Vietnamese Chicken Wings

These lemongrass marinated authentic Vietnamese chicken wings are packed with all the Vietnamese flavors and spices and are grilled to a smokey perfection on the grill. Bring these wings to your next backyard BBQ and you will be hailed as the new master of the grill!

Course Appetizer & Sides

Cuisine Vietnamese

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 4 50

Servings wings

Calories 778kcal

Author Takes Two Eggs

Ingredients

Lemongrass Marinade

3 lbs chicken wings
1 stalk lemongrass minced
1 tablespoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon five spice
⅓ cup brown sugar packed
¼ cup fish sauce
3 tablespoon water
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoon honey

Garlic Lime Fish Sauce Glaze

¼ cup Fish Sauce
½ cup water
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tablespoon Chili Garlic sauce Huy Fong Foods
2 garlic cloves minced
¼ cup lime juice (or lemon juice)

Garnish

Birds Eye Chili or Thai Chili
Cilantro chopped
Peanuts chopped

Instructions

Marinate the Chicken

Prepare the lemongrass. Pound the lemongrass with a pestle or meat tenderizer, and grind into a food processor until minced.
Make the Marinade. Combine the lemongrass with the rest or the marinade and marinate the wings in a ziplock bag removing as much air as possible and seal.
Marinate in a large ziplock bag in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.

Option 1: Cook on the Grill

Cook the wings on low heat. Heat a charcoal or gas grill to low heat. Lightly grease the grill and place the wings on the grill. Cover the grill and cook for 20-25 minutes or until most of the fat has rendered and the wings are cooked through.
Make the garlic-lime fish sauce glaze. While the wings are cooking make the glaze by mixing the fish sauce, water, sugar, lime juice, garlic chili paste and minced garlic.
Flip and baste. After 20 minutes, flip the wings and baste the marinade onto the wings. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Then, flip the chicken and marinate on the other side and continue cooking for another 10 minutes or until done.
Serve. Serve with the remaining sauce on the side and garnish with birds eye chili, peanuts and cilantro.

Option 2: Cook in the Oven

Prepare the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the rack at the top of the oven. Line two baking sheets with foil and coat with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake the wings. Remove the wings from the marinade and place the wings, skin side up on the sheets and roast them for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown.
Make the garlic-lime fish sauce glaze. While the wings are cooking make the glaze by mixing the fish sauce, water, sugar, lime juice, garlic chili paste and minced garlic.
Flip and baste. Flip the chicken wings with the glaze with the fish sauce glaze and bake for another 10-15 minutes until browned. Flip the chicken, baste the other side and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until cooked.
Serve. Serve with the remaining sauce on the side and garnish with birds eye chili, peanuts and cilantro.

Notes

Use a food processor to mince the lemongrass. Lemongrass is a hard stalk texture and is pretty difficult to chop up with a knife. Using a food processor grinds the lemongrass in a snap.
Marinade the chicken overnight. You can marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3-4 hours but I recommend doing it overnight for the best rich flavors.
To prevent sticking, spray the grill with vegetable oil. This prevents the skin of the chicken from sticking to the grill.
Cook the wings low and slow. This guarantees a juicy cooked wing that you can control how quickly it cooks.
Keep one burner off in case some wings are cooked quicker. Move the wings that are cooked quicker over the cooler burner to prevent from burning.
Storage Instructions. You can store these Vietnamese chicken wings in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Nutrition