Stuffed Tebasaki Chicken Wings (With a Soy Garlic Glaze)

I’m going to preface this by saying that unless you have a lot of time and nothing else to do, don’t do this. You can easily make a deconstructed one where you just pile the tebasaki (Japanese style fried chicken wings) high with melted cheese, corn, kimchi, etc. and glaze and be a happy and whole human being. If you happen to be insane like me, then by all means spend your time removing the two wing bones from a bunch of raw chicken wings, cursing your wretched existence.

This is a recipe inspired by a little hole in the wall restaurant in Flushing, NY called Debasaki, that only opened at night, filled with Korean/Japanese bar food like curry with mozzarella cheese, kimchi fried rice, lots of shochu, and of course, stuffed fried chicken wings. In college, I would go with friends after a night out, and after I got married and still lived in the area, Adam and I would satisfy late night chicken cravings by going there.

Of course, now that I’ve moved, it’s been several years since I last tasted these crispy, juicy, cheesy wings, but it’s always been in the back of my head to make this.

There are many tutorials on the internet about how to debone a chicken wing. I’m not here to teach you that portion (unless you have no other choice, in which case it is a matter of separating the wingettes from the mini drumsticks, then using a knife or scissors, separating the two bones where they are connected at the end where you just separated it from the mini drumstick, separating the tendons from the bones on that end, and then twisting and pulling each bone until they slide out.) My only tip is, grip it firmly, and twist hard. The raw chicken wing can take a bit of roughing up before falling apart.

The tebasaki of my yesteryears were stuffed with 1. corn and cheese, 2. kimchi and cheese 3. vegetables (carrots and scallions… if I remembered correctly) and cheese but actually… you can probably do whatever. I’m not here to stop you. If you don’t have kimchi, sriracha or gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) and cheese are fine substitutes. The soy glaze is a delicious Asian style tangy garlic glaze, perfect for the crispy skin to soak up.

You can definitely fry this in the air fryer if you prefer it to be lighter. Serve it with shredded cabbage and thousand island sauce.

Ingredients (For the Chicken)

• 12 chicken wings, the mini drumstick removed, and the wingette bones removed
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese. Cubed mozzarella, cheddar, or swiss work too.
• 1/4 cup sweet corn, kimchi, or mixed veggies
• Corn starch
• 1 egg, whisked
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Deep fryer, air fryer, or oil with a pot for frying
• Vegetable oil for frying

1. Bring your frying oil up to temp, 375 degrees Fahrenheit or when small bubbles gather quickly around a drop of corn starch you put it. Large bubbles means your temperature is too high.
2. Add a few pinches of salt and pepper to the raw chicken wings.
3. Stuff the deboned wings with your choice of cheese and whatever stuffing you’d like. Don’t overstuff as it will end up leaking out.
4. Dredge in corn starch, then in egg wash, then corn starch again.
5. Fry until outside is crispy and the juices run clear. I like to fry twice–removing it from the oil for about 10 minutes, and then returning it.
6. Dip in the garlic soy glaze (recipe below.)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sake
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon rice syrup (omit if you don’t have, or if you like honey)
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons of 1:2 part corn starch and water slurry

1. In a pot, combine all the ingredients and cook until thickened.