Chicken Wings

It's super bowl weekend, baby! I look forward to the Super Bowl every year because it's the best excuse to indulge in some not-so-good-for-you snacks like nachos, chips & dip, and of course, WINGS, which are my favorite.

I'm definitely a fan of regular buffalo wings but I also like to make a few "specialty" wings as well. I previously did a post on Korean-style chicken wings so this is a semi-repeat post. I say semi because I do a slightly pumped up version of the spicy Korean-style wings from the previous post as well as a honey soy ginger chicken wing.

Honey Soy Ginger Wings [yields enough sauce for 1 dozen wings, easily multiplied]
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup finely minced carrots
1/4 cup finely minced onion
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1" piece of ginger, peeled
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Korean-Style Spicy Wings
1/4 cup apple juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup finely minced carrots
1/4 cup finely minced onion
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons Korean hot pepper paste
1 tablespoon sake
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

First, I got my wings ready in a big pot of water. Boiling the wings is easy because it ensures that they are thoroughly cooked (no one wants salmonella food poisoning during the big game) and the chicken stays moist. Remember to clean off any surface that the chicken touches with soap and water or Clorox wipes.


Just a rule of thumb: 1 lb "unprocessed" wings = 1 dozen. By "unprocessed" I mean that these weren't butchered so I had to separate the wing and the mini drum and remove the wing tips myself. I cooked 1 dozen at a time because that's all that would fit in my pot without overcrowding.

You can save skim the stock and then save it - homemade chicken stock.

I started the sauces by preparing the aromatics.

I put half of the onions, carrots, and garlic in a small sauce pan (for the honey ginger soy wings) and saved the rest for the spicy wings.I Sweat the aromatics in 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil until the onions are soft and translucent.

Then measured and added in the rest of the ingredients.

 

I stirred and let it reduce by half - took about 15 minutes.

I set the sauce aside to cool and removed the big ginger pieces.

For the spicy sauce, I started the same way by sweating the onions, carrots, and garlic in the sesame oil. Then I added in the rest of the ingredients and let it cook for about 15 minutes until it was thick and bubbly.

And again, I set the sauce aside to cool.

**If you're doing this ahead of time, you can refrigerate everything (sauces and wings) and save the following steps for right before you're serving.

I dipped each wing in the sauces and placed on a sheet pan lined with foil.

I made sure to get the little bits and pieces on the wings as well.

I got my oven the hottest it would go and put the wings in the broiler. [I did half and half for the first batch so that we could get started on both flavors and did a second batch to use up the rest of the sauce and chicken afterwards].

After about 10 minutes, the sauce should be stickier, the skin slightly charred, and the wings ready to devour.

GO PATRIOTS!!! :)