Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings

These salt and pepper chicken wings are succulent. The wings are super tender and crispy. In addition, the homemade salt and pepper seasoning mix is to die for. It's so addictive and will keep you coming back for more.  

Salt and pepper chicken wings are usually served as appetizers at Vietnamese or Chinese restaurants.

In this post, I'll show you how to cook Chinese salt and pepper chicken wings so you can serve them as a party appetizer during the Superbowl or other big game day, or any gathering at home.

This was inspired by this popular crispy grilled chicken wings on this site, and pairs well with this roasted yellow squash

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings Recipe
• Ingredients for Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings 
• How to Make Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings 
• How to Make Salt and Pepper Chicken in an Air Fryer
• Variations 
• Cooking Tips 
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Why You'll Love This Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings Recipe

• Easy. This chicken wings recipe is very easy to make.
• Restaurant-quality.  You'll be surprised how good the wings turn out. They are as tasty as or even better than places around town.
• Cheaper than takeout. You can make this recipe at the fraction of the cost you'd pay at restaurants. 
• Deep Fry or Air Fryer. You can deep fry these chicken wings on the stove or using an air fryer. I'll be showing you both cooking methods below. 
• Customizable. Use this recipe as a start. You can make it saltier, peppery, or spicier according to your taste. More details on that are below, too.
• Versatile. You can use the homemade salt and pepper seasoning mix on anything, from tofu, fish, calamari, or shrimp. 

Now let's talk about the ingredients, preparation, cooking steps, and everything else you need to know about this killer wings recipe!

Ingredients for Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings 

Below you'll find the ingredient list of everything you'll need to make salt and pepper chicken wings. 

• Chicken wings. Use fresh wingette (flat wing tip), and the drummettes. You can use frozen chicken wings as well, as long as they are fully thawed before cooking. 
• Soy Sauce. Use soy sauce to add umami flavor to the wings while marinating. 
• Wine. I used Chinese Shaoxing wine to add flavor and keep the meat tender during cooking.
• Garlic. You'll be using a lot of garlic to add aroma and flavor to the wings. It's also a base for stir fry. 
• White Peppercorn. In this recipe, I used white pepper to make it more authentic. If you don't have any white peppercorns, feel free to use regular black peppercorns. 
• Garlic Salt seasoning. I used Lawry's garlic salt to season the chicken and to make the homemade salt and pepper seasoning.
• Scallion. Similar to the garlic, I used it to add aroma and flavor to the wings and for stir-frying. 
• Sugar. Use a small amount of sugar to marinade the wings as it gives balance to the saltiness. As a result, you'll get perfectly seasoned wings that aren't overly salty. 
• Green chilies. You can use either jalapeno or serrano chili peppers. 
• Cornstarch and flour. Use a combination of both to produce the crispiest result in this and fried food recipes.
• Salt.

How to Make Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings 

1. Marinate the Chicken Wings This is an important step to infuse flavor into chicken wings. Do not skip it.

• In a bowl, place chicken wings, soy sauce, garlic salt, white pepper, sugar, and wine. Mix to combine. 
• Cover the bowl and marinate for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. 

2. Coat the Chicken Wings with Cornstarch and Flour

• Remove the wings from the fridge.
• In a bowl or zip lock, combine cornstarch and flour really well. 
• Cover each wing with cornstarch and flour mixture on all sides. Shake off excess flour. 

3. Deep-Fry the Chicken Wings 
You'll be double-frying the chicken wings so they get extra crispy while preventing the meat from drying out. 

Double frying takes a longer time than deep frying because you need to let the meat rest for 15 minutes before deep-frying them the second time.

Please keep in mind that the meat doesn't need to be fully cooked and fully crisp at the first fry. You'll do that in the second fry to avoid overcooking and burning. 

• In a dutch oven or wok, preheat the oil to 300°F over medium-high heat. 
• Carefully add all the drummettes with tongs or strainer. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes or until fully cooked and almost crispy. Transfer the drummettes to a paper-towel-lined plate or wire cooling pan.
• Follow the same directions to cook the wingettes for a few minutes less than the drumettes, or until the skin is just starting to crisp up. 

• Let the wings rest for 15 minutes. Once rested, bring the oil to 350°F and put the wings back into the pot. 
• Use a slotted spoon to remove all batter bits from the pot. 
• Deep fry the wings for about 4 minutes or until they are fully cooked and crispy. 

4. Stir Fry the Aromatic Vegetables and Mix All 

Now, it's time to stir-fry the aromatic vegetables to serve with the wings. 

• Heat about 2 tablespoons of reserved frying oil over medium heat.
• Cook the chili pepper for 1 minute, then add scallions and stir for 30-45 seconds. 
• Add minced garlic and cook just until fragrant. Add the chicken wings back into the wok and stir fry for 30 seconds. 

• Add the salt and pepper seasoning mix. Keep stirring until the wings are fully coated with seasoning. 
• Taste and adjust the seasoning with more garlic salt, salt, and/or peppercorn. 

How to Make Salt and Pepper Chicken in an Air Fryer

The air fryer version is pretty similar to the traditional deep fry. Here are the steps to follow: 

• Marinate the chicken wings in soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, garlic salt, sugar, and oil for 30 minutes. 
• Coat each wing with cornstarch and flour mixture evenly on all sides. Shake off the excess flour. 
• Preheat the air fryer to 400°F. 
• Grease the air fryer basket with a small amount of oil. 
• Spray both sides of chicken wings with oil. 
• Cook for about 15 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking. Be sure to check for doneness and adjust the cooking time accordingly until the wings are fully cooked.
• Once the wings are done, stir fry the vegetables, and add wings, and seasoning as mentioned in step #4 above. 

Variations 

There are so many things you can do to make this recipe work to your liking. Here are some variations you can try. 

• Make it less spicy.  Please keep in mind that this recipe has a mild spicy taste. However, it can get really spicy if you eat chili peppers alongside the wings. For a less spicy result, you can remove the seeds from the chili pepper before cooking.  Alternatively, you can use less chili pepper or skip it, and instead use diced green bell pepper to make it more kid-friendly.
• Shaoxing wine. You can find Shaoxing wine at Asian grocers, Ralphs/Kroger, or Amazon. Alternatively, you can use dry sherry, dry white wine, or beer.
• Chicken. You can also use boneless and skinless chicken thighs to make this recipe. Simply cut the chicken thighs into cubes then deep-fry for 5 minutes or longer until fully cooked.

• Starch. You can use either corn starch or potato starch. Potato starch is commonly used in most Asian deep-fry recipes.  It tolerates higher temperatures than cornstarch.
• Add more veggies. Diced red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and sliced onion are some great vegetables you can add to the stir fry. Since you are adding more ingredients, you may need to increase the amount of salt and peppercorn that goes into the mixture. 
• Other popular seasonings. If you have Chinese five-spice powder, you can add it  (up to ¾ teaspoon) to the marinade. Chinese five-spice powder is a popular spice mix sometimes used in salt and pepper chicken wings. You can also add a small amount of Szechuan peppercorn to add a lemony fragrant and "numbing" taste to the wings.
• Finishing. If you like, you can top the chicken wings with fresh cilantro, and/or green onion. 

Cooking Tips 

• Use the right oil. Always use oil with high smoke points, such as canola oil, vegetable oil, avocado oil, or peanut oil. Do not use olive oil! 
• Adjusting the salt amount. Go easy on the salt. You can always add more salt at the later step or before serving. Remember to stir the mixture well. Also, place the chicken wings on the plate first, then pour the aromatic mixed vegetables on top so that the garlic, salt, and pepper distribute well across the wings.
• Frying temperature. When you add the wings to the hot oil, the temperature will drop drastically. For that reason, adjust the heat as needed to maintain the temperature.
• Cooking time. It may vary depending on the quality of the pan, stove, and/or air fryer. Please adjust the cooking time accordingly. 
• Safe temperature. Always cook the chicken to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C). Learn more at FoodSafety.Gov
• Make it ahead. You can make these wings up to a day in advance, in two ways. The first method is to marinate the wings overnight, then follow the rest of the cooking steps before serving. In the second method, marinate, batter, and deep fry the wings once before refrigerating overnight. Bring the wings to room temperature before the second fry, then serve.
• To store leftovers. Let the wings cool down to room temperature. It should be no longer than 2 hours after cooking, or 1 hour when the temperature is 90°F or above. Transfer the wings to an airtight container. Properly stored, they can last up to 4 days in the fridge or 4 months in the freezer.
• To reheat. The best way to reheat salt and pepper chicken wings is to use an air fryer. Simply bring the wings to room temperature, then reheat for 4 minutes or longer at 375°F. Alternatively, you can reheat the wings in the preheated oven at 400°F, until hot and crispy (about 15 minutes). 

Check Out More Chicken Wing Recipes

• Ninja Foodi Chicken Wings
• Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings
• Dry Rub Chicken Wings
• Buffalo Chicken Wings
• Thai Chicken Wings

I hope you'll enjoy this recipe and share it with friends! If you try it and don’t mind, please leave me a comment and/or give this recipe a rating.

📖 Recipe