These Nagoya-style Fried Chicken Wings are perfectly golden brown, crispy, and succulent thanks to my double-frying method. Coated with a savory-sweet garlic soy dressing, these wings are simply irresistible!

When the Japanese Yakitori restaurant Kokko opened near our home a few years ago, my husband requested to go on nearly every special occasion. One of our family’s favorite items on the menu is their Nagoya-style chicken wings. These are sooooo good!
One order is simply not enough. Every time we order these chicken wings, our family would divide the pieces equally so our children wouldn’t fight over who had more pieces. Since my family loves this dish so much, I knew I had to come up with something similar.
Finally, I was able to come close to duplicating the flavor in my Nagoya-style Fried Chicken Wings recipe! Let me show you how to make these delicious chicken wings at home.
Table of Contents

What is Nagoya-Style Fried Chicken Wings?
These fried chicken wings are known as Nagoya no tebasaki in Japanese, or sometimes simply Nagoya tebasaki (wingtips). They’re dredged in starch, twice deep-fried to perfection, and then coated in a sweet soy sauce. It’s a type of Japanese deep-fried chicken or karaage, which is incredibly popular in Japanese cuisine.
The addition of the sweet sauce is referred to as Nagoya-style. This type of preparation was invented by the restaurant Furaibo in Nagoya in central Japan. The salty-sweet sauce is full of umami flavor!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- chicken wings – flats and drumettes
- potato starch or cornstarch
- neutral oil – for deep-frying
- toasted white sesame seeds
For the Sauce
- mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
- soy sauce
- sake
- sugar
- kosher salt – I use Diamond Crystal brand
- fresh ginger – peeled and sliced
- garlic cloves – crushed or minced
How To Make Nagoya-style Fried Chicken Wings
Here’s a brief overview of how to make these delicious chicken wings. See my recipe card below for the full instructions.
- Make the sauce. heat all the ingredients for the sauce in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat and simmer until the sauce reduces and thickens. The sauce will thicken as it cools. You can store this sauce in the refrigerator for up to a month.
- Meanwhile, cut the chicken wings at the joint into flats and drumettes. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Dredge the chicken pieces in potato starch or cornstarch and remove the excess.
- Deep-fry the wings in neutral oil on medium heat until they‘re 80% cooked, about 8–10 minutes. Cook in batches. Drain the excess oil for 3–5 minutes on a wire rack or a paper towel on a tray or baking sheet.
- Then, deep-fry them a second time at a higher oil temperature (increase to medium-high heat) until the wings are crispy and golden brown, about 3–5 minutes.
- Coat the chicken wings in the sauce using tongs or serve the wings on a plate and pour the sauce on top. Sprinkle with toasted white sesame seeds and serve immediately.
If you prefer some spiciness, feel free to try sprinkling the chicken with white pepper powder or shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice).
Other Chicken Recipes You’ll Love
- Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken) and Gluten-Free Karaage
- Yurinchi (Fried Chicken with Scallion Soy Sauce)
- Chicken Nanban (Fried Chicken with Tartar Sauce)
- Momofuku Fried Chicken
- Yakitori (Japanese Grilled Chicken and Scallion Skewers)
- Tsukune (Japanese Grilled Chicken Meatball Skewers)

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Nagoya Style Fried Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken wings (flats/drumettes) (you can use up to 2 lbs (907 g) for the sauce you‘re making)
- ¼ cup potato starch or cornstarch
- 3 cups neutral oil (for deep-frying)
- toasted white sesame seeds
For the Sauce (keeps for a month)
- 1 cup mirin
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp sake
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 knob ginger (½ inch, 1.3 cm; sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed or minced)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat all the ingredients for the sauce and bring to a boil: 1 cup mirin, ½ cup soy sauce, 3 Tbsp sake, ⅓ cup sugar, ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 1 knob ginger (sliced), and 2 cloves garlic (minced or crushed). Then, reduce the heat and simmer for 15–20 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. Keep the sauce in a mason jar and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.
- Meanwhile, cut 1 lb chicken wings (flats/drumettes) at the joint and pat dry with paper towels.
- Dredge the chicken wings in ¼ cup potato starch or cornstarch and remove the excess.
- Pour about 3 cups neutral oil into a heavy-bottomed pot (I used a Dutch oven) and heat it to 320ºF (160ºC) on medium heat. Deep-fry the wings until they‘re 80% cooked, about 8–10 minutes. Drain the excess oil on a wire rack or a paper towel for 3–5 minutes.
- Then, fry them a second time. Increase the oil temperature to 350ºF (180ºC). Deep-fry again until the wings are crispy, about 3–5 minutes. The wings should be golden brown.
- Using tongs, coat the chicken wings in the sauce or serve the wings on a plate and pour the sauce on top. Sprinkle with toasted white sesame seeds and serve immediately.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3–4 days or in the freezer for a month.
I made it today for dinner…delicious!!! I am from Switzerland, living in Spain and my boyfriend is Spanish and we LOVED it. We’ll do it again for sure. Love your website Nami! Thank you for making japanese cooking that easy
Hello, Natascha! Aww.🥰 Nami and all of us at JOC are thrilled to hear you and your boyfriend enjoyed the dinner! Thank you for your kind feedback.
We hope you continue to enjoy Nami’s recipes and our website! Happy cooking!🫶🏻
Nami, Hello and thank you for this recipe. I had some wings and I didn’t know any recipes for a good sauce or glaze. Then, I saw this recipe, made Nagoya wings and loved them! Perfect.
Hi Franklin! Aww. We are glad to hear you enjoyed Nami’s recipe.
Thank you for your kind feedback!💞
Winner, winner, chicken dinner! My family loved it! I don’t like frying, so I baked the wings instead. Thank you for another great recipe!
Hi L Jakahi, Thank you so much for your kind feedback and sharing your cooking experience with us!
We are so happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed the recipe. Happy Cooking!
So delicious! I think next time I’d skip the salt though. I think the reduced soy sauce is salty enough and that adding the salt before reducing makes it too salty. It’s definitely a matter of preference so if you don’t like super salty food, remember to salt late, not early. Even so, I think I don’t regret it at all, it’s the best chicken wing I’ve ever made in my life — and I make really good, crispy chicken wing in both American and Japanese style.
I ground the sesame seeds to let more of their flavor out and it was worth the tired arm muscles.
I think that this recipe could work well with very firm tofu pieces also, or seitan if you like that (I don’t).
Hi M! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. I’m glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
Hi, may I know if the fried chicken wings will stay crispy for long? Planning to bring this dish (2kg) to a beach party. Thanks and appreciate your response.
Hi Teo! Just like any other deep fried food, there will not be as crispy as right after you deep fried. It’s just impossible with the humid in the air and how you keep the deep fried foods after you cook. So it really depends… As you go to the beach, with moist in the air, I think it’s probably harder to keep it crispy. But that’s the nature of deep fried food on picnic or beach etc… If you can reheat it over fire, you can remove the moist and make it crispy again at the beach, but… I’d say it’s best to eat right after deep frying, especially you seem like you want to keep it crispy. 😉
Made them many times over and soooo sooo good!
Hi Azusa! Yay! So happy to hear you like the recipe! Thank you for your kind response!
I tried this the other day: it was delicious, as expected!
But that’s not all! We had a lot of sauce left over, and may I share that it’s the Best. Marinade. Ever. I used it on grilled beef chuck for Valentine’s Day and on chicken and rice bake just yesterday. A little goes a long way, and it’s amazing! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
Hi Wendy! I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for trying this recipe! Yeah the sauce is pretty addicting. I love having extra sauce around and dip my chicken… 🙂 Thanks so much for your kind feedback!
yall food is really goog
Thank you! 🙂
Nami, thank you so much for this recipe! First, I was drawn in by the mouthwatering photo and then when I tried the recipe last night it was a huge hit! The wings were crispy and the sauce with a hint of ginger (I put extra) and garlic was amazing! My son put his chicken over a bowl of rice and drizzled some of the sauce over it – he must have eaten about 9 wings! I love your recipes!
Hi Eileen! I’m so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this dish. Thank you so much for writing the kind review/feedback! Thank you for trying this recipe, and following my blog! 🙂
Tried making these today… It was a hit with both adults and children! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe Nami!
Hi Alana! So happy everyone liked this recipe! Thank you for trying this recipe, Alana! 🙂
Recently discovered this recipe site. Last night I tried this recipe for my family. Everyone loved it! Especially my picky 3 yr old! I chose to use potato starch, it came out really delicious. I think the double frying is a must… it really makes the outside crunchy… without so much oil taste since you are draining it after the initial fry. love it, can’t wait to try more of your recipes. thank you so much for sharing.
Hi Shawna! Thank you for trying this recipe and I am so happy you and your family liked it! Thank you so much for hour feedback! I love potato starch for deep frying! Hope you find some recipes you like to try from my site! 🙂
I made these before and the family looooooooved them. Making them today.
Hi Michelle! I hope you enjoyed these wings! Thank you for writing! 🙂