Ingredients

Wings

• 4 lbs chicken wings
• 6 garlic cloves, coarsely minced
• Canola oil, for frying

Crispy fry flour mix (or substitute ½ package Vinh Thuan crispy fry flour)

• 130 g all-purpose flour
• 20 g cornstarch
• 3 g baking powder
• ⅓ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• 1 pinch MSG (optional)

Sauce

• 10 tbsp sugar
• 8 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp ketchup (optional — adds subtle tang and color)
• 1 tbsp sriracha (optional — for heat throughout)

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Instructions

1. Parboil the wings. Bring a deep saucepan of water to a boil. Add the wings and parboil for 2 minutes. Drain well, then pat completely dry with paper towels. Don’t skip this — moisture is the enemy of crunch.

2. Make the flour mix and coat the wings. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, and MSG if using. Place the dried wings in a large zip-lock bag with the flour mix, seal, and shake until every wing is evenly coated. Give a few extra shakes to dust off any excess.

3. Fry the garlic. Heat a generous pour of canola oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and fry, stirring frequently, until golden, crispy, and fragrant — about 2 minutes. Watch it closely; garlic turns from golden to bitter in a blink. Lift out with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, and set aside.

4. Fry the wings. Using the same oil (already garlicky and gorgeous), raise the heat to medium-high. Fry the wings in small batches — never crowd the pan — until deep golden and cooked through, about 8–10 minutes per batch. Drain on a wire rack or paper towels.

5. Make the glaze. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, fish sauce, and ketchup and sriracha if using. Heat over medium-low, stirring until the sugar fully dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes — the glaze should be syrupy and fragrant, not boiling hot when it hits the wings.

6. Toss and serve. Add the wings to the glaze and toss to coat thoroughly. Transfer to a serving platter, shower with the crispy fried garlic, and add chili flakes or extra sriracha if you like heat. Serve immediately.

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Notes

• On the flour mix: Vinh Thuan’s crispy fry flour (bột chiên giòn) gives you that distinctively light, crackly crust you find in Vietnamese fried chicken, and it’s widely available at Asian grocery stores. The homemade mix above is a very solid stand-in.
• On the glaze: The 10:8 sugar-to-fish sauce ratio is intentionally sweet — it caramelizes slightly as it coats the hot wings. Prefer it less sweet? Start with 8 tbsp sugar and adjust from there.
• Make it spicier: Stir a sliced fresh chili or a spoonful of chili garlic sauce into the glaze while it heats.