Southeast Asian Chicken Wings

It’s May!

The temperature is definitely rising and the sun has been coming out to play. In Irvine, we have been getting really warm days. Today, the highest temperature is in the low 90's, and in the past few days, the mouthwatering smell of barbeque has been wafting in the air around my neighborhood. It’s never too early to break out your grill even though summer is not officially here. With warm and gorgeous days like this, I just couldn’t wait and had to fire up my grill and made these Southeast Asian chicken wings.

If you have been following me on Rasa Malaysia, you should probably know by now that Asia, especially Southeast Asia, is my favorite region in the whole world. (That’s one of the reasons why this blog is all about Asian cooking.)  There is nowhere else quite like Southeast Asia: the friendly people, happiest smiles, breathtaking landscapes, and the scrumptious foods; Southeast Asia captures my heart. It’s the place I will always call home, the place I have longed to be every single day, and the place millions of tourists flock to every year.

This Southeast Asian chicken wing is the epitome of the colorful and exotic cooking of the region. Creamy coconut milk, fragrant lemongrass, aromatics such as ginger, garlic, cilantro, and the extra zing of lime juice and Thai chilies make these wings bursting with the flavors of the street food fare in countries such as Thailand , Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. They are absolutely pleasing to the palate, and the flavor is deep and complex. I came back from the region two months ago, but I have been aching to go back. I have a Vietnam trip planned in end of May and I just can’t wait to soak in the warm and humid days in Southeast Asia again.

Until then, I have these Southeast Asian chicken wings to satiate my craving and soothe my soul. Summer is a few weeks away, and you can certainly bookmark this recipe to welcome summer. When you fire up your grill for this recipe, you will know why I am forever hooked on the exotic flavors of the region. Enjoy!

(Click Page 2 for the Southeast Asian Chicken Wings Recipe)

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Spicy Thai Chicken Wings

In the United States, all the sports fans are counting down to February 3, for Super Bowl 2013. Super Bowl is all about chicken wings, as the football enthusiasts watch the game while nibbling mouthwatering chicken wings. Other than the regular buffalo wings, you might want to try out something different this year, and I have just the perfect recipe for you—spicy Thai chicken wings that are sure to fire up the appetite and add some heat to the intense Superbowl game.

The flavor of these spicy Thai chicken wings is similar to the regular spicy buffalo wings but with an Asian twist. The heat comes from Sriracha, everyone’s favorite Thai hot sauce, with a tint of briny umami taste from soy sauce and Chinese oyster sauce, plus the subtle aroma of Chinese cooking wine. To serve, keep it American style by pairing the spicy Thai chicken wings with celery sticks.

Try this recipe this Super Bowl and I am very sure that everyone will be in for a treat and will not stop eating! Have fun.

(Click Page 2 for the Thai Spicy Chicken Wings Recipe)

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Honey Mustard Chicken Wings & New Chicken Recipe Box Website

 

It’s super exciting to announce this: We’ve been a little busy on a secret web project and though we’re still working out all the technical kinks, we can share it now. Welcome to our new crazy little blog called Chicken Recipe Box! There’s a huge handful of reasons why we’re doing this, so you can head over to our About page to ready why.

Our love for cooking and eating chicken and eggs has no end. We’d probably drive you all nuts here on the WORC blog with chicken recipes and how to videos, so we decided to create a special site dedicated to our love of chicken. It’ll be chock full of everyday, simple comfort foods, along with unique twists on classics to delicious international recipes. And best of all, we’re going to have a ton of How To Videos and recipe videos on our favorite classics. So hopefully you all can stop by Chicken Recipe Box for a visit and keep checking back everyday for new recipes and videos!

To continue celebrating our love for chicken, chicken wings and the upcoming Super bowl, we’re sharing a fantastic recipe for honey mustard chicken wings. We’re always addicted to different types of sauces and continually making homemade variations of our favorites and honey mustard is on top of our list. Tangy sweet, sticky and wonderful this is the sauce to have for honey mustard lovers.

The fun part about making chicken wings is that you can use different cooking techniques. We wrote about different ways to cook wings and how to make them healthier on our chicken recipe box site. Though everyone sauces them differently, either before baking or after or both, it’s great to be able to have options on preparing them. The great thing about baking them before saucing is that you can easily make multiple sauces, and toss the chicken wings in whichever one the devourer prefers. For the fire-tongues, our Sriracha Chicken Wing sauce almost always needs to be present at our gatherings.

We even have a “healthy” version where you can pre-poach or pre-steam the wings before baking, which helps render much of the excess fat. During the next few weeks we’ll also be sharing some really low fat chicken buffalo wing recipes that doesn’t have butter! You can still enjoy the wings without the guilt.

Hope you enjoy the honey mustard wings and our new site. Any feedback you guys have is much appreciated!

hugs,

diane and todd

Yield: Serves 6

Total Time: 1 hour

You can cook the wings however you prefer, but for this recipe we did the oven roasted style. It is a great method for doing large batches of wings, since they are all spread out over the sheet pans and cooked at once. Interested in how the different techniques vary in the wing texture and taste? Check out our article here on Ways to Cook Chicken Wings.

4 lbs Chicken Wings, rinsed & patted dryCooking OilSea Salt or Kosher Saltfresh cracked Black PepperFlour, for dredging1/2 cup Mustard, whichever your preferred type - Regular, Deli, Whole Grain, Dijon, etc...1/4 cup Water2 Tablespoons Honey4 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste2 teaspoons Soy Sauce1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepperfresh cracked Black Pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line sheet pans with parchment paper.

Lightly coat chicken wings with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Dredge wings in flour, tapping off excess flour.Lay wings on lined sheet pans in a single layer. Bake for 20 minutes, flip chicken wings over, then bake for another 20-30 minutes or until golden.While the wings bake, make the sauce (this can even be done a day or two ahead of time if you prefer-just warm before tossing wings.) Combine the sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 5 minutes. If necessary, re-warm just before tossing wings in sauce.After wings are done, toss them with the sauce in a large bowl. Serve with plenty of napkins.

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Tebasaki (Nagoya Fried Chicken Wings)

As a Japanese food lover, I am very lucky that I live in southern California. Many famed Japanese restaurants and chains hailed from Japan can be found in the Greater Los Angeles area. One of my favorite Japanese restaurants is Furaibo (???), which is originated from the city of Nagoya in Japan.

Furaibo is famous for its delicious and utterly addictive Nagoya-style tebasaki, or seasoned fried chicken wings which is a specialty food of the Nagoya region. I have had some great chicken wings, but the tebasaki served at Furaibo is a class of its own. The wings are lightly coated with flour and deep-fried. The surface of the wings are extremely crispy, dry, crackly, and lightly dusted with their secret dry seasonings. A bite into the chicken wing reveals the deep flavors of the glaze—savory, slightly sweet, and oozes umami. Furaibo Nagoya-style tebasaki are simply irresistible.

After eating at Furaibo almost every week, I have finally decided to attempt the tebasaki recipe at home. I did a quick search and found a tebasaki recipe from Nagoya International Center. Based on the recipe and with my wild guesses, I developed my own tebasaki recipe. The verdict: my recipe is good and close to the taste I was trying to achieve. The texture of the chicken was almost spot-on as I deep-fried the wings twice at 300 degree Fahrenheit and then at 375 degree to crisp up the skin. For the glaze, I added a little extra umami by adding Mizkan Bonito Flavor Soup Base to the recipe.

I also decided to present the tebasaki in a bento box, with steamed rice speckled with black sesame seeds, tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet), and salad. If you are curious about tebasaki and its taste, you should definitely try out my recipe. It is very important that you buy smaller chicken wings (look for party wings). Bigger wings will not deliver the desired results. Another important technique is to score the bottom part of the chicken wings with two diagonal slits to allow the marinade and glaze to seep inside the chicken wings. (Check out the recipe to see the picture guide.)

I can assure you the end result of crispy and tantalizing chicken wings are well worth the efforts, and that you will really enjoy this tebasaki or Nagoya fried chicken wings bento. Happy eating!

(Click Page 2 for the Tebasaki Nagoya Fried Chicken Wings Recipe)

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Honey Soy Chicken Wings

I first made these honey soy chicken wings a few years ago when I was working long hours in San Francisco. I wanted a nice comforting dish that didn’t involve standing in front of the stove for too long. And preferably something that could be reheated easily the next day. The result was these chicken wings, which take only 10 minutes of marinating time and 30 minutes in the oven. They are as delicious as they are easy, packed with flavor from the honey, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Try them out and let me know what you think!

I want to share a recipe that has always been dependable, through good days and bad. Whenever I get home late from work, and don’t feel like doing much on the stove, I would marinate wings in a honey, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil mixture, then stick them in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Really, it can’t be easier, and the flavor combination is tried-and-true. Sometimes I would add cayenne for a spicy kick.

True, they’re more of an appetizer than a full-on meal, but sometimes what you really need after a day of answering calls and working with spreadsheets is to just plop in front of the TV, drink cheap wine from a Mason jar, and eat chicken wings with your hands. The portions easily double, or triple, or quadruple. You can make these for bigger parties or just a quiet evening at home, with plenty to store in the fridge for the coming week.

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Honey Soy Chicken Wings

Serves 4

2 pounds chicken wings, tips removed and drumsticks and wings separated2 tablespoons soy sauce2 tablespoons hoisin sauce2 tablespoons honey1 tablespoon rice vinegar1 teaspoon sesame oil1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)1/4 teaspoon salt1 tablespoon sesame seeds1 scallion, green part only, thinly slicedPreheat the oven to 375 degrees F.In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey, rice vinegar, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, and salt. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl or deep dish. Add the wings to the mixture and turn to coat. Cover the dish and marinate the wings at room temperature for 10 minutes.Arrange the wings in a single layer on a baking sheet, reserving the remaining marinade in the bowl. Roast the wings for 25 to 30 minutes, basting with the reserved marinade about halfway through (the 15 minutes of roasting at the end will cook any of the raw juices left in the marinade). Roast until the wings are golden brown and crispy on top. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle sesame seeds and chopped scallions on top.Updated September 12, 2012. Original recipe posted December 29, 2010.

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Tagged as: Appetizers, Chicken, Recipes

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Coca-Cola Chicken Wings

Here’s a goody from the archives. A number of you have tried this recipe for Coca-cola Chicken wings that I first posted in March 2011. You wouldn’t guess just how delicious it is based on the simple ingredients. In this recipe that’s a favorite of home cooks in China, Cola-Cola and soy sauce meld to form a great sweet and savory glaze for the chicken.  You get a great caramelized flavor without the work!

I don’t know exactly when or how Coca-cola chicken wings became a Chinese dish, but it’s a baby compared to everything that originated back when dynasties existed. Heck, many people don’t even realize it’s a Chinese dish, much less a common one. I have never seen it printed on a restaurant menu or in an English-language Chinese cookbook. It does, however, appear from time to time in Chinese-language cookbooks and on cooking shows, sometimes involving as few as three ingredients.

In China, Coke and other sodas hold a higher prestige than they do in the US. About 5 years ago, when I first visited Beijing, some relatives took me out to a pretty lavish restaurant for my first Peking duck experience. After drink orders were taken, the head waiter returned to the table with a wine cart. With a flourish, he brandished a bottle in his right arm for inspection, which, for course, turned out to be Coke instead Bordeaux.

I have also attended banquets and Chinese New Year dinners where bottles of 7-Up and Pepsi were sitting like centerpieces in the middle of white table cloth-covered tables. And I have gone up and down the wine aisles of Chinese supermarkets, only to find that it was almost impossible to buy just a bottle of wine. You always got a special gift with purchase. Domestic reds and whites were often packaged in cellophane with bottles of…you guessed it…Coke or Sprite. (That is, if they weren’t already packaged with imitation Nalgenes, thermoses, rice bowls, or even beach blankets.)

This is all to say that the cult of Coke in China is pretty strong. Which paves the way for Coca-Cola chicken wings to become a popular dish for home cooks. The preparation method is very similar to that of soy-sauce chicken, a common Cantonese dish. (I wouldn’t be surprised if this dish was actually created because some person, or some million persons, who figured that adding Coke was a good way to change up their soy-sauce chicken.)

Cantonese soy sauce chicken wings are braised with soy sauce, garlic, and ginger, and occasionally cinnamon and star anise. For Coca-Cola chicken wings, we just use soy sauce, rice wine, and Coke in the braising liquid. That’s it. What you end up with, after 15 to 20 minutes of braising, is a nice syrupy glaze. It’s not overwhelmingly sweet, or overwhelmingly salty. It tastes a tiny bit like Coke, but even that is very subtle. Toward the end, I add some chopped scallions and freshly ground black pepper to enhance the flavor, but really, this minimalist dish is still perfectly fine without aromatics.

Even better than using regular Coke is Mexican Coke, which uses real sugar, if you can find it in your local grocery store or bodega.

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Coca-Cola Chicken Wings (????)

Serves 4

2 pounds chicken wings, wings and drummettes separated1/4 cup soy sauce2 tablespoons canola oil2 tablespoons dry sherry or Chinese rice wine3/4 cup Coca-Cola (not diet or anything flavored!)2 scallions, choppedA few pinches of freshly ground black pepperPut the chicken wings in a large bowl and pour half of the soy sauce on top. Turn the wings so they are well-coated and allow them to marinate for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature.Heat a wok or large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken wings until they are golden brown on each side but not cooked through, about 3 minutes each side. Pour in the other half of the soy sauce, the sherry, and the Coke and bring the liquid to a simmer. Simmer the wings uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until the liquid is reduced to a glaze.Season the chicken with black pepper. Transfer the chicken to a plate, garnish with scallions, and serve.

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You might also like

Kung Pao Chicken

Black Bean Chicken Wings

Lemongrass Chicken Wings

Almond Chicken

Chicken Adobo

Three Cup Chicken

Soy Sauce Chicken

Tagged as: Appetizers, Chicken, Chinese, Recipes

View the original article here

Pok Pok Wings (Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings)

Pok Pok Wings pictures (1 of 4)

Pok Pok—the pounding sounds that a pestle made against a mortar during the making of Som Tam (Thai green papaya salad)—is a rising restaurant empire in the United States. A humble start in Portland, Oregon, Pok Pok has expanded to New York City, the culinary capital of the United States, with the launch of Pok Pok NY and Pok Pok Wing. Recently, renowned food writer Francis Lam wrote a fascinating piece on the New York Times and described Andy Ricker’s arrival to New York as “…the Beatles were about to touch down at Kennedy.” Pok Pok wings are legendary and much celebrated in the foodie world; in fact, it’s the single commodity that has pretty much launched the growing empire of Pok Pok.

I have never been to the original Pok Pok, nor have I been to the newly opened Pok Pok NY and Pok Pok Wing. But I have long wanted to taste these famous wings. My friend Brian L, a Portand resident and mega foodie once told me that those Pok Pok wings were addictive and absolutely delightful. If I can’t make it to any of the Pok Pok restaurants, I have to try making it.

Lucky for me, a quick Google search for Pok Pok wings pulls up Andy Ricker’s recipe, published on the Food & Wine magazine. Named after the Vietnamese chef who created this recipe, these Pok Pok wings are called “Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings.” I glanced through the ingredients and method. It was simple enough to make, so out I went gathering the ingredients, marinated the wings, deep-fried and glazed with the sauce. Voila, Pok Pok has landed in Orange County.

As I have mentioned, I have never tried the real Pok Pok wings, so I could only imagine they would taste better than my adapted version. The wings are crispy, deeply flavorful, a tad salty but sweet at the same time, with the brilliant garlicky aroma and flavor from the deep-fried garlic. I was hooked.

The only thing that I felt iffy about was the the fish sauce marinade, which is re-used as a glaze and tossed with the chicken wings before serving. It was a little disturbing to me, even though the sauce is boiled, hence there is really no hygiene concern. I have provided an alternative method in my Pok Pok wings recipe below. Now that I have tasted the goods, I just can’t wait for the Pok Pok cookbook. I know it’s going to be great, and even more so because my good friend Austin Bush is the food photographer of the cookbook.

(Click Page 2 for the Pok Pok Wings Recipe)

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Vietnamese cuisine is gaining popularity in the United States and the world, so today, I invited Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple to share a delicious Vietnamese recipe with us: Goi Cuon Thit Heo Nuong (generally known as “Goi Cuon”) or Vietnamese fresh spring rolls with a killer hoisin peanut dipping sauce (my personal favorite!). Please welcome White…

I love fish, but I don’t eat enough of them here in the United States; I can hardly find the ones I love most. Growing up in Malaysia, fresh fish is abundant. There are all kinds of fish available in the wet market–big, small, tiny, deep-sea, or fresh water.  I prefer smaller and tiny fish, deep-fried to crispy goodness that…

I am a huge fan of Vietnamese spring rolls, or cha gio, roughly means “minced pork rolls” in Vietnamese language. I don’t like most Chinese spring rolls or egg rolls served in the United States. They are mostly bad, filled with vegetables flavored with MSG. Some of them even taste like they are infused with a dose of antibiotics. I…

Vietnamese BBQ  Shrimp Vermicelli or Bun Tom Heo Nuong is one of my favorite Vietnamese bun dishes. If you have tried Vietnamese food, I am sure you are familiar with bun, or dry rice vermicelli in nuoc cham (fish sauce) and topped with either grilled pork (thit), BBQ shrimp, sugarcane shrimp (chao tom), cha gio, tau hu ky, or a…

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Lemongrass Chicken Wings

I finally joined the Park Slope Co-op after two years of living in the neighborhood. And it’s been kind of life-changing. Not because I’m suddenly exposed to organic and seasonal food, since I’ve been buying both for years, but because I no longer have to trek out to Chinatown for ingredients like lemongrass, curry leaves, etc. And having so much lemongrass close by has made me use regularly in the kitchen again, such as for making Vietnamese chicken curry and Thai lemongrass and ginger iced tea.

Earlier this week I decided to make lemongrass chicken wings. As some of you might have guessed by now, I love wings and will try to find any excuse to make them, whether it’s for a summer cookout, mid-winter tiki party, Chinese-Caribbean party, or just reviving a homestyle Chinese dish that involves Coca-Cola.

The best way to extract full flavor from lemongrass, as I once learned from the ex-boyfriend of an old roommate who was a pastry chef, is to bruise the white ends of the lemongrass stalk with the blunt edge of your knife’s knife before slicing. This releases the lemongrass flavor much better than simply chopping. The marinade for these wings is plenty flavorful, with fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, ginger, and shallots. To get some nice browning in the oven, I baste the wings with a honey and soy sauce mixture during the roasting.

Hope you enjoy the wings! And maybe, to have even easier access to lemongrass, I should try growing it in my own apartment.

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Lemongrass Chicken Wings

Serves 4

1 stalk lemongrass2 1/2 pounds chicken, tips removed2 cloves garlic, minced1 shallot, minced2 teaspoons minced ginger1/4 cup fish sauce2 tablespoons fresh lime juice2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil2 tablespoons light brown sugar1 tablespoon honey1/2 tablespoon soy sauce1 handful peanuts, choppedChopped cilantro (optional)Remove the hard end and outer layer of the lemongrass stalk. Bruise the white ends of your stalks with the blunt edge of a large knife (it helps release the lemongrass “juices”), then thinly slice and mince. You should end up with about 1 tablespoon of minced lemongrass. Discard the green tops.Marinate the chicken: In a small bowl, combine the lemongrass, garlic, shallot, ginger, fish sauce, lime juice, peanut oil, brown sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Place the chicken wings into a large resealable freezer bag and pour the marinade over the wings. Close the freezer bag and shake so that the chicken is well-coated with marinade. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or overnight.Preheat the oven to 350°F. Stir together the honey and soy sauce and set aside. Line a large sheet tray with foil or parchment paper. Place the wings on the tray and roast for 30 minutes, basting the wings with the honey-soy mixture once about half-way through and once close to the end of the roasting time.Remove from the oven and carefully transfer the wings to a serving plate. Sprinkle the chopped peanuts and cilantro on top and serve.

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Other chicken wing recipes to try:

Coca-Cola Chicken Wings

Soy Sauce Chicken

Black Bean Chicken Wings

Chicken Lollipops

Honey Soy Chicken Wings

Kung Pao Chicken Wings

Tagged as: Appetizers, Chicken

View the original article here

Black Bean Chicken Wings

A couple of weeks ago, I had the hardest time finding chicken wings in supermarkets. It seemed that stores around here just couldn’t keep enough in stock for the Super Bowl. So I had to wait…and wait…until almost a week later, to make these black bean chicken wings that I had been craving.

We tend to think of chicken wings as appetizers, but they’re almost always served as entrees in Chinese homes. See, for example, the soy sauce chicken or Coca-Cola chicken wings I wrote about last year. (Coke may have only been in China for a few decades, but is already a popular cooking ingredient.) Black bean chicken wings is another popular dish, with a deep earthy flavor from either fermented black beans or jarred Chinese black bean sauce. The wings are first seared until golden on each side, then braised for 15 to 20 minutes in a covered wok or pan. I added a bit of cayenne pepper for a mild smokiness, but you can always double the portions for more of a kick.

So even though chicken wing fever has died down from a week ago, this still made a tasty meal for a cold, gray Saturday, when 20 minutes in front of the stove was just long enough to not interrupt a Netflix marathon.

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Black Bean Chicken Wings

Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal

1 1/2 pounds chicken wings1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil1 scallion, chopped, plus extra chopped or shredded for garnish if desired1 teaspoon minced garlic1 teapoon minced ginger1 1/2 tablespoons fermented black beans, rinse and mashed with a spoon, or Chinese black bean sauce1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce1 cup chicken stock or water1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper1/4 teaspoon black pepperPat the chicken wings dry with paper towels. Remove and discard the wing tips. Separate the wings and drummettes if desired.Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the base. Carefully add the wings with tongs and and sear on one side until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip the wings and sear on the other side for another 1 to 2 minutes.Add the chopped scallions, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry until just aromatic, about 20 seconds. Add the black bean sauce, soy sauce, chicken stock, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Cover with wok or pan with a lid and lower the heat to medium. Allow the chicken wings to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced to a sauce thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.Transfer the wings to a serving dish, garnish with scallions if desired, and serve.

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Other Asian chicken wing recipes to try:

Tagged as: Chicken, Chinese, Recipes

View the original article here

Curry Chicken Wings

Thanksgiving. Post-Thanksgiving stupor. Holiday parties. Travel. Shopping. Gift-giving cooking. Post office purgatory. Christmas. New Years. Visiting family and friends. Bowl game parties. NFL game gatherings. With all of this thrown on top of everyday life, as the cooks in our clans it isn’t surprising most of us feel like we just got Gronked.

Yet most of us wouldn’t trade it for the world. For some, cooking in the kitchen is a chore, yet for most of us, it is one of the best places in the world. A place where we pour our hearts and souls into the food to bring a smile to those we love.

Diane and I have been hosting gatherings for as long as we’ve been together (nearly 16 years). Starting as two crazy kids who loved to cook combined with a couple roommates who loved to eat. We can still remember many of our first gatherings. Cooking for 8 would take us a week of prep and cooking.

Today we’ve become much more proficient. A gathering of 40 can be done in a day or two. We’ll still start about a week ahead planning the menu, but the actual cooking (sans minor mis en place prep) has been streamlined for efficiency.

A big part of the planning lies in dish selection. What is going to take time to cook when everyone is already here? What has a complicated prep? What can be done ahead? What is time and heat/cold sensitive in serving?

A complicated or time-killing dish isn’t necessarily better tasting than a quick dish. If there is already one dish you must have which takes a lot of prep time, eliminate others which will compete for that time. There needs to be several quick, easy, and delicious dishes at your disposal.

Chicken wings fill that need for us time and again. They can be quickly prep. Mass baked on sheet pans, evenly gently kept warm or re-heated if you need to bake them ahead of time, then tossed in their final sauce when ready to serve. And few things go better with beer and football than chicken wings.

This is our latest favorite, basically taking the sauce we used for the curried smashed potatoes and tossing it with the wings. Which is also another party short-cut. One sauce, two distinct dishes. You can also easily sub in your favorite sauce instead of the curry if you have a more conservative group you are feeding. Here’s our other chicken wing recipes for ideas or you can always serve them with a side of or tossed in a home-made Sriracha style sauce:

-Todd

Chicken Wing Recipe Category

 Print This Recipe
Curry Chicken Wings Recipe 5 lbs Chicken Wings, tips trimmed, wings cut into 2 pieces1/2 c Flour1/4 c Curry Powder14 oz Coconut Milk3 T Curry Powder3 T Honey1 1/2 T Fish Sauce1 1/2 T Chili Garlic Sauce

Preheat oven 475°F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil and spray with oil to lightly coat.

Rinse and pat dry chicken wings.  Combine flour and 1/4 c curry powder in a large bowl. Toss chicken wings into flour/curry mix.Lay out wings into a single layer on baking sheets. Bake in oven approx. 40 minutes or until golden brown and crispy, rotating baking sheets half way through cooking (bake time will depend on wing thickness.)While wings bake, make curry sauce. Combine coconut milk, 3 T curry powder, honey, fish sauce, and chili garlic sauce in a medium saucepan. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes or until it thickens to a gravy-like consistency.In a large bowl, toss wings with curry sauce and serve immediately.

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Coca-Cola Chicken Wings

I don’t know exactly when or how Coca-cola chicken wings became a Chinese dish, but it’s a baby compared to everything that originated back when dynasties existed. Heck, many people don’t even realize it’s a Chinese dish, much less a common one. I have never seen it printed on a restaurant menu or in an English-language Chinese cookbook. It does, however, appear from time to time in Chinese-language cookbooks and on cooking shows, sometimes involving as few as three ingredients. 

In China, Coke and other sodas hold a higher prestige than they do in the US. About 5 years ago, when I first visited Beijing, some relatives took me out to a pretty lavish restaurant for my first Peking duck experience. After drink orders were taken, the head waiter returned to the table with a wine cart. With a flourish, he brandished a bottle in his right arm for inspection, which, for course, turned out to be Coke instead Bordeaux.

I have also attended banquets and Chinese New Year dinners where bottles of 7-Up and Pepsi were sitting like centerpieces in the middle of white table cloth-covered tables. And I have gone up and down the wine aisles of Chinese supermarkets, only to find that it was almost impossible to buy just a bottle of wine. You always got a special gift with purchase. Domestic reds and whites were often packaged in cellophane with bottles of…you guessed it…Coke or Sprite. (That is, if they weren’t already packaged with imitation Nalgenes, thermoses, rice bowls, or even beach blankets.) 

This is all to say that the cult of Coke in China is pretty strong. Which paves the way for Coca-Cola chicken wings to become a popular dish for home cooks. The preparation method is very similar to that of soy-sauce chicken, a common Cantonese dish. (I wouldn’t be surprised if this dish was actually created because some person, or some million persons, who figured that adding Coke was a good way to change up their soy-sauce chicken.)

Cantonese soy sauce chicken wings are braised with soy sauce, garlic, and ginger, and occasionally cinnamon and star anise. For Cola chicken wings, we just use soy sauce, rice wine, and Coke in the braising liquid. That’s it. What you end up with, after 15 to 20 minutes of braising, is a nice syrupy glaze. It’s not overwhelmingly sweet, or overwhelmingly salty. It tastes a tiny bit like Coke, but even that is very subtle. Toward the end, I add some chopped scallions and freshly ground black pepper to enhance the flavor, but really, this minimalist dish is still perfectly fine without aromatics. 

I suspect this would taste even better with Mexican Coke, which uses real sugar, if you can find it in your local grocery store or bodega.

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Coca-Cola Chicken Wings (????)

Serves 4

2 pounds chicken wings, wings and drummettes separated
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons dry sherry or Chinese rice wine
3/4 cup Coca-Cola (not diet or anything flavored!)
2 scallions, chopped
A few pinches of freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the chicken wings in a large bowl and pour half of the soy sauce on top. Turn the wings so they are well-coated and allow them to marinate for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature.

2. Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken wings until they are golden brown on each side but not cooked through, about 5 to 8 minutes. Pour in the other half of the soy sauce, the sherry, and the Coke and bring the liquid to a simmer. Simmer the wings for 15 to 20 minutes, until the liquid is reduced to a glaze.

3. Either sprinkle the scallions into the wok and stir them with the chicken wings and sauce, or save them for garnish. Season the chicken with black pepper. Transfer the chicken to a plate, garnish with scallions if you did not used them already, and serve.

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Other Chinese chicken recipes:

Chicken Lollipops

Three Cup Chicken

Chicken Adobo

Kung Pao Chicken

Honey Soy Chicken Wings

Soy-Braised Chicken

Tagged as: Appetizers, Chicken, Chinese

View the original article here

Coca-Cola Chicken Wings

I don't know exactly when or how Coca-cola chicken wings became a Chinese dish, but it's a baby compared to everything that originated back when dynasties existed. Heck, many people don't even realize it's a Chinese dish, much less a common one. I have never seen it printed on a restaurant menu or in an English-language Chinese cookbook. It does, however, appear from time to time in Chinese-language cookbooks and on cooking shows, sometimes involving as few as three ingredients. 

In China, Coke and other sodas hold a higher prestige than they do in the US. About 5 years ago, when I first visited Beijing, some relatives took me out to a pretty lavish restaurant for my first Peking duck experience. After drink orders were taken, the head waiter returned to the table with a wine cart. With a flourish, he brandished a bottle in his right arm for inspection, which, for course, turned out to be Coke instead Bordeaux.

I have also attended banquets and Chinese New Year dinners where bottles of 7-Up and Pepsi were sitting like centerpieces in the middle of white table cloth-covered tables. And I have gone up and down the wine aisles of Chinese supermarkets, only to find that it was almost impossible to buy just a bottle of wine. You always got a special gift with purchase. Domestic reds and whites were often packaged in cellophane with bottles of...you guessed it...Coke or Sprite. (That is, if they weren't already packaged with imitation Nalgenes, thermoses, rice bowls, or even beach blankets.) 

This is all to say that the cult of Coke in China is pretty strong. Which paves the way for Coca-Cola chicken wings to become a popular dish for home cooks. The preparation method is very similar to that of soy-sauce chicken, a common Cantonese dish. (I wouldn't be surprised if this dish was actually created because some person, or some million persons, who figured that adding Coke was a good way to change up their soy-sauce chicken.)

Cantonese soy sauce chicken wings are braised with soy sauce, garlic, and ginger, and occasionally cinnamon and star anise. For Cola chicken wings, we just use soy sauce, rice wine, and Coke in the braising liquid. That's it. What you end up with, after 15 to 20 minutes of braising, is a nice syrupy glaze. It's not overwhelmingly sweet, or overwhelmingly salty. It tastes a tiny bit like Coke, but even that is very subtle. Toward the end, I add some chopped scallions and freshly ground black pepper to enhance the flavor, but really, this minimalist dish is still perfectly fine without aromatics. 

I suspect this would taste even better with Mexican Coke, which uses real sugar, if you can find it in your local grocery store or bodega.

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Coca-Cola Chicken Wings (????)

Serves 4

2 pounds chicken wings, wings and drummettes separated
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons dry sherry or Chinese rice wine
3/4 cup Coca-Cola (not diet or anything flavored!)
2 scallions, chopped
A few pinches of freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the chicken wings in a large bowl and pour half of the soy sauce on top. Turn the wings so they are well-coated and allow them to marinate for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature.

2. Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken wings until they are golden brown on each side but not cooked through, about 5 to 8 minutes. Pour in the other half of the soy sauce, the sherry, and the Coke and bring the liquid to a simmer. Simmer the wings for 15 to 20 minutes, until the liquid is reduced to a glaze.

3. Either sprinkle the scallions into the wok and stir them with the chicken wings and sauce, or save them for garnish. Season the chicken with black pepper. Transfer the chicken to a plate, garnish with scallions if you did not used them already, and serve.

_______________________________

Other Chinese chicken recipes:

Chicken Lollipops

Three Cup Chicken

Chicken Adobo

Kung Pao Chicken

Honey Soy Chicken Wings

Soy-Braised Chicken

View the original article here

Coca-Cola Chicken Wings

I don't know exactly when or how Coca-cola chicken wings became a Chinese dish, but it's a baby compared to everything that originated back when dynasties existed. Heck, many people don't even realize it's a Chinese dish, much less a common one. I have never seen it printed on a restaurant menu or in an English-language Chinese cookbook. It does, however, appear from time to time in Chinese-language cookbooks and on cooking shows, sometimes involving as few as three ingredients. 

In China, Coke and other sodas hold a higher prestige than they do in the US. About 5 years ago, when I first visited Beijing, some relatives took me out to a pretty lavish restaurant for my first Peking duck experience. After drink orders were taken, the head waiter returned to the table with a wine cart. With a flourish, he brandished a bottle in his right arm for inspection, which, for course, turned out to be Coke instead Bordeaux.

I have also attended banquets and Chinese New Year dinners where bottles of 7-Up and Pepsi were sitting like centerpieces in the middle of white table cloth-covered tables. And I have gone up and down the wine aisles of Chinese supermarkets, only to find that it was almost impossible to buy just a bottle of wine. You always got a special gift with purchase. Domestic reds and whites were often packaged in cellophane with bottles of...you guessed it...Coke or Sprite. (That is, if they weren't already packaged with imitation Nalgenes, thermoses, rice bowls, or even beach blankets.) 

This is all to say that the cult of Coke in China is pretty strong. Which paves the way for Coca-Cola chicken wings to become a popular dish for home cooks. The preparation method is very similar to that of soy-sauce chicken, a common Cantonese dish. (I wouldn't be surprised if this dish was actually created because some person, or some million persons, who figured that adding Coke was a good way to change up their soy-sauce chicken.)

Cantonese soy sauce chicken wings are braised with soy sauce, garlic, and ginger, and occasionally cinnamon and star anise. For Cola chicken wings, we just use soy sauce, rice wine, and Coke in the braising liquid. That's it. What you end up with, after 15 to 20 minutes of braising, is a nice syrupy glaze. It's not overwhelmingly sweet, or overwhelmingly salty. It tastes a tiny bit like Coke, but even that is very subtle. Toward the end, I add some chopped scallions and freshly ground black pepper to enhance the flavor, but really, this minimalist dish is still perfectly fine without aromatics. 

I suspect this would taste even better with Mexican Coke, which uses real sugar, if you can find it in your local grocery store or bodega.

________________________________

Coca-Cola Chicken Wings (????)

Serves 4

2 pounds chicken wings, wings and drummettes separated
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons dry sherry or Chinese rice wine
3/4 cup Coca-Cola (not diet or anything flavored!)
2 scallions, chopped
A few pinches of freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the chicken wings in a large bowl and pour half of the soy sauce on top. Turn the wings so they are well-coated and allow them to marinate for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature.

2. Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken wings until they are golden brown on each side but not cooked through, about 5 to 8 minutes. Pour in the other half of the soy sauce, the sherry, and the Coke and bring the liquid to a simmer. Simmer the wings for 15 to 20 minutes, until the liquid is reduced to a glaze.

3. Either sprinkle the scallions into the wok and stir them with the chicken wings and sauce, or save them for garnish. Season the chicken with black pepper. Transfer the chicken to a plate, garnish with scallions if you did not used them already, and serve.

_______________________________

Other Chinese chicken recipes:

Chicken Lollipops

Three Cup Chicken

Chicken Adobo

Kung Pao Chicken

Honey Soy Chicken Wings

Soy-Braised Chicken

View the original article here

Asian Caramel Chicken Wings, Sweet & Sour Style

Are you ready for some football?!!!  Ahhhh!!! More than likely you are probably sick of hearing about football and the Super Bowl.  ”If I see one more Super Bowl round up….” Ka Pow!

And I can hardly blame you. Between the analysts blabbering non-stop about every nuance between the teams, the journalists laying down words depicting anything interesting or not about the players, even the length of their hair, to the food bloggers gearing up their sites trying to capture every Super Bowl recipe searcher they can, it’s like Christmas cookies all over again! When will it ever end?!?!?

Yet I’m excited.  I won’t even try to help it.  I love football. It is a game embedded into childhood memories filled with muddy recesses and after school lessons in toughness and team. The bonds of brotherhood of between teammates, sharing pain, agony, and glory.  Never giving up. The sting of catching the football on a cold day. The football field’s lights filling a sleepy town’s friday night. The smell of grass and sweat ground into helmets and jerseys.

Later on in life, football continues the bond between men, and quite a few cool chicks out there. Swapping hopes and glories of our teams, trading taunts and jabs over rivals. It also a refuge to let go of the daily grind and struggles. A place where taxes, bills, and jobs don’t have room to exist. Only the joy and agony of winning and defeat.

A sport in which many Americans merge into adulthood, breaking free of the coddling of youth. Later, a place to find comfort and the carefree enthusiasm of that youth when we are well into our adult years.

So the Super Bowl is here and we are ready to un-apologetically rock it!  This is grab and gnaw food time. Not a time for pretty and tidy food. Food with a punch that needs a beer to back it. Everyone get your game face on!

As we mentioned previously, we got chicken wing crazy a couple weeks ago.  This is the last of the three chicken wing recipes we concocted that day. I wanted something in between the incredible Vietnamese Caramel sauce and a classic sweet and sour sauce.

All of the chicken wing sauces we’ve posts can be done ahead of time, even days ahead of time, so on game day all you need to do is cook the wings, sometimes reheat the sauce, then toss ‘em and gnaw ‘em.  We’re making all three for game day. It’s a good mixed blitz.

Caramel sauce is often intimidating to those foreign to it, but it merely requires patience and respect. The same qualities it takes to become comfortable using a knife.  Sure a knife could slice off your finger and you’d only be able to count to nine, but most all of us have learned to respect the blade.  Same with caramel sauce.  The burns could leave permanent leopard marks on your flesh, but if handled with care and respect, you’ll have a badass sauce.

Mr. Lebovitz has passed on some of his dessert culinary expertise in his Ten Tips for Making Caramel. It is a good place to find comfort in knowledge.  But like life, book smarts only get you so far, so get yourself into the kitchen and build some kitchen street smarts.  Make it, succeed, fail, and succeed again until you’ve got it.

For those ruined batches of caramel which have become red glass in your pan, add a bunch of water and boil until it releases and dissolves. Much easier than trying to scour that stuff out. Trust us.

-Todd

Our other Chicken Wings:

And All Our Super Bowl Favorites

 Print This Recipe

Sweet and Sour Caramel Chicken Wing Recipe
Feel free to cook the chicken wings in any fashion you prefer.  Fry, bake, grill.  We give instructions here for baking, but you can find alternate ways on our Crispy Asian Chicken Wings and our Honey-Sriracha Chicken Wings recipes.  Serves 6-8.

Sauce
1/2 c (120ml) Water, divided into 2- 1/4 c measurements
1 c  (200g) Sugar
1/4 c (60ml) Fish Sauce
1/4 c (60ml) Mirin
1/4 c (60ml) Lemon, Lime, or other sour Citrus (each will give a diff. nuance to the flavor, we usually do mostly lime w/ a little lemon juice)

4 lbs. (1820g) Chicken Wings, tips removed, rinsed, and patted dry
oil to coat chicken wings
flour for dredging

Make the sauce:
1. Combine the first 1/4 c of water in a medium saucepan with sugar. Heat over medium, stirring sugar at first to combine the water and sugar. From this point on, do not stir again until the very last direction in step #3.  Only swirl the pan from side to side occasionally to help sugar caramelize evenly.

2. Continue to cook sugar until liquid turns to a reddish-amber color.  While sugar cooks, combine remaining 1/4 c of water, fish sauce, mirin, and citrus juice together in a small bowl or measuring cup. Tip: Learning to recognize the right color when cooking the sugar to is key to good caramel flavor.  Too light and the sauce is lifeless-too much and you’ve burnt it.

3. *Be very careful.  Caramel is exceptionally hot. After caramel has reached the correct color,  pour in fish sauce/mirin/citrus mix. Caramel will react violently to the cooler liquids and bubble hard. Avoid the temptation to stir.  Allow the caramel to bubble, mix and settle down, continue cooking for a couple minutes, occasionally gently swirling the pan to help everything liquefy and incorporate evenly. Give the caramel sauce one final stir, take off heat, set aside and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Cook the chicken wings:
1. Lightly coat chicken wings with oil (we prefer grape seed or peanut oil), and toss to completely coat.  Place flour for dredging in a medium bowl and toss chicken wings in flour.  Gently tap off excess flour and lay chicken wings in an even layer on lined sheet pan.

2. Bake for 20 minutes, flip chicken wings over and rotate pan, then bake for another 20 minutes or until chicken wings are golden brown.

3. Toss the chicken wings in the sweet & sour caramel wing sauce, or serve sauce on the side for dipping.

View the original article here

Honey Soy Chicken Wings

I wanted to start this post with something short and sweet to sum up 2010. A pithy observation, or a humorous anecdote. Instead, all my first paragraphs started to sound sappy on second reading, or were some version of "wow, time flew!"

I'll just say that I'm glad for 2010. The year started off rough; I was in San Francisco at a tech company, working in a job I wasn't meant for, in a city in which I knew only a handful of people. Then I made a huge move back to New York, my fourth big move in three years (NY-->Beijing-->Shanghai-->San Francisco-->New York). I spent a small fortune mailing belongings, and rebuying things that were too big to send from New York to China, and from China back. I spent way too many weeks slogging through apartment ads to find a place that deserved to be called home. 

But I'm glad that 2010 brought me back to New York. I'm glad you all kept tuning in, even when the number of posts dwindled during moving. I'm even glad for the insanely stressful and challenging months in San Francisco, to better appreciate the months that came after. And I'm glad the end of 2010 brought an exciting project that partly resulted from my three years of hopping around the globe, more or less living out of a suitcase. (More on that later. I promise!)

But for now, I want to share recipe that has always been dependable, through good days and bad. These chicken wings are much more tangible than reminiscence, and much more satisfying. Whenever I got home late from work, and didn't feel like doing much on the stove, I would marinate wings in a honey, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil mixture, then stick them in the oven for about 20 minutes. Really, it can't be easier, and the flavor combination is tried-and-true. Sometimes I would add cayenne for a spicy kick. True, they're more of an appetizer than a full-on meal, but sometimes what you really need after a day of answering calls and working in Salesforce is to just plop in front of the TV, drink cheap wine from a Mason jar, and eat chicken wings with your hands.

The portions easily double, or triple, or quadruple. I'd make these for New Year's Eve, if I or a friend were having a big gathering at home. (Super Bowl Sunday, maybe, or Oscar night...) Any food that got me through the first dreary months of 2010 will surely make frequent reappearances in the coming years.

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Honey Soy Chicken Wings

Serves 4

2 pounds chicken wings, drumsticks and wings separated
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 scallion, green part only, finely chopped

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey, rice vinegar, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, and salt. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl or deep dish. Add the wings to the mixture and turn to coat. Cover the dish and marinate the wings in the fridge for 10 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

3. Arrange the wings in a single layer on a baking pan, shaking off excess liquid. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until the outside is golden brown and crispy. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle sesame seeds and chopped scallions on top.

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More appetizer ideas using chicken:

Chicken Lollipops

Chinese-Caribbean "Jerk" Chicken Wings

Chicharrones de Pollo with Paprika Onions

Mandarin Chicken Salad

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