Chicken Wings with fish sauce glaze

Recipe from Hollie Phuong-Hong Nguyen from Facebook

My Cánh Gà Chiên Nước Mắm (Deep-fried Chicken Wings with Fish Sauce Glaze). I'm sharing my super simple multiple-purpose sauce that can be used to make this dish but also for many gỏi dishes (Viet salad).

Recipe

2-3 lbs chicken wings. If buy whole wings, cut off the tips and cut them into wing portions. Soak and wash with some salt and vinegar and drained in a colander. Set aside.
*Tip: washing with salt and vinegar to help chicken wings become a little whiter because the vinegar will remove that gooey and fatty residue on the skin; hence helps with the burning when frying as well.

Marinade:
2 Asian soup spoons fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp garlic powder or granulated garlic
1 tsp onion powder
1-2 tsp lemon or lime juice
*Tip: the lemon or lime juice is to help the chicken wings from burning when fry.

Marinade the wings with the above ingredients mixing well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours.

Making the fish sauce glaze/sauce:
I make a big batch and use it for this dish and my gỏi (Viet salad). You can store it in the fridge, but it is fine at room temperature if you'll be using it up soon in a short time.
1 bottle of fish sauce
4 cups sugar
*Note: I use the Squid Brand fish sauce for this. From what I understand, different brand of fish sauce will yield different sweetness/saltiness, so adjust the amount of sugar to fit your taste.

In a sauce pan, cook the sugar and the fish sauce on low heat, gently stir until sugar is dissolved. When the liquid comes to a rapid boil, the consistency has turned a little bit thicker (just a little bit), turn off the heat and skim off the foam. This sauce is supposed to be a slightly thicken consistency. You can't tell when it is hot on the stove, but trust me it will thicken as it cools at room temperature. So do not over cook it too long on the stove or it will turn into something like taffy candy. In that case, it can't be used, and you don't want that.
*Tip: Squeeze the juice of a piece of lime or lemon into the sauce when done and stir well.  This is to preserve the color of the sauce and keep it from getting darker when you store away.

Making the wings:
Corn starch (optional if you like the flour coated crispiness)
Lots of cooking oil (this is for deep fry, so enough to completely cover the wings when fry
1 Tbsp minced (but not too fine) garlic.  You want some texture of the garlic clinging onto your wings for that awesome garlicky taste.
1-2 Tbsp cooking oil

In a deep skillet or pan fill with the oil. Heat up the oil to be ready for frying. If using corn starch, coat the marinaded chicken wings evenly with it. Do this a small batch at a time, enough to fit into your pan for frying but not overcrowding the pan. Drop in the wings and deep fry until they are lightly golden and become crispy. If you like extra crispy, double fry.
In a skillet, heat up 1-2 Tbsp of cooking oil, add the minced garlic and fry until it is lightly brown (don't burn it).  Add a few spoons of the fish sauce glaze, enough to evenly coat your batch.  Stir it quickly to mix. Then add your deep fried chicken wings, toss to evenly coat the wings with the glaze.  Transfer wings to plate immediately and serve.  Do not leave wings in the skillet. You want crispy wings not simmered wings :).
Enjoy!