Chef Inpan Yuttajag creates a perfect fusion of French and Vietnamese

Vietnamese Butter Chicken Wings are a popular dish. Since Vietnam was under French rule for nearly a century, its modern culinary culture incorporates colonial influences. This familiar dish uses butter, a staple in French cuisine, to enhance its aroma. Chef Inpan Yuttajag (Head Chef of Bamboo Thai, a Southeast Asian restaurant) shares a recipe inspired by the classic Franco-Vietnamese formula, creating a flavorful, exotic chicken wing dish.

Vietnamese Butter Chicken Wings: A Classic Beer Snack

Vietnamese Butter Chicken Wings blend Eastern and Western cooking styles, evolving from the local favorite beer snack – Lemongrass Fish Sauce Chicken Wings. Chef Inpan Yuttajag, a Thai chef, explains that Vietnamese and Thai cooking are quite similar, both using aromatic herbs like lemongrass, galangal, garlic, and Thai basil to marinate meats, with fish sauce and soy sauce for seasoning, then grilling or deep-frying for a crispy, fragrant finish.

Butter chicken wings, a relatively recent dish (appearing in recent decades), largely retain traditional cooking methods, ingredients, and marinades. The key difference is the addition of butter to sauté the garlic sauce, coating the crispy fried wings with its rich aroma, making them more flavorful and an ideal accompaniment to beer.

Southeast Asian Chef Specializes in Nanyang Cuisine

Hailing from Phayao Province in northern Thailand, Chef Inpan Yuttajag moved to Hong Kong 8 years ago. He has served as head chef in various restaurants specializing in authentic Thai, Vietnamese, and Malaysian cuisines and is currently Head Chef at Bamboo Thai. Chef Inpan excels at authentic home-style dishes and is passionate about exploring traditional Vietnamese and Malaysian culinary cultures. He focuses on using fresh ingredients, seasonings, and cooking techniques to highlight the best flavors of Southeast Asia.

Demonstration Dish: Vietnamese Butter Chicken Wings

• Serves: 1 person  Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 5 mid-joint chicken wings
• 50g Vietnamese frying powder
• 50g cornstarch
• 30ml water
• 5g lemongrass
• 5g lemongrass powder
• 5g white pepper powder
• 10ml soy sauce
• 10ml fish sauce
• 20g butter
• 20g fried garlic
• 15g minced garlic
• 5g garlic powder
• 5g Thai basil
• 5g coriander
• ¼ lime

Method:

1. Finely chop the lemongrass. Mix Vietnamese frying powder, cornstarch, and water to form a batter.
2. Wash and pat dry the chicken wings. Marinate with lemongrass powder, chopped lemongrass, white pepper powder, soy sauce, and fish sauce for 30 minutes.
3. Coat the marinated wings in the batter. Deep-fry in 180°C oil for 5 minutes. Remove wings, increase oil temperature to 200°C, and fry again for about 2 minutes until crispy. Drain excess oil.
4. Heat a wok, add butter, and sauté minced garlic until fragrant. Add chicken wings, garlic powder, and fried garlic. Toss to combine.
5. Plate the wings and garnish with Thai basil, coriander, and lime.

Chef's 4 Tips for the Dish:

1. Butter-fried garlic has a rich, intense aroma.
2. When sautéing garlic in butter, use low heat to prevent burning the butter.
3. The marinade is potent; avoid over-marinating to prevent masking the chicken's natural flavor.
4. Using mid-joint wings ensures even cooking and a crispy texture.

Author: EH  Photos: Sing Tao Daily

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