Dashboard › Browse Recipes › 5 Sauces for Chicken Wings
5 Sauces for Chicken Wings
by Giacomo Bocchio
sauce_base medium Fusion

5 Sauces for Chicken Wings

Chef Giacomo Bocchio shares his Super Bowl trauma story from working at the Ritz-Carlton and teaches five different wing sauces: Korean (gochujang), Thai (sweet chili-garlic with fish sauce), honey mustard, acevichada (Peruvian-Nikkei mayo), and classic Buffalo. Includes his pre-cooking technique for crispy, juicy wings.

45m Prep
30m Cook
1h 15m Total
6 Servings
chicken-wings sauces korean thai buffalo honey-mustard acevichada nikkei fusion bar-food deep-fry brining party-food game-day

Ingredients

Acevichada Coating
  • 0.5 cup Tempura batter (aparejo) (with mustard, for acevichada wings only) optional
Acevichada Sauce
  • 0.5 cup Cornstarch mayonnaise (see causa recipe)
  • 1 tsp Dashi powder (hondashi)
  • 0.5 clove Garlic
  • 1 tsp Soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp Lime juice
  • 0.5 unit Aji limo (Peruvian hot pepper) (with seeds for color and heat)
Brine
  • 3 liters Water
  • 300 g Salt (dissolved in water (10% solution))
Buffalo Sauce
  • 1 cup Louisiana hot sauce (Crystal, Frank's, or similar)
  • 4 tbsp Butter (cold, cubed)
Coating
  • 1 cup All-purpose flour
  • 1 cup Cornstarch (equal parts with flour)
Frying
  • 2 liters Vegetable oil (for deep frying) (heated to 180C)
Garnish
  • 2 tbsp Cilantro stems (finely chopped) optional
  • 2 units Aji limo (for garnish) (sliced in brunoise) optional
  • 2 stalks Green onion (cebolla china) (sliced) optional
Honey Mustard Sauce
  • 3 tbsp Honey (real bee honey, not inverted sugar)
  • 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 3 tbsp American yellow mustard
  • 1 tbsp Olive oil
Korean Sauce
  • 3 tbsp Gochujang (Korean chili paste)
  • 2 tbsp Honey
  • 1 tbsp White vinegar
  • 2 tbsp Pineapple jam/marmalade
  • 0.5 tsp Salt
Pre-cook
  • 2 liters Chicken stock (salted, made from wing tips and carcass)
Thai Sauce
  • 3 tbsp Hoisin sauce
  • 3 tbsp Chili garlic sauce (Sriracha-style)
  • 3 tbsp Honey
  • 1 tbsp Fish sauce (nam pla) optional
Wings Base
  • 2 kg Chicken wings (separated into drumettes and flats, tips removed)

Steps

  1. 1
    Prepare wings: remove wing tips (save for stock). Separate into drumettes and flats at the joint. Make a 10% brine (300g salt in 3L water, blend to dissolve). Submerge wings for 30 minutes, mixing occasionally.
    Tip: The brine hydrates the meat and penetrates salt evenly, so after frying they stay incredibly juicy. This removes dependency on a cook's hand for seasoning.
    ~35 min
  2. 2
    Make all 5 sauces: KOREAN - mix gochujang, honey, vinegar, pineapple jam, salt. THAI - equal parts hoisin, chili garlic sauce, honey, plus 1 tbsp fish sauce. HONEY MUSTARD - equal parts honey, Dijon, American mustard, plus olive oil. ACEVICHADA - blend mayo, dashi, garlic, soy sauce, lime juice, aji limo. BUFFALO - reduce Louisiana hot sauce in a pan, whisk in cold butter cubes until emulsified.
    Tip: The Buffalo technique is essentially a beurre blanc (French white butter sauce) - a reduction emulsified with butter. The amount of butter controls the spice level.
    ~20 min
  3. 3
    Pre-cook wings: submerge brined wings in HOT salted chicken stock (concentration cooking). Cook 10-12 minutes. Remove to a tray - they continue cooking from residual heat. Let cool slightly.
    Tip: Starting in hot stock is concentration cooking (seals in flavor), while starting cold is extraction cooking (for making stocks). The stock must be salted to prevent losing the brine's salt.
    ~15 min
  4. 4
    Coat and fry: toss pre-cooked wings in equal parts flour and cornstarch mixture, shake off excess. Deep fry at 180C for 4-5 minutes until golden and crispy. For Korean wings, do a double fry - first fry, rest briefly, second fry for extra crunch.
    Tip: Deep frying (full submersion) means LESS oil absorption than shallow frying. The cornstarch gives extraordinary crispiness. Double frying is a Korean technique that makes wings extra crunchy.
    ~15 min
  5. 5
    For acevichada wings: dip pre-cooked wings in tempura batter (aparejo), then coat in flour-cornstarch mix, then deep fry. The tempura creates incredible textured crunch curves.
    Tip: The tempura batter with mustard is the same technique from the sandwiches video (aparejo/entorchado).
    ~5 min
  6. 6
    Sauce the wings: heat Korean and Thai sauces in a pan, toss wings through. For honey mustard and Buffalo, toss hot wings directly in warm sauces. For acevichada, nap (napar) the crispy tempura wings with the mayo sauce. Garnish Korean with green onion, Thai with cilantro stems and aji limo slices, acevichada with aji limo and green onion.
    Tip: Hot wings from the fryer plus a touch of frying oil will emulsify beautifully with the sauces. These are ideal bar/pub food - fatty and spicy to make people drink more!
    ~10 min

Nutrition (per serving)

420
Calories
30g
Protein
20g
Carbs
25g
Fat
1g
Fiber
Cultural Context
Chicken wings are deeply tied to American bar culture and Super Bowl traditions. Giacomo's version bridges multiple cultures: Korean gochujang (fermented chili paste), Thai nam pla (fish sauce, similar to the ancient Roman garum), Peruvian acevichada mayo inspired by Nikkei chef Toshiro Konishi, and classic Buffalo sauce from Frank's RedHot. The brining and pre-cooking technique comes from his Ritz-Carlton days in Naples, Florida.
Video thumbnail
Giacomo Bocchio
5 SALSAS PARA ALITAS | GIACOMO BOCCHIO
Watch on YouTube →
Log a Cook