Hot-and-Sticky Lemon-Pepper Chicken Wings

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons pepper black
• 2.5 pounds chicken wings ( 16)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch 
• 0.5 cup flour all-purpose
• 1 tablespoon garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce 
• 0.5 cup lemon curd prepared
• 2 tablespoons juice of lemon freshly squeezed
• 0.5 cup malt liquor (high-alcohol beer)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil extra-virgin
• 0.5 cup rice flour 
• 1 serving salt 
• 0.8 cup seltzer 
• 1 serving vegetable oil for frying

Equipment

• bowl
• sauce pan
• whisk
• wire rack
• kitchen thermometer

Directions

1. In a saucepan, heat the olive oil.
2. Add the garlic; cook over moderate heat until fragrant, 1 minute.
3. Whisk in the lemon curd, lemon juice and 1/4 cup of water and bring to a boil. Off the heat, stir in the hot sauce and pepper.
4. In a large bowl, whisk both flours with the cornstarch.
5. Add the seltzer and malt liquor; whisk until smooth. Season with salt.
6. Add the chicken wings to the batter and turn to coat.
7. In a large saucepan, heat 2 inches of vegetable oil to 35
8. Scrape the excess batter from the wings. Working in batches, fry the wings in the hot oil for 3 minutes, until the crust is just set and pale golden.
9. Drain on a wire rack and air-dry for 10 minutes.
10. Return the oil to 35
11. Fry the wings a second time, in batches, until deep mahogany in color and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 170, 5 to 6 minutes.
12. Drain the wings on the rack.
13. In a large bowl, gently toss the fried wings with the lemon curd-pepper sauce.
14. Transfer the wings to a platter and serve right away.