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Vietnamese Style Spicy Caramel Chicken Wings

[heart_this] · Feb 3, 2013 · 46 Comments

Vietnamese Style Caramel Chicken Wings

Chicken wings in a salty, sweet, sour, spicy Vietnamese caramel sauce inspired by Pok Pok chicken wings.

Last year when I visited Portland I got the chance to stop by Pok Pok to try their chicken wings, which were very good, and I remember thinking that I would have to try making them at home. When I made the buffalo wings the other day I recalled this thought and I could not resist making them for snacking on while watching the game. As it turns out there are several versions of the recipe online and they reminded me of a Vietnamese style savoury caramel sauce which I use fairly frequently and spicy caramel chicken wings sounded fantastic! The Vietnamese style savoury caramel sauce weaves a perfect blend of salty, sweet, sour, spicy by making a caramel and instead of adding cream or water it uses salty fish sauce, sour lime juice and spicy chilies or chili sauce along with some garlic for flavour. For the recipe, I decided to go with this simple savoury caramel sauce which I marinated the chicken wings in and then reduced it to thicken to toss the wings in and glaze them after baking. When I think chicken wings, I think spicy so I loaded up on the sriracha and the wings turned out super tasty and perfectly hot and spicy! The only real problem that I had was that the thick caramel sauce was a little sticky and messy but hey, they wouldn’t be chicken wings without a little mess! These Vietnamese style spicy caramel chicken wings will make an excellent addition to my lineup of snacks for the big game!

Vietnamese Style Caramel Chicken Wings
Get them while their hot because they will disappear fast!

Vietnamese Style Caramel Chicken Wings

Vietnamese Style Caramel Chicken Wings

Vietnamese Style Caramel Chicken Wings

Prep Time: 10 minutes Marinate Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 45 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes Servings: 2

Chicken wings in a salty, sweet, sour, spicy Vietnamese caramel sauce inspired by Pok Pok chicken wings.

ingredients
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce (or soy sauce)
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice (~1 lime)
  • 2 tablespoons chili sauce (such as sriracha) or to taste
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 pounds chicken wings, rinsed and pat dry
directions
  1. Simmer the water and sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat until it turns a deep amber, about 10-15 minutes.
  2. Mix the fish sauce, lime juice, chili sauce, and garlic and carefully add it to the pan, then heat until the caramel dissolves.
  3. Marinate the chicken wings in the sauce for 30 minutes to overnight.
  4. Place the chicken wings on a rack, on a foil lined baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400F/200C oven until golden brown and crispy, about 25-30 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile place the marinade in a sauce pan and simmer over medium heat to thicken, about 7-10 minutes.
  6. Toss the wings in the caramel sauce and enjoy.
Similar Recipes:
Easy Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings
Vietnamese Caramel Salmon Banh Mi
Banh Mi Burgers
Vietnamese Caramel Shrimp Banh Mi
Crispy Baked Peanut Sweet Chili Chicken Wings
20 Minute Vietnamese Caramel Beef

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rosa's Yummy Yums says

    February 3, 2013 at 5:52 pm

    Scrumptious chicken wings!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    February 3, 2013 at 7:37 pm

    Yum, I love the combination of it !
    Great recipe

    Reply
  3. maz lovefoodies says

    February 3, 2013 at 8:50 pm

    Those wings look absolutely delicious! and hey, chicken wings are meant for eating with your fingers so who cares if your hands get a bit messy!

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says

    February 3, 2013 at 11:42 pm

    This recipe sounds great! Only thing I am iffy on is re using the marinade that the raw chicken marinaded in… I will probably reserve some before marinading and use that for the sauce

    Reply
    • Darryl Tripplin says

      January 19, 2019 at 11:23 am

      Great Recipe!!!!

      CAUTION!!!!!!

      BEFORE YOU USE RESERVE MARINADE…..
      YOU MUST BOIL IT FOR AT LEAST 10 MINS TO KILL ANY
      BACTERIA AND PREVENT SALMINILA POISONING

      Enjoy!

      Reply
  5. Barbara Bakes says

    February 4, 2013 at 4:30 am

    Love the gorgeous color. Perfect for licking off of sticky fingers.

    Reply
  6. Amy Lau says

    February 4, 2013 at 10:35 am

    LOVE this – looks so scrummy!

    http://yummei.blogspot.co.uk/

    Reply
  7. Kevin says

    February 4, 2013 at 11:30 am

    Anonymous: You can definitely make extra caramel sauce and reserve some for the glaze rather than using the marinade.

    Reply
  8. Anonymous says

    February 4, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    Wow! These look amazing and I've got to go home after work and make these! Yum!

    Reply
  9. Heather Christo says

    February 4, 2013 at 3:31 pm

    I love that I already pinned this this weekend and thought how INCREDIBLE these looked!!

    Reply
  10. Jenny says

    February 4, 2013 at 3:44 pm

    Oh my! Fabulous Kevin!!

    Reply
  11. naomi says

    February 4, 2013 at 4:19 pm

    I am worse off every morning I come to your blog because I leave so hungry, BUT I'm better a few seconds later after I pass the hunger – because I LOVE your recipes!

    Fantastic as always.

    Reply
  12. A SPICY PERSPECTIVE says

    February 4, 2013 at 4:46 pm

    I bet they smell like heaven!!

    Reply
  13. Gaby says

    February 4, 2013 at 5:12 pm

    Love these spicy caramel chicken wings!! I bet this sauce would be delish on lots of other things too

    Reply
  14. marla says

    February 4, 2013 at 5:37 pm

    Sticky, gooey and fabulous lookin chicken recipe Kevin!

    Reply
  15. Maria says

    February 4, 2013 at 5:43 pm

    Love spicy!

    Reply
  16. Marian (Sweetopia) says

    February 4, 2013 at 6:31 pm

    Kevin, these look so vibrant and delicious!!

    Reply
  17. Munatycooking says

    February 4, 2013 at 6:31 pm

    This looks so delicious, I'm jealous of those who left the bones in that plate 🙂

    Reply
  18. Rocky Mountain Woman says

    February 4, 2013 at 6:49 pm

    This looks absolutely perfect!

    Reply
  19. [email protected] is How I Cook says

    February 4, 2013 at 6:54 pm

    Can't wait to try the sauce. I am not a wing person but I think this would work well over boneless breasts. And Vietnamese is my absolute favorite!

    Reply
  20. CaySera says

    February 5, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    wow….love the look of the wings….looks delicious.

    I am giving away a lovely CookBook this month . For a chance to win. Enter here.
    http://bit.ly/XE2xNp

    Reply
  21. Anonymous says

    February 5, 2013 at 6:42 pm

    I agree that all sources always say to NEVER reuse a marinade that handled raw meat/poultry. Although this is heated in this recipe, it is still a cooking no-no. I say, reserve some.

    Reply
  22. Culinary Cory says

    February 6, 2013 at 3:45 am

    These look so amazing.

    Reply
  23. Katie says

    March 3, 2013 at 12:52 am

    My boyfriend is having a problem making the caramel part of the sauce, it started getting dry or something and started re crystalizing. Not sure what to tell him.

    Reply
  24. Kevin says

    March 3, 2013 at 1:13 am

    Katie: When you add the cool liquid mixture to the hot caramel it may seize up a bit but it will melt back into a liquid if you heat it over medium heat for a few more minutes.

    Reply
  25. wendy says

    March 6, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    I just made this… my caramel never turned colors. It went from white/clear syrup, to suddenly started crystalizing (still white). I went ahead and added the other items at that point, but after that it just stayed 'water like' in consistency… never got sticky again. i didn't think i did, but maybe i simmered it a little too fast? any other tips on making the caramel?

    Reply
  26. Kevin says

    March 7, 2013 at 11:09 am

    wendy: It sounds like you did not simmer the water and sugar long enough. It will definitely start to turn a golden brown when cooked long enough at medium heat, though keep you eye on t a once it starts to turn it will turn quickly.

    Reply
  27. Anna McWhite says

    April 14, 2013 at 4:03 pm

    Sorry to be so dumb, but what is fish sauce? Is it malt vinegar? Thanks!

    Reply
  28. Kevin says

    April 15, 2013 at 10:10 am

    Anna McWhite: Fis sauce is an Asian sauce made by fermenting fish. It does not taste all that much like fish, more salty. You can replace it with a light soy sauce if you cannot find it.

    Reply
  29. Amrita Rawat says

    May 20, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    I've made this sooo many times, thanks for this recipe! They're amaaazing.

    Reply
  30. Anonymous says

    July 18, 2013 at 3:09 pm

    I loved the flavor of this recipe! However, mine didn't come out with that gorgeous red caramel color yours have. Did I do something wrong?

    Reply
  31. kevin says

    July 19, 2013 at 7:01 pm

    Anonymous: I am glad that you enjoyed them! When you made the caramel did you get a nice deep amber colour before adding the other ingredients? After getting a nice amber colour in the caramel, the chili sauce is responsible for the rest of the red colour and the more you use the redder it gets.

    Reply
  32. Anonymous says

    February 3, 2014 at 12:58 am

    Just made this today and it turned out excellent!!.. :)..Thanks for the recipe!!.. http://instagram.com/p/j70OcSntfH/

    Reply
  33. Christian Halfmann says

    February 4, 2014 at 9:07 pm

    Delicious looking chicken wings. I have to try something like that.

    Reply
  34. Anonymous says

    February 8, 2014 at 9:01 pm

    I didn't have any limes so I substituted hot Indian lime relish for the limes and sriracha. Very tasty.

    Reply
  35. kevin says

    February 9, 2014 at 9:25 pm

    thumbivaa: I'm glad that you enjoyed them and thanks for sharing the photo!

    Reply
  36. Larry Appleton says

    October 4, 2014 at 6:52 pm

    I make these all the time, They are arguably better than at pok pok! but I wonder if anyone has any ideas how to make them crispier

    Reply
  37. Anonymous says

    December 26, 2014 at 4:22 pm

    What kind of peppers did you use for garnish in this photo

    Reply
  38. Anonymous says

    July 4, 2015 at 2:11 pm

    Did you strain the garlic out? Mine still has chilli and garlic bits. Yours appears clear.

    Reply
  39. Anonymous says

    July 18, 2015 at 9:01 pm

    Just made these and their disappointingly aweful. I followed the instructions and they taste so salty. The fish sauce is overwhelming. Not to mention my house smells pretty bad too (didnt burn anything just smells like salty a $$). Ive made other vietnamese dishes that use fish sauce and not had any issues. Maybe substitute fish sauce with soy sauce.

    Reply
  40. kevin says

    July 25, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    Anonymous: There should be a nice balance of sweet, salty, sour and spicy in this sauce. I have found that some people really don't like fish sauce all that much and they would prefer to use say a teaspoon where a recipe would normally call for a tablespoon and for those I highly recommend replacing some or all of the fish sauce with soy sauce.

    Reply
  41. kevin says

    July 25, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    Anonymous: No I do not strain the garlic out and it is interesting that none of it appeared in the photos!

    Reply
  42. RT N says

    January 4, 2018 at 6:18 am

    Clearly, you don't know HOW TO EAT WINGS.

    Reply
    • Keegan says

      June 3, 2019 at 10:26 pm

      RT N: What do you mean?

      Reply
  43. Dianna says

    September 24, 2021 at 4:21 pm

    I just watched the PokPok chef make this recipe on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, season 27 (Amazin Asian). The marinade was separate from the caramel sauce. Unfortunately, he provided no measurements. First, he added the chopped garlic and salt and rubbed them together so that the garlic flavor permeated the salt. He then added water, sugar and fish sauce and mixed well. Didn’t say whether he let it sit for a while or not. Then you get a cheesecloth and strain the garlic out of the mixture and you squeeze the heck out of the garlic in the cheesecloth so all that flavor remains in the water/fish sauce mixture. This is because he deep fries the wings and the minced garlic would burn. In the recipe above, they are baked. Here’s a link to the recipe with Guy Fieri and the chef Andy Ricker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IU6P_yxqdM
    It aired long after this recipe was posted on Closet Cooking.

    I appreciate finding the measurements for the recipe here!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Best Chicken Wing Recipes - I Really Like Food! says:
    October 8, 2020 at 2:47 am

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