Sweet Crispy Asian Lemon Wings. Crispy chicken wings marinated in a delicious garlic ginger soy sauce and tossed in a tangy sweet lemon juice with sugar. These wings are a recreation of my favourite childhood Chinese-style wings from a retired Chinese restaurant called “Golden Hoy”. Easy to make and I share instructions on how to make them in the air fryer or how to deep fry them normally. My Chinese style chicken wings take just over 30 minutes to make and are great for dinner, lunch, appetizer or game day snack!
When I was a little girl, I remember my dad had this client who owned a Chinese restaurant called “Golden Hoy”. And every time they had to visit my dad who worked from home, they would bring over these amazing deep fried crispy wings that were coated in the most incredible sweet lemon juice with some sugar.
I remember racing down in my PJs to get the first bite before my siblings could get to them first. When I opened the little red take out box, the smell that came from these wings was so phenomenal, I still remember the smell to this date. After this restaurant retired from their business, I was obviously sad that my favourite client would no longer bring these wings to my house. It has been decades since I’ve had them and I knew I had to try making them myself.
I’m super excited to share this Chinese lemon chicken wingsrecipe with you. Now if you don’t have an air fryer NOT TO WORRY! I share instructions and how much oil you’ll need to deep fry these bad boys.
What do they taste like?
These sweet crispy lemon chicken wings are SO DELICIOUS! They are so crispy on the outside thanks to the tapioca starch (potato starch works equally well!) and are tossed in a tangy lemon juice seasoned with sugar and salt. Prior to cooking the wings, these wings are marinated in a garlic soy sauce giving them even more flavour!
Easy to make!
My crispy Chinese sweet lemon wings recipe is super easy to make! You are simply marinating the wings in some soy sauce, garlic powder, ginger powder, chicken powder, and minced garlic for 10 minutes. Then coating them in tapioca or potato starch (whichever is more accessible to you). Spray or brush oil over the wings and pop them in the air fryer for 8 minutes on one side and 8 minutes on the other side at 400 degrees F!
Meanwhile, whisk together lemon juice, sugar and salt in a bowl. Once the wings are cooked and while hot, toss them in the lemon juice mixture. Lastly, sprinkle just a bit more sugar over top for extra sweetness and enjoy!
How do I make these without an air fryer?
You would marinate and coat the wings in starch as normal. Next instead of using an air fryer, heat a wok or large pot with 2 cups of neutral oil until it reaches 350 degrees F. Carefully lower the wings into the hot oil one at a time. Fry for 7-8 minutes or until golden crispy brown and cooked through inside. Then simply toss them in your lemon juice mixture and sprinkle sugar over top to enjoy!
Tips for making Crispy Sweet Lemon Wings
Below are tips on making these delicious crispy Chinese Lemon Sugar Chicken Wings:
- Use fresh chicken wings for my crispy sweet lemon wings recipe. If you notice they smell a little off or “rank” as my husband says, soak them in white vinegar in a bowl (enough to water it) for 5 minutes. Rinse off the vinegar completely and rinse under cold water 3-4 times. Most of the smell will be gone.
- Marinate the chicken wings overnight for best taste. But if you’re tight on time, 10 minutes is good enough!
- Do not simply dump the starch into the bowl of wings with the wet marinade. Instead add the starch to a clean dry plate and coat each wing individually to ensure they are totally coated in starch. This ensures super crispy wings.
- If you are air frying, spray or brush enough oil to coat the wings completely.
- Make sure to flip your wings half-way through to ensure an even crispy coated texture.
- While the wings are piping hot, toss them in the lemon juice mixture and sugar. This will actually allow them to soak in that juice and evaporate the moisture so the wings remain crispy after tossing.
Other recipes you may like!
If you enjoyed my crispy Sweet Chinese Lemon Chicken Wings, you may enjoy these recipes:
AIR FRYER TONKATSU SAUCE CHICKEN
VIETNAMESE GARLIC BUTTER CHICKEN WINGS
SWEET SPICY GOCHUJANG CHICKEN
CHINESE FIVE SPICE HONEY CHICKEN
MONGOLIAN CHICKEN
OYSTER SAUCE BRAISED CHICKEN WINGS
For this recipe
You will need the following Sweet Lemon Chicken Wing ingredients:
- 852 grams chicken wings (22 wings)
- ¾ cup tapioca starch, or potato starch
- 2 tablespoon neutral oil, vegetable or avocado oil works well
- 2 teaspoon sugar, to coat the wings after tossing in lemon sauce
Marinade: - 2 teaspoon chicken powder
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon garlic, minced
Lemon sauce: - ½ tablespoon Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice, or juice of ½ lemon
- ½ teaspoon Salt
How to make Chinese Lemon Chicken Wings
- In a large bowl, marinate wings with the marinade ingredients for 10 minutes or overnight for best taste.
- Then on a plate, first add ¼ cup of tapioca starch and begin coating your wings in the starch. Continue adding more starch as needed until you reach ¾ cups if needed. Do not simply dump the starch into the bowl of wings with the wet marinade. Coating these wings individually is important for a crispy texture.
- Depending on the size of your air fryer, lay all or only half the batch of wings in air fryer. Spray or brush enough neutral oil over wings until they are all shiny.
- Air fry at 400 degrees F for 8 minutes on one side. Please see Notes below for deep frying instructions and ingredients.
- Once wings have cooked then remove basket from air fryer, flip wings over. Air fry for another 8 minutes at same temperature. Repeat this process if you could only fit half the batch of wings.
- Meanwhile, whisk together lemon juice, sugar and salt in a small bowl.
- Then toss piping hot cooked wings in lemon sauce. Lastly sprinkle sugar over the wings and toss again. Enjoy!
Instructions for deep frying:
To deep fry, heat a large wok or pot of 2 cups neutral oil over 350 degrees F. Once the hot has reached its temperature. Carefully lower the coated wings one at a time. You may need to deep fry in two batches in order not to over crowd the oil as this leads to less crispy wings. Fry for 8 minutes in total, 4 minutes each side.
Once crispy brown and cooked through, toss the piping hot wings in the lemon sauce. Sprinkle sugar over top and toss again. Enjoy!
Give it a try!
Well, I hope you give my Sweet Crispy Asian Lemon Wings a try! It always excites me when you guys make my recipes and I hope this is one you try.
Thanks for visiting my blog! If you enjoyed my sweet lemon chicken wings please share it with your family and friends or on social media!
Take a picture if you've made my Asian lemon chicken wings and tag me on Instagram @ChristieAtHome in your feed or stories so I can share your creation in my stories with credits to you!
Made this recipe and loved it?
If you could leave a star rating for my lemon chicken wings chinese style, I would greatly appreciate it 🙂 Thanks so much!
Take care,
Christie
*This post for my Chinese style chicken wings contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I also earn from qualifying purchases through additional affiliate programs
Sweet Crispy Asian Lemon Wings (Air Fryer or Deep Frying)
Ingredients
- 850 grams chicken wings (about 22 wings)
- ¾ cup tapioca starch or potato starch
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil or avocado oil works well
- 2 teaspoon white granulated sugar to coat the wings after tossing in lemon sauce
Marinade:
- 2 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder (aka chicken stock powder)
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce not light or dark!
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon garlic minced
Lemon Sauce:
- ½ tablespoon white granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice or juice of ½ lemon
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, marinate wings with the marinade ingredients for 10 minutes or overnight for best taste.
- Then on a plate, first add ¼ cup of tapioca starch and begin coating your wings in the starch. Continue adding more starch as needed until you reach ¾ cups if needed. Do not simply dump the starch into the bowl of wings with the wet marinade. Coating these wings individually is important for a crispy texture.
- Depending on the size of your air fryer, lay all or only half the batch of wings in air fryer. Spray or brush enough neutral oil over wings until they are all shiny.
- Air fry at 400 degrees F for 8 minutes on one side. Please see below for deep frying instructions and ingredients.
- Once wings have cooked then remove basket from air fryer, flip wings over. Air fry for another 8 minutes at same temperature. Repeat this process if you could only fit half the batch of wings.
- Meanwhile, whisk together lemon juice, sugar and salt in a small bowl.
- Then toss piping hot cooked wings in lemon sauce. Lastly sprinkle sugar over the wings and toss again. Enjoy!
Instructions for deep frying:
- To deep fry, heat a large wok or pot of 2 cups neutral oil over 350 degrees F. Once the hot has reached its temperature. Carefully lower the coated wings one at a time. You may need to deep fry in two batches in order not to over crowd the oil as this leads to less crispy wings. Fry for 8 minutes in total, 4 minutes each side.
- Once crispy brown and cooked through, toss the piping hot wings in the lemon sauce. Sprinkle sugar over top and toss again. Enjoy!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
These wings look totally fantastic. I am so glad you found a way to re-create this favorite childhood treat. The air fryer is such a genius cooking shortcut!
Taryn
Made these tonight and they were fantastic. Perfect flavour and great crunch!!
christieathome
I am so happy to read this Taryn! Thank you so much for making my recipe and I'm glad you enjoyed it!