At After, the luxe restaurant and cocktail lounge from Chef Curtis Duff y, Chef de Cuisine Joe Mishler wanted to incorporate some more casual bar staples onto the menu. Tapping into his love of Asian flavors, he decided on crispy, decadent Vietnamese-inspired duck wings. “What's more approachable than wings at a bar?” From the sauce to the batter, the deceptively simple dish took weeks to get right. Mishler first cures the wings in a mixture of salt, sugar, and garlic before rinsing off the cure and braising them in duck fat for 10 hours. “You get that perfect tenderness without them completely falling apart.” Next comes the batter, which took Mishler over 100 attempts to figure out. “I got my hands on every flour I could. I tried a dry mix, wet batter, a combination of both." He eventually settled on a mixture of rice flour, cornstarch, and a splash of water for an extra crispy, “non-glutinous” coating. After a quick fry, the wings are dipped in a sweet and savory caramel sauce. Inspired by the Vietnamese caramel technique, or nước màu, Mishler creates a deep amber caramel and seasons it with toasted garlic, lime zest, lime juice, fish sauce, and black pepper. The wings, garnished with scallion, cilantro, and mint, have quickly become a customer favorite. “I love seeing the guests’ reactions, and I love teaching the technique to my cooks.”
Recipe: Vietnamese Duck Wings