Sounds really good. I've been stuck on a "Korean inspired" recipe for a while but I'm ready to try something new.

Here is a link that might be useful: My current favorite

Does she have a version that is not so sweet? She lost me on the 1/2 cup of sugar. The Korean recipe uses 2 tbsp of sugar for 6 pounds of wings, and it is still described as being slight sweet. I guess I could omit the sugar altogether, which is what I generally do, or maybe just use one teaspoon. I like sour, but not sweet, when it comes to chicken wings or barbecue.

That recipe looks like borderline dessert! I do not like a lot of Hawaiian or Philippine food because of the sweetness, but I have not noticed this in Vietnamese food before, which I normally love.

I missed that, Lars. I agree it sounds like a lot, and will probably add "to taste" as I mix up the marinade. But I'll definitely be trying it.

We've been eating SE Asian food for 40 years, at a variety of friends' homes and restaurants. The food - not just SE Asian, but Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and even Californian bistros - has become increasingly sugar-heavy.

Using some sugar is traditional in much of Asian cooking, but I'd agree it's becoming overdone. It's not a trend we like. Yes, I'd feel free to reduce some, but not all, of the sugar. However, the author states up-front that her intent was to make a very intense sauce.

A couple of times I've subbed honey or brown sugar in Asian recipes, the latter being actually closer to what Asians traditionally used. But you have to use a very neutral honey, if you choose that route. You also have to be careful - in a frying recipe, the food may brown too fast.

My DH and I have found it very interesting how the Millennial foodies have much more liking for sweet hard-liquor cocktails, plus saltier and sweeter food, than we do as Boomers. We can sometimes tell what we're going to dislike about the food just from the clientele of diners when we first walk into a new restaurant.

This post was edited by jkom51 on Tue, Dec 30, 14 at 16:40

Sounds interesting! I also enjoy Asian food so I don't hesitate to seek out restaurants when traveling with the Mustangs...just not too often in the San Francisco Bay Area.

After having Korean Beef Bulgogi in a bar and grill in Alabama of all places, I am on a mission to replicate it. I recall that it was a little on the sweet side.

I have successfully made Nam Tok (Thai beef salad); it has become one of our favorites. I first had it last year at the Fuji Haha & Thai Peppers restaurant in Kennesaw, GA.

I made these yesterday for the game. I used the opportunity to buy a bottle of Red Boat fish sauce which I've seen recommended across the 'net. You definitely want to leave the range hood on because cooking down that much fish sauce for that long gets the house smelling a bit funky!

Overall I'd say it was a decent base recipe but it could use work. I wasn't sure what "roasted chile paste" is, but unless it's very hot there's really nothing that makes this sauce spicy. I used a chile garlic sauce that I had in the fridge (pretty much sambal as far as I could tell) and then added a bit of Sriracha. I didn't go too nuts because I didn't want to alter the intended taste too much for my first run.

Thanks to Lars' observation I halved the sugar and it was still plenty sweet.

I had forgotten how much I like rice flour for fried food. Great crunch!

I'll be making these again. Next time I'll reduce the sugar even further and find some way to bump up the spice. If someone could tell me what roasted chile paste is, I'd appreciate it.

Basically, you can totally skip the marinade overnight part. Just season the chicken with salt, pepper, and sugar and let them sit for 30 mins. and fry the chicken wings until crisp. Then use the prepared sauce to coat/glaze the chicken. You do not need to cook the sauce down any further. Cooking down the fish sauce can make your house smell pretty bad for a few days and it is totally unnecessary.

It's necessary to cook down if you want a syrupy glaze, which I did. I'd probably agree about the marinating though. Since they're coated in sauce, who could really tell if a tiny bit of flavor penetrated the meat.

"Roasted chile paste" is generally referring to the smooth, pureed roasted chiles with NO sugar.

Both 'chile garlic sauce' and sriracha contain sugar which substantially mutes chile heat.

On a scale of 10, roasted chile paste is an 8-9. Chile garlic and sriracha are about a 4-5. If you are going to use the latter, then yes, it will be way too sweet and the sugar should be reduced.

Is there a commercial name brand you could recommend? I looked around, several places including online, and didn't see it.

As for the sugar content, the 10% to 20% for each of the one or two teaspoons of sauce that I added could hardly put a dent in offsetting the 1/4 cup of granulated sugar that I omitted. Your upstream comment about Asian foods becoming increasingly sugar-heavy out west sounds like the true culprit here.

I'll make this work. I liked the funkiness!