Gai Tod Gratiem (Garlic Fried Chicken)

Sometimes you just need deep fried food and Thai food has plenty of it to spare. These wings are WAY better than fast food fried chicken and they don’t need many ingredients or take too long to do. All the crispy garlic bits were particularly good. This is the kind of street food dish you can find up and down Thailand. Serve it alongside a healthy salad like Som Tam or a vegetable stir fry like Pad Pak Grachet. I served these wings with the same sweet chilli dipping sauce that I made to go with last week’s Po Pia Tod (click and scroll down for sauce recipe).


For two people use:

• a pack of chicken wings (about 10)


• half a bulb of garlic (or more if you like), peeled


• a dessert spoon of black peppercorns


• a big splash of Thai fish sauce (nam pla)


• a small splash of light soy sauce


• vegetable oil for deep frying

Prepare the chicken wings by using a heavy knife to trim off and discard the tip. Then find the joint between the upper and lower part of the wing and cut them into two. Place in a large bowl. In a pestle and mortar, bash up the peppercorns- it can be slightly coarser than a powder but don’t leave big bits- pour over the chicken. Lightly bash up the garlic, just to break it into pieces, not paste and add into the bowl. Pour the sauces over the chicken and give everything a good mix,leave to marinate for up to an hour.



Heat the oil in a heavy pan or wok. The oil needs to to be hot but not smoking otherwise the chicken and garlic may burn but the chicken inside could still be raw. Gently lower the chicken pieces in, including the garlicky bits (but discard any left over sauce). I had to do mine in two batches so the pan wasn’t crowded. Fry for around ten minutes, turning over half way. The chicken should be a dark golden brown and crispy. Drain onto kitchen paper,making sure you scoop out and sprinkle the crispy garlic bits over the top when serving. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.