Frying is a cooking method found in almost every cuisine around the world; meat, poultry, and fish are among the most commonly fried food. Among the gazillions of fried food dishes, fried chicken is one of the top favorites. The seasonings (and dipping sauces, if any) vary from culture to culture but one thing stays the same--fried chicken is crisp on the outside but moist on the inside. Loved by children and adults alike, fried chicken is comfort food--familiar and uncomplicated, and eating it (with the hands, of course) requires no fancy tools. When vietnamese chicken wings found its way to the western hemisphere, the frying part became optional. Grilling, broiling or cooking in the oven became the preferred cooking methods. If we have to guess, it's due partly to the health belief that fried food--especially deep-fried meat--should be avoided to reduce cholesterol buildup and clogged arteries that can lead to heart problems. Well, one can always continue believing what one has been raised to believe, or one can pay attention to recent admissions that a lot of medical literature from the last 50 to 60 years were borne out of doctors' ambitions and collusion with/bribery from drug companies. So, we cook our vietnamese chicken wings pok pok style--floured and deep-fried. The marinade we used, however, was not the same as pok pok's.
