Tebasaki (Nagoya Chicken Wings)
Nagoya's most famous bar snack: whole chicken wings fried twice until the skin shatters, then brushed with a sweet and salty soy glaze and showered with white pepper and sesame.
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Prep
Cook
Total
4 portions
Tebasaki are the chicken wings that made Nagoya famous. The dish was born in the 1960s at a shop called Furaibo and went nationwide when Sekai no Yamachan put its peppery version on tables all over Japan. What sets tebasaki apart from ordinary fried chicken is what it leaves out. There is no thick batter, just a whisper of potato starch, so the focus stays on the skin. The wings fry once at a gentle heat to cook through, rest for a few minutes, then fry again hotter so the outside turns glassy and crisp. The moment they come out of the oil they are brushed with a glaze of soy sauce, sake and a little sugar, then hit with toasted sesame and a heavy hand of white pepper. You eat them with your fingers, and that is half the fun.
Ingredients
Wings
800 g chicken wings
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp white pepper
1 tbsp potato starch
1 l vegetable oil for deep frying
Glaze
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp sake
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp sugar
1 clove garlic grated
1 tsp ginger grated
1 tsp rice vinegar (optional)
To finish
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tsp white pepper generous, to finish
