wings in an oven, use the same method, but increase the heat to 225 Celsius for the final blast of heat.

10. Wash and roughly chop the coriander. Trim and chop the spring onions. Roughly chop the roasted peanuts. Thinly slice some red chilli. Cut the lime into wedges.

11. Arrange the wings on a serving platter. Scatter the spring onions, chopped coriander, roasted peanuts over the wings. Add the lime wedges and drizzle with more of the sticky caramel chilli sauce. Serve immediately.