The first time I had fried stuffed chicken wings was in San Francisco at a Thai restaurant. The wings were stuffed simply with ground chicken meat, mung bean noodles, cilantro roots, pepper and garlic. But I remember it was fried so crispy that when bitten into the crunch oozed out the fragrant and savory juices inside. It burned my tongue but they were so good I had five of them. Funny I rarely see this dish in Thailand.

I have always wanted to make them again since my first try years ago but my procrastinating alter ego never got to it the opportunity never came. Until I received a box of mangoes two days ago. They were more sour than sweet and would be perfect for some kind of salsa but I stuffed them in chicken wings instead. No special reason why. The idea just came.

I first made them the same way that I had at the restaurant in SF except without the noodles. Then I got another idea to add in red curry paste. Imagine all those herbs — kaffir lime peel, galangal, lemongrass, chili, garlic — hugging the sweet and sour tangy mangoes……………heaven!

In the end I did made a sort of Asian salsa to accompany the wings. It’s almost the same kind of dressing that comes with fried fish cakes or tod mun pla (ทอดมันปลา). Except I replaced the cucumbers with mangoes and omitted the peanuts because, well, I didn’t have any at hand. Maybe next time. I’ve used up only half a mango. Many, many, many more to go.

Ingredients:

6 chicken wings

120 grams ground chicken meat

2 tablespoons red curry paste

4 kaffir lime leaves julienned finely (stems removed)

6 strips of mangoes (2″ long x 0.5″ wide)

6 toothpicks for securing the wings

1 large red chili (coarsely chopped)

1/3 cup water

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

4 shallots (sliced)

3 tablespoons of mangoes cut into small cubes

1. Dressing: On high heat, boil the water, sugar and vinegar in a small pot. Taste and add more of the 3 ingredients as needed. When done set aside and let cool. Add in the shallots, chili and mango just before serving.

2. Debone the chicken wings and set aside.

3. Mix the curry paste, ground chicken meat and kaffir lime leaves together. Take a strip of mango and wrapped about a 3/4 tablespoon of the chicken mixture around it. Stuff it into the chicken wing and secure with a toothpick. Make sure it’s no more than 3/4 full. More, it’ll burst when cooked. Do the same for the rest of the wings. When done, steam them for 8-10 minutes over high heat and boiling water. Set aside and let cool slightly.

4. Take a wing and dip into the egg. Then coat with bread crumbs and fry on medium heat until golden. Remove and drain. Do the same for the rest. When done serve immediately with the mango dressing.