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Chicken wings are marinated in red fermented bean curd (nam yue) along with other seasonings and then baked or air-fried until crispy. If you don’t like to deep fry, you should try this recipe.
Chicken wings are just fun finger food to eat. From kids to adults just love crispy chicken wings. What I don’t like is the deep-frying part. I’m not going to deny that I love fried food, but I hate deep-frying. Greasy kitchen and when I walk out from the house I realize that I smell like the fried food too LOL! So, to solve that problem, I cook this nam yue chicken wings in the oven and air fryer.
What is nam yue?
Nam yue is a fermented bean curd. They are usually sold in a jar in small cubes and red in color. The red color comes from red yeast rice. The bean curd is fermented and hence it has that pungent aroma, savory, sweet, and umami at the same time. The Chinese like to use it to marinade meat as this stuff really kicks the flavor up a notch
How to make oven-baked or air-fryer nam yue chicken wings
1. Pat the chicken wings really dry with an absorbent paper towel so they can absorb the marinade
2. Mash the nam yue with a fork and mix the rest of the marinade ingredients. Coat the wings pieces in the marinade. You can do this in a mixing bowl or in zipper bag. Actually ,zipper bag is better as the chicken wings are marinated more evenly. Marinade for at least 1 hour or for the best result, overnight
3. Mix the ingredients for flour coating
If you have a sprayer, fill it with cooking oil and spray evenly on the flour-coated chicken, ensuring there are no dry spots
4. Carefully get one chicken wing, shake off excess marinade juice and coat it with the flour mixture and place it on the baking sheet. Continue with the rest. If you have a sprayer, fill it with cooking oil and spray it evenly on the flour-coated chicken, ensuring there are no dry spots. Otherwise, you can dip the flour-coated chicken in the cooking oil
5. For oven-baked wings: Preheat oven at 425 F (220 C). Put the chicken wings on the baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes
6. Then flip over and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until crispy
7. For air-fryer wings: Preheat an air fryer at 400 F. Brush the basket with a bit of oil or use a non-stick spray.
Put the chicken wings in the basket, in one layer
8. You may have to do this in batches and air fry for about 8 minutes and then turn over and air fry again for another 5 minutes or so. The time depends on your air fryer too
9. I feel like it’s such a waste to throw away the marinade and so I made it into a sauce and my son happened to like the sauce so much. Pour the marinade juice into a saucepan and bring to a boil. You can adjust the taste to your preference. It should be savory and sweet
10. Serve the wings with the sauce on the side
Tips
1. Really pat the chicken wings dry before marinating them
2. If you have a rack, you can put this on the baking sheet and the chicken will cook more evenly on both sides in the oven
3. Spraying the flour-coated chicken wings with some oil really helps to crisp things up, otherwise, there will be lots of dry flour on the chicken wings
Did you make this nam yue chicken wings recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Nam Yue Chicken Wings (Oven-baked or Air-fried)
Ingredients
- 800 gr chicken wings mixture of drumettes and wingettes
- Cooking oil for coating
Marinade:
- 50 gr nam yue (red fermented bean curd)
- 1 clove garlic powder finely minced
- 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp cooking wine
- ¼ tsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
Flour coating:
- 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder (NOT baking soda)
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
Marinate the chicken:
- Pat the chicken wings really dry with an absorbent paper towel so they can absorb the marinade. Mash the nam yue with a fork and mix the rest of the marinade ingredients. Coat the wings pieces in the marinade. You can do this in a mixing bowl or in zipper bag. Actually ,zipper bag is better as the chicken wings are marinated more evenly. Marinade for at least 1 hour or for the best result, overnight
Coat the chicken with flour mixture:
- Mix the ingredients for flour coating. Carefully get one chicken wings, shake off excess marinade juice and coat it with the flour mixture and place it on the baking sheet. Continue with the rest
- If you have a sprayer, fill it with cooking oil and spray it evenly on the flour-coated chicken, ensuring there are no dry spots. Otherwise, you can dip the chicken into the oil
For oven-baked wings:
- Preheat oven at 425 F (220 C). Line your baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Brush with oil or non-stick spray
- Put the chicken wings on the baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes and then flip over and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until crispy
For air-fryer wings:
- Preheat an air fryer at 400 F. Brush the basket with a bit of oil or use a non-stick spray.
- Put the chicken wings in the basket, in one layer. You may have to do this in batches and air fry for about 8 minutes and then turn over and air fry again for another 5 minutes or so. The time depends on your air fryer too
Making the sauce (optional):
- I feel like it's such a waste to throw away the marinade and so I made it into a sauce and my son happened to like the sauce so much. Pour the marinade juice into a saucepan and bring to a boil. You can adjust the taste to your preference. It should be savory and sweet
To serve:
- Serve the wings with the sauce on the side:
