These Peking Chicken Wings are the fusion of one of my favorite Chinese dishes, Peking Duck, with one of my favorite proteins, chicken wings. I am marinating the wings in salt and letting them rest in the fridge overnight. This way, the skins will be nice and dry, so we get a beautiful brown color when we roast them. I am also using five-spice powder as the seasoning.

Can't get enough of Chicken Wings? Try my Salted Egg Wings next!

overhead view of Peking chicken wings on plate.

🥡 About This Recipe

Peking Duck is one of the most luxurious meals you can get at Chinese restaurants. It usually takes about three days to prepare and some of the steps are very complicated. For example, one step is to separate the skin from the meat using an air pump. This basically allows the fat to melt out from underneath and makes the skin extra crispy.

Recently, I got the idea to make Peking duck but with chicken wings instead. It actually turned out really good. The result is not exactly like Peking duck since we are using a completely different protein, but the wings were crispy, and they had a nice flavor from the five-spice powder.

I guess you could use duck wings if you really wanted to, but duck wings are very thin so they would overcook very quickly.

🍗 How To Get Crispy Skin

I am drying the wings in my fridge overnight. This is the most important step to getting crispy skin. Many cooks underestimate the power of drying the skin for crispiness, but it is by far the most important step.

Another technique some chefs use is to blanch the skin using boiling water. This tightens the skin which makes it crispier after roasting. But I tested it, and it did not make any difference with chicken wings. Here is a picture of the two wings. The left side was not blanched while the right side was blanched:

chicken wing comparison: one with boiled skin, and another without boiled skin.

Baked chicken wing comparison: one with pre-boiled skin, and another without pre-boiled skin.

I could not tell the difference between blanched and not blanched skin. They were both pretty crispy.

🧂 Ingredients

Chicken Wings: We will use about 1 pound. Drums and flats are both okay, but try to find pieces that are not too small.
Five Spice Powder: This is a pre-made spice mix that you can buy from most Asian grocery stores. It typically consists of star anise, fennel, cinnamon, cloves, and Sichuan peppercorns.
Salt
Glaze: Maltose and rice vinegar. You can also use honey for the maltose.
Dipping Sauce: Hoisin sauce, sugar, and toasted sesame oil.

🔪 Instructions

marinade ingredients sitting on top of chicken wings in bowl.

seasoned chicken wings arranged on wire rack on baking sheet.

STEP 1: Add the chicken wings to a bowl and toss with the five-spice powder and salt. Transfer to a wire rack on a pan with some space between each wing.

chicken wings after drying for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

STEP 2: Refrigerate uncovered for at least eight hours and up to 24 hours.

STEP 3: In a small bowl, combine the maltose, hot water, and vinegar, and mix until smooth. Brush a thin layer over both sides of the chicken wings.

baked chicken wings resting on wire rack on baking sheet.

STEP 4: Preheat your oven to 450℉ and set the rack in the upper middle position. Bake the chicken wings for 15 minutes. Flip the wings, brush with another layer of glaze, and bake for another 15-20 minutes, flipping a few more times towards the end. When they are brown and crispy, remove them from the oven.

STEP 5: Combine hoisin sauce, sugar, and sesame oil, and serve on the side.

side view of Peking chicken wings on plate.

📋 Recipe