When it comes to wings, most people may automatically think of chicken. But, with Thanksgiving on the way, this recipe from Vancouver’s Juke Fried Chicken is for turkey wings.

These wings can either be deep-fried, as described below, or grilled before being tossed with Nouc Cham vinaigrette and pickled chilies. 

Confit turkey wings

Yield: makes about 16 pieces

Ingredients
2 kg turkey wings, with wingette and drumette split (about 8 whole wings or 16 pieces in total)
2 L duck fat or canola oil (enough to cover when frying)
rice flour (to dredge)
torn mint and Thai basil
toasted peanuts, crushed
toasted sesame seeds 

Marinade
8 g sugar
6 g salt
28 ml tamari
40 ml fish sauce
17 g chopped garlic
17 g chopped ginger
0.5 tbsp turmeric
0.5 tbsp ground coriander
0.5 tbsp Thai yellow curry powder
0.5 tbsp chilli flakes
0.5 tbsp Szechwan peppercorn
0.5 tbsp mustard seed

With a mortar and pestle, crush the marinade spices until they are a fine powder.
Add garlic, ginger, sugar, and salt to the spices and work it to make a fine paste.
Stir in the tamari and fish sauce and set aside for later use.

Nouc cham vinaigrette
125 ml fish sauce
125 ml rice wine vinegar
30 ml sugar
30 ml tamari
1 Thai chili, minced
1 large garlic clove, minced

Place rice wine vinegar, sugar, Thai chili, and garlic in a pot and bring to a boil.
Remove from the heat and add fish sauce and tamari.
Allow sauce to steep and cool before using.

Pickled Chilies

Note: You can use any hot peppers you like for garnishing the turkey wings. Some good medium-heat options are jalapenos, serranos, bird’s eye, or Fresno chilies.

100 g chilies, thinly sliced
75 ml vinegar
35 ml water
15 g sugar
5 g salt 

Bring vinegar, water, sugar, and salt mixture to a boil and pour over sliced chilis.
Cover container and allow to come to room temperature on the counter before refrigerating.

Method

Rub the marinade (see recipe above) evenly on the wings and allow to sit for a minimum of four hours, preferably overnight.
After marinating, rinse the wings with cold water and pat dry.
Place wings in a large, high-sided, oven-proof pot and cover with the oil or duck far, whichever you are using.
Place the pot in a 300 F (about 150 C) oven and cook slowly (confit) until wings are tender but still hold their shape.
Allow pot to cool to room temperature before removing the wings from the oil.
Chill wings fully in the fridge before frying.
Heat canola oil to 350 F (about 175 C) using either a counter-top deep fryer or a high-sided pot on the stove.
Dredge the confit turkey wings in the rice flour, being sure to cover them evenly.
Tap off the excess flour and drop into the hot oil, a few wings at a time, making sure not overload your pot.
Allow the wings to fry until they become golden and the center is hot, about 4 to 5 minutes.
Remove the wings from the fryer and place on a rack to allow the excess oil to drip off.
Repeat until all wings are cooked, be sure to give the oil a few minutes in between batches to come back up to temperature.
Once all the wings have been cooked, place in a large bowl and toss them with the nouc cham vinaigrette (recipe above) and pickled chilies (recipe above).
Place wings on a platter and garnish with mint and Thai basil, peanuts, and sesame seeds.