Like Patrick Stewart, chicken wings have usually been a source of confusion for me. I like chicken, I like spicy food, I like fried food, but undercooked skin and bone gristle have often put me off the cut and thus, they're not my go-to pub grub order. But I'll usually make an exception for chicken wings of the Singaporean or Thai variety, and now, I'll make an exception for the Japanese variety, too.
Moku Moku opened last summer in a conjoined twin relationship with its sister restaurant Momo Sushi Shack on Bushwick's Bogart Street. It's mainly a yakitori spot and the skewered meats and vegetables are good, if on the simpler side. It's in the chicken wings ($7) where the kitchen really shines, however, from the crunchy exterior to the sweet-and-salty glaze. Most importantly, at least for me, the chicken is cooked in such a way that the end bits are tender and fall off the bone without the delicate interior meat being desiccated by the hot oil.
Joshua Neiderer, General Manager of Moku Moku and Momo Sushi Shack, tells me a lot of the wings' deliciousness begins with the sourcing. "All of our chicken comes from heritage foods and hit all the key words you can think of (except vegan)," he explains. "They're hormone-free, humanely raised and slaughtered, and organic. We use primarily la belle rouge chickens, but will use other heritage breeds if sourcing becomes an issue."
From there, the wings and brined, then dredged in low-protein, instant Wondra flour and potato starch, both of which create a pebbly exterior with the crisp chicken skin and light batter. The finishing touch: a soy, sesame, garlic, mirin and sake sauce and a bed of crunchy cabbage to soak everything up.
43 Bogart Street, 718-418-6666; mokumokubk.com
