The thing that shocked me when I first had these popular Thai wings was that they only use one seasoning: fish sauce. Really? Only fish sauce? How can it be THIS good?? I guess that is the magic of fish sauce. It delivers salty umami that, in many situations, is all you need. These are one of the most popular appetizers in Thailand, and it is incredibly easy to make at home, no deep frying required!
What Are Thai Fish Sauce Wings?
Fish sauce wings are called ปีกไก่ทอดน้ำปลา peek gai tod nam pla in Thai, which literally means “wings fried with fish sauce.” They’re served in many restaurants across Thailand, especially ones popular with the drinking crowds because it’s such a great dish to pair with a cold beer.
In Thailand they are typically deep fried, but for this recipe I’ve also provided a method that uses shallow frying only, and also an alternative air-fried method (not as crispy, but works).
Watch The Full Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success – and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!
Ingredients and Notes
Here’s all the ingredients you need and important notes about them. For amounts, see the recipe card below.
- Chicken wing flats. Thai fish sauce wings use only flats, as I explain more below. This is, as the name suggests, the flat part of the wings. They’re sometimes called wingettes. For the drums, you can save them for another recipe such as my turmeric chicken soup, tom yum chicken, or these zingy spicy KFC wings!
- Fish sauce. Since it is the only seasoning, it’s important to use good fish sauce. Read more about how to choose good fish sauce here.
- Rice flour. Though you CAN make this recipe without any flour, I find the flour helps create a crisper crust. You can also substitute cornstarch instead, but I do prefer the light, crisp texture of rice flour. **Be sure to buy regular rice flour (red bag) not glutinous rice flour (green bag).
- Ground white or black pepper. This is optional 🙂
- Optional: Sweet chili sauce for serving. In Thailand these are typically served without any dipping sauce (the beverage is the sauce!), and they don’t need it. However, I understand the desire to dip! So if you want, Thai sweet chili sauce would be the perfect pairing, and you can buy it or use my easy homemade Thai sweet chili sauce recipe here.
How to Make Crispy Thai Fish Sauce Wings
Here’s a bird’s eye view of the steps. If this is your first time, I recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success!
- Place wings in a dish just big enough to hold them, or a ziptop bag, and add the fish sauce. Toss the wings to coat, and marinate for 20-30 mins, turning them half way though.
- Pat the wings dry, and if you want you can pepper them at this point too. Then dust the rice flour over them so they are thoroughly coated.
- Flip the wings and dust the rice flour over the other side.
- Put the wings into the sieve and shake off excess flour.
- Add oil into a 12-inch skillet it is about ¼ inch thick. One hot, lay the wings thick-skin side down and let them fry for about 4 minutes until they have a deep golden brown colour.
- Flip the wings to fry the other side for another 2 minutes or so until they are cooked through.
- When shallow frying, oil tends to jump more than when deep frying, so it’s good to have a mesh guard!
- Drain on paper towel and enjoy! They don’t need a sauce, but if you want, they are great dipped in Thai sweet chili sauce.
How to Deep-Fry and Air-Fry Fish Sauce Wings
I love to shallow fry these wings because I get the crispiness of frying without having to deal with a lot of oil, though all the flipping can be a bit fiddly if you need to make multiple batches. You can deep fry and air fry these, with pros and cons below:
Deep Frying
How: Bring about 1 inch of oil to 375°F (190°C) over medium high heat. Fry the wings for 4-5 minutes until browned and crispy.
Pros: Fasting cooking time and not at all fiddly – you drop them in and let them go. This is the best option if you’re making a large amount of wings. You can also use drumettes with this method.
Cons: Uses a lot of oil.
Air Frying
How: Place the wings in the basket, thicker-skin side up, and spray or brush the wings with oil. Air fry at 400°F (200°C) for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through. I don’t find it necessary to flip them as you want to maximize the crispness of the top side.
Pros: Convenient, we all love air fryers for a reason! It also allows you to use drumettes.
Cons: The result is fine, but the skin is not as crispy, so if you want maximum crispiness, stick with oil-frying. It also takes much longer per batch, so not ideal if you need to make multiple batches.
Advance Prep and Reheating Tips
You can marinate the wings one day in advance, and then then cook them before serving. If serving a party, you can also cook them in advance and then reheat close to serving time; they reheat very well!
To reheat: You can air fry them at 350°F(175°C) or bake them at 400°C (200°C) for about 8 minutes. You can also shallow fry or deep fry them again in a skillet, the way you did the first time.
Only Flats for Fish Sauce Wings!
The most interesting thing about many Thai wings recipes, this one included, is that they’re almost always made ONLY with wing flats. No drumettes. Go to any Thai restaurant in Thailand, order fried wings appetizer, and you’ll see for yourself.
For this recipe, using flats also allow us to get wonderfully crispy skin with shallow frying, no deep frying required! If you want to use drumettes, you’ll need to deep fry them if you want them crispy, or air fry them if you don’t need the crisp.
Personally think flats are the better part of the wings anyway, but I have to wonder…where do all the drumettes go?
One theory I have is that the drumettes all go to Thai KFC which makes these incredible spicy wings that use drumettes only, see my KFC Wingz Zabb recipe here. The drumettes are also often used in soups, such as this turmeric chicken soup, because they make for a super rich broth, and the meat is easier to remove with a spoon than the flats.
Recipe Card
Crispy Thai Fish Sauce Wings
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 6 mins
Total Time: 36 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
Description
Salty, umami, crispy Thai wings are incredibly simple yet amazingly delicious. These are super popular appetizers in Thailand that can be easily made at home!
Instructions
TIP: If shallow frying, I recommend using a mesh splatter guard. I find that shallow frying wings creates more aggressive splattering than deep frying.
- In a dish just large enough to hold all the chicken wings in one layer, or in a zip-top bag, toss the chicken wings with the fish sauce well. Let the wings marinade for 20-30 minutes, flipping or stirring them half way through.
- Remove the wings from the marinade and pat them dry with paper towel. If using, sprinkle ground pepper all over the wings and press it onto the skin.
- Lay the wings in one layer on a plate and sift rice flour evenly over them, then flip the wings and sift the flour over the other side. Transfer the wings into the sieve and shake off any excess flour; you want the wings to be entirely coated with a thin layer of flour. (If making a lot you can just put the wings in a large mixing bowl and toss with rice flour, but for one batch I find this method is easy and uses less flour.)
- At this point you can deep fry the wings, or shallow fry them as I did in the video.
- To shallow fry, fill a 12-inch skillet with just a thin layer of oil, about ¼ inch deep. Once the oil is hot, place the wings, thick skin side down, and fly without moving them for about 4 minutes over medium heat until the skin has a deep golden brown colour.
- Once the skin has developed a deep brown colour, flip and fry the other side just until the chicken in cooked, 2-3 more minutes. Don’t worry about trying to get this side crispy, you don’t want to fry for too long and overcook the chicken. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.
- To deep fry, heat the oil to 375°F and fry for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
- To air-fry (not as crispy): Place the wings in the basket, thicker-skin side up, and spray or brush the wings with oil. Air fry at 400°F (200°C) for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through. I don’t find it necessary to flip them as you want to maximize the crispness of the top side.
- Serve while still hot with a cold beverage! If you want, you can also serve with sweet chili sauce.
