As much as I love fried food, I’m not all that fond of frying food.
As I mentioned back in our Pork Ginger recipe, I used to work at a restaurant as a teenager. During my time there, one of my responsibilities was the frying station, so I feel like I’ve had my lifetime fill of frying foods! Hence, I usually only fry food when the opportunity presents itself.
The other day happen to be one of those opportunities where the ‘Mrs’ out of nowhere said, ‘I want fried chicken’ and off she went.
So the next day, instead of throwing away the cooking oil, I decided to test a chicken wing recipe I jotted down a while ago. I used the traditional base Japanese tebasaki age recipe from JOC and added some different elements I’ve been wanting to try.
What came out was an awesome fusion recipe integrating hints of Japanese and Taiwanese fried food! Our tasting panel (kids) liked it so much that they requested we make it again, so I guess there will be more frying to do in the near future!
This dish as pictured is low-carb/keto friendly at ~1g per serving!
These wings start with a crispy bite of sweet umami soy flavor accompanied with textures from crisped garlic and a touch of heat on the finish.
For this recipe, the special ingredients you will need are Soy Sauce, Swerve/Monkfruit, Japanese Cooking Sake and optional Togarashi (can replace with cayenne pepper). Everything you will need can be purchased on Amazon (aside from Japanese Sake) or a local Asian supermarket.
Now, let’s get started!
Prepping Time 15M
Cook Time 20M
Total Time 35M
Net Carb/Serv ~1g
Servings 2 (10 wings per serving)
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 lbs Chicken Wings (around 18-20 pieces)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 Cups Neutral Oil for Frying ( no taste)
Sauce
- 2 Garlic Clove
- 1/2 Inch of Sliced Ginger
- 1/2 Cup Japanese Sake
- 1/4 Cup Swerve/Monkfruit
- 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
- 1/8 tsp Salt
Topping
- 5 Garlic Cloves (optional topping)
- 1 tbsp Neutral Oil (no taste)
- 1/2 tsp Togarashi (optional topping and can replace with cayenne pepper)
- 2 Stalks Green Onions
Directions
1) Gather all the ingredients.
2) Finely mince 2 cloves of garlic and set into a stove top pot.
3) Slice ginger and add to the stove top pot.
4) Combine the rest of the sauce ingredients into the stove top pot – Japanese sake, Swerve/Monkfruit and salt. Bring to boil on medium heat and once boiling, reduce to and keep on simmer.
5) Place chicken onto a sanitary surface and sprinkle with salt and black pepper on both sides. Set aside.
6) Add enough oil to cover about 1/2 inch of pan of choice (we use a cast iron with good results). Heat oil up to 375F (if you don’t have a thermometer, just wait until the oil starts to lightly smoke).
7) In the meantime, finely mince the optional remaining garlic cloves and add into a small fry pan. Add 1 tbsp of neutral oil and place on medium heat. Continue to cook until the garlic is fried and turns light brown (around 1-2 minutes). Once done, transfer to a holding bowl, sprinkle in togarashi, mix well and set aside.
8) Finely chop green onions and set aside.
9) Once the oil is ready, carefully add 1/2 of the chicken batch inside (around 10 pieces). Cook for 3 minutes and then rotate and cook the other side for another 3 minutes. Note – if you can comfortably fit all the chicken in one go, do so by all means.
10) Transfer to a cooling rack for 1 minute. If you do not have a cooling rack, place on a plate with a paper towel to soak up oil. After 1 minute, place the cooked wings back into the oil and cook for an additional 1 minute per side and transfer to holding plate. This process is called ‘refrying’ or ‘double-frying’, which is the trick to get something super crunchy. Repeat the frying process with the 2nd batch.
11) Once all the batches are cooked, take a piece of wing, dip it into the sauce and place onto a serving plate. After dipping all the wings, top with optional fried spicy garlic and green onion, enjoy immediately.
Hope you enjoy our Keto Fried Japanese Garlic Chicken Wings – Tebasaki-Age!
If you are looking for other low-carb/keto ideas, be sure to check out our growing Recipe Index full of Asian Inspired low-carb/keto recipes!
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Fried Japanese Garlic Chicken Wings - Tebasaki Age
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 lbs Chicken Wings (around 18-20 pieces)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 Cups Neutral Oil for Frying (no taste)
Sauce
- 2 Clove Garlic
- 1/2 Inch Ginger
- 1/2 Cup Japanese Sake
- 1/4 Cup Swerve/Monkfruit
- 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
- 1/8 tsp Salt
Topping
- 5 Cloves Garlic
- 1 tbsp Neutral Oil
- 1/2 tsp Togarashi
- 2 Stalks Green Onions
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Finely mince 2 cloves of garlic and set into a stove top pot.
- Slice ginger and add to the stove top pot.
- Combine the rest of the sauce ingredients into the stove top pot - Japanese sake, Swerve/Monkfruit and salt. Bring to boil on medium heat and once boiling, reduce to and keep on simmer.
- Place chicken onto a sanitary surface and sprinkle with salt and black pepper on both sides. Set aside.
- Add enough oil to cover about 1/2 inch of pan of choice (we use a cast iron with good results). Heat oil up to 375F (if you don't have a thermometer, just wait until the oil starts to lightly smoke).
- In the meantime, finely mince the optional remaining garlic cloves and add into a small fry pan. Add 1 tbsp of neutral oil and place on medium heat. Continue to cook until the garlic is fried and turns light brown (around 1-2 minutes). Once done, transfer to a holding bowl, sprinkle in togarashi, mix well and set aside.
- Finely chop green onions and set aside.
- Once the oil is ready, carefully add 1/2 of the chicken batch inside (around 10 pieces). Cook for 3 minutes and then rotate and cook the other side for another 3 minutes. Note - if you can comfortably fit all the chicken in 1 go, do so by all means.
- Transfer to a cooling rack for 1 minute. If you do not have a cooling rack, place on a plate with a paper towel to soak up oil. After 1 minute, place the cooked wings back into the oil and cook for an additional 1 minute per side and transfer to holding plate. This process is called ‘refrying’ or ‘double-frying’, which is the trick to get something super crunchy. Repeat the frying process with the 2nd batch.
- Once all the batches are cooked, take a piece of wing, dip it into the sauce and place onto a serving plate. After dipping all the wings, top with optional fried spicy garlic and green onion, enjoy immediately.
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