Chicken wings with sanbei sauce

1 HOUR 15 MINUTES + BRINING + COOLING SERVES 4 | EASY

table salt 50g caster sugar 25g chicken wings 1kg, jointed and wing-tips discarded vegetable oil for confit and deep-drying milk 100ml cornflour 100g caviar to serve (optional) SANBEI SAUCE vegetable oil 3 tbsp ginger 2 thumb-sized pieces, cut into 1cm cubes garlic 5 cloves, crushed dark soy sauce 2 tsp light soy sauce 3 tbsp chicken stock 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar 2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine 90ml soft brown sugar 2 tbsp rapeseed oil 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 tbsp cornflour 1 tsp mixed with 1 tbsp water

• Put the salt and sugar into a pan with 500ml of water and heat gently until both are dissolved. Pour in 500ml of cold water and mix again. Cool, then add the chicken wings and leave overnight in the fridge.

• Strain the chicken wings and pat dry really well with kitchen paper. Heat the oven to 110C/fan 90C/gas º.

• Put the wings into a deep roasting tin and top up with enough vegetable oil to cover. Cook in the oven for 40 minutes. Leave to cool in the oil.

• To make the sauce, heat the vegetable oil in a pan, crush the ginger cubes with the side of a knife and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Tip in the remaining sauce ingredients and cook gently for 10-15 minutes until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

• Strain the wings and dry with kitchen paper. Put the milk and cornflour in two bowls and dip the wings in the milk then the cornflour.

• Fill a pan no more than 1/ full with vegetable 3 oil and heat to 190C or until a cube of bread browns in 25 seconds. Fry in batches for 4-5 minutes until golden brown, then drain on kitchen paper. Keep warm in a low oven while you fry the rest. Serve coated in the sanbei sauce, with caviar on top, if you like.

PER SERVING 681 KCALS | FAT 44.7G SATURATES 6.9G | CARBS 42G | SUGARS 17.1G FIBRE 0.9G | PROTEIN 27.1G | SALT 2.6G