Topside Diner is a guilty pleasure for anybody who’s ever spent time in Taft. We’ll be honest, it’s nothing spectacular. But their budget-friendly prices make it a go-to. So as a reminder of all the times we slipped on plastic gloves for a P139 meal, we hacked Topside Diner’s garlic Parmesan wings.
This recipe is a simple bread-fry-coat situation. But it comes with a few extra steps and ingredients to make the chicken wings crispier and more flavorful. This includes marination, seasoning, and double frying.
How to Make Topside Diner Garlic Parmesan Wings
Seasoning chicken is a non-negotiable in any fried chicken recipe. So to start, place your chicken wings in a container and season them with salt and pepper. Cover the container and leave the wings to marinate for at least 30 minutes. This allows all that seasoning to seep into the chicken.
Meanwhile, make the butter garlic sauce. In a saucepan placed over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Make sure not to burn it!
Right when the butter’s melted, add the garlic. Stir the mixture to infuse the flavors of the garlic into the butter. It should be done in two minutes; you’ll know when the garlic starts smelling aromatic.
Remove the sauce from heat and allow to cook. Then, strain the sauce into a container, removing the garlic.
Set the sauce aside.
In a deep pot, heat enough oil for deep-frying. Meanwhile, prepare your breading station by combining cornstarch, garlic powder, and salt on a plate.
We use cornstarch in this recipe because it creates a crispier crust on the wings. We also season the breading to ensure that there’s flavor in every layer.
Toss the wings into the breading.
Then, shaking off any excess powder, carefully lower the chicken into the hot oil. Work in batches if it doesn’t fit; don’t overcrowd or else the temperature of your oil will drop, affecting how it fries the chicken. Cook the chicken for seven minutes, then transfer them onto a paper towel-lined tray or a cooling rack. Don’t worry if they seem undercooked. You’ll be frying them a second time!
Rest the wings for 10 to 15 minutes to let any moisture in the chicken escape. This helps give you a crispier texture and deeper color during the second fry. Drop the chicken again into the hot oil and cook for three minutes until golden.
Transfer the fried wings into a bowl and add the Parmesan and about a third cup of the butter garlic sauce.
Toss the chicken until well-coated.
Place the chicken onto a serving platter then top with grated cheese.
You can serve the chicken with the remaining butter garlic sauce for dipping, alongside a cup of rice. Alternatively, you can mix in a tablespoon of the sauce with the rice to make butter garlic rice.
In true Topside Diner fashion, you must eat these garlic parmesan wings with your hands only.
The post Topside Diner Garlic Parmesan Wings Recipe: A Food Hack for the Archers appeared first on Pepper.ph.