Indonesian Chicken Wings
By Lee Jackson ↣ Published on: November 16, 2023
You won’t be mad how much of a finger-sticking mess you’ll find yourself in with my to-die-for Indonesian chicken wings. Sweet, salty and totally addictive – you won’t be able to stop yourself!
I can’t get enough Indonesian food in my life. They have all the tastiest food in South East Asia, like Beef Rendang, Laksa and Ayam Goreng. But these special sticky chicken wings are up there as one of the tastiest Indonesian chicken recipes ever!
A sweet, salty, funky umami explosion of flavour with the stickiest, gooey glaze coating every morsel. They're the best communal dish, a game day sharing plate, a hunker down feast for one. These ribs are a delight!
What's Ahead?
Why these ribs just work.
Sticky delights - food that leaves you in a mess are always great fun. The sweet glaze that coats the chicken wings is just the most intensely flavourful sauce ever. Umami heaven with a sweet, salty finish and a funky shrimp paste undertone that screams Indonesia!
Stuff You'll Need
There aren't that many ingredients needed to make these delicious sticky chicken wings. Here's where the flavour happens.
- Chicken wings - I buy them whole and then cut them in half to have the mini drumsticks and wing.
- Seasonings - salt, white pepper and sugar
- Shrimp paste - 'Terasi' in Indonesia, 'Belacan' in Malaysia, 'Kapi' in Thailand - in all its funk-laden stinkathon glory. I love the stuff!
- Ginger and garlic - for fragrance and a depth of flavour
- Kecap manis - a special sweet soy sauce from Indonesia. This brings the umami along with more sweetness for the glaze.
- Spring onion - to add a little more depth of flavour.
- Garnishes - I like cilantro at the very least. I'll also add hot Birdseye chillies and more thinly sliced spring onions along with some wedges of lime.
Step by Step
My Indonesian chicken recipe for ribs is simple as can be. Not a lot of stages to get through. Here's how the magic happens.
- Step 1 - Season the chicken wings with salt and pepper.
- Step 2 - Heat the oil in a wok until smoking. Add the chicken and stir fry for 2-3 minutes until lightly golden. Add the garlic, ginger, shrimp paste, sugar, spring onion, recap manis and a little water and bring to a boil.
- Step 3 - Reduce the heat, put on a lid and let the wings cook for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.
- Step 4 - Remove the lid and turn up the heat. Let the sauce sizzle and bubble for 10 more minutes until it's thick and coating the wings. Remove from the heat.
Garnish with all your chosen garnishes (there's some suggestions below) and serve warm. Serve with some paper towels to help with the sticky finger situation!
Serving Suggestions
Serve with fluffy jasmine rice as a main course, or on their own as the most perfect Indonesian appetiser. Garnishes are your discretion, but I've included a few suggestions below, choose one or all!
- Toasted Sesame Seeds
- Chopped roasted peanuts
- Fresh chopped cilantro
- Fresh chopped Thai Basil
- Crispy fried onion
- Crumbled shrimp crackers
- Crispy Indonesian Serundeng (coconut)
- Crispy garlic
- Thinly sliced Birdseye chillies
- Thinly sliced spring onion
- Finely julienned cucumber, radish or carrot.
Storage suggestions
- Fridge - you can keep the wings in the fridge for 4-5 days (covered). Eat them cold or reheated carefully in the microwave.
- Freezer - The wings will freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost before cooking and reheat until hot.
Ready to get cooking?
Are you ready for the finger-licking delights of Indonesian Chicken Wings? You really are, trust me.
I can't sing the wonders of them enough, which I guess I should - but in all honesty, I have a portion in the fridge that I can't stop thinking about - especially as I've been writing this recipe for the last hour - I gotta go... just cook them! Enjoy!
More Indonesian and Malaysian recipes
If you liked this recipe for Indonesian Chicken Wings, I'm sure you'll love some more of my favourite Indonesian and Malaysian recipes.
- Ayam Goreng (Malaysian Fried Chicken)
- Satay Chicken Curry
- Sambal Udang (Sambal Prawns)
- Malaysian Sambal Sauce
- Beef Rendang
- Ayam Serundeng (Chicken with Crispy Coconut)
- Babi Pongteh (Malaysian Pork Stew)
- Prawn Laksa
- Ayam Masak Merah (Malaysian Chicken in Spicy Tomato Sauce)
- Nyonya Chicken Curry (Ayam Kalio)
- Malaysian Curry Powder
- Malaysian Fish Curry – (Kari Ikan)
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Ingredients
- 2.2 lb chicken wings
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 2 tbsp peanut oil
- 1 tsp garlic (finely chopped)
- ½ tsp shrimp paste (diluted with 2 tbsp water)
- 1 tsp ginger (minced)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 spring onions (thinly sliced)
- 2 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sause)
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt & pepper and set aside.
- Heat wok with oil until just hot. Fry the garlic and chicken together for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned.
- Add the shrimp paste, sugar and ginger and stir for 2-3 minutes. Add the kecap manis and spring onions, bring to a simmer then reduce the heat to low. Cover the wok and simmer the chicken for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a little water if the chicken sticks.
- Serve with fluffy rice or just on their own as a little albeit messy canapé
Notes
- Toasted Sesame Seeds
- Chopped roasted peanuts
- Fresh chopped cilantro
- Fresh chopped Thai Basil
- Crispy fried onion
- Crumbled shrimp crackers
- Crispy Indonesian Serundeng (coconut)
- Crispy garlic
- Thinly sliced Birdseye chillies
- Thinly sliced spring onion
- Finely julienned cucumber, radish or carrot.
Well, I tried inviting a few people over for lunch but as they were all busy and I had already bought everything… They were absolutely delicious.
There hasn’t been a recipe I’ve followed here that hasn’t been utterly delicious. I used what’s left of my Berbere mix to make that Ethiopian dish again.
Keep up the awesome work :)
;)
If I remember rightly, that’s exactly how I felt.
I think the recipe would safely fill up two people, but if there’s a plate of food in front of me, I see it as some kind of human challenge to finish.
Did you enjoy?
Thanks for following and cooking so many of my recipes. I’m thinking of making something Indonesian tonight so keep your eyes peeled in the next week or so for the recipe.
No probs.. I figured it was mixed.. It just didn’t seem like much when I was at the chook shop. After only just being able to finish the last one, I decided it WAS enough :)
Together. I’ve amended it to make it clearer.
Thanks… again.
: )
Is this 700g of BOTH wings and drums or 700 together?