Beijing Wings
(from Cook This, Not That)
I'm not a football fan, so to me the Super Bowl means commercials, half-time show, and snacks. Around this time of the year, though, Mom starts talking about Super Bowl snacks, which always includes her awesome hot wings, but this year we decided to mix things up a bit. Mom tried this recipe and said they were sooo delicious, so I had to try the recipe, too. Not living at home makes me miss Mom's cooking, but it's sort of fun to recreate something she made. It's almost like we're together! Almost. Except her food usually turns out better than mine.
If you can skip straight ahead to this point (i.e.: buy them already cut up), you should probably just do that.
First of all, cleaning chicken is gross. I'm not a fan. I'd rather actually watch the football part of the Super Bowl than clean chicken. But Meijer didn't have any ready-to-go chicken wings the day before the Super Bowl (Who would have guessed? It's like they're in high demand this time of year or something), so I had to cut some chicken wings to separate the wing and the little drumstick-looking part. Let me tell you, it's not pleasant. I would honestly recommend that, unless you have a strong stomach, don't even bother making chicken wings if you can't find the ready-to-go kind. To me, it's not worth it, and I usually revel in every step of the cooking process.
Top left: This is apparently called a 3-joint wing. Bottom: This is what you end up with: the drumette on the left and the mid-joint wing on the right. Just ditch the wing tip (on the far right).
Beijing Wings
Recipe...
Dump 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce, 1/8 cup brown sugar, 4 cloves minced garlic, and 1Tbsp. grated fresh ginger into a big 'ole sealable plastic bag with the chicken wings that, hopefully, have already been prepped for you. Shake 'em around to coat them, seal the bag, and stick it in the fridge for 1-8 hours.
Heat your oven to 450℉. Line a cookie sheet with foil. Spray the foil lightly with cooking spray. Place the wings on the cookie sheet evenly spaced and cook them until the meat firms up and cooks through and the skin gets all caramelized and delicious and crispy (about 15 minutes).
Put about 2 Tbsp butter, 1 Tbsp. sriracha (or tabasco if you don't have sriracha), juice of 1/2 lime, and 1/8 cup brown sugar. Once the butter melts saute the wings in it for a couple of minutes until the sauce starts sticking to the wings. Decorate them nicely with sesame seeds and scallions (if you so desire).
Mom was right, these chicken wings had great flavor and they're easy to freeze and re-heat for a quick dinner. Just one thing: this was my first time cutting up chicken and I noticed these little hair-looking things sticking out of the chicken skin from where the feathers used to be. I certainly didn't know what to do with them. I though they would just go away once you cook them. That doesn't happen. They stay there, apparently unless you trim them away with kitchen shears. I didn't find this out until after the fact, so I ate them for dinner, all the while being a little bit grossed out by these little hairs. Moral of the story: trim little hairs on the chicken before cooking.
i just read your review of Bejing wings and I hadn't seen it before, or if I did I forgot. Such a great review of these tasty wings. You have become such a talented chef. You say your mom's food usually tastes better than the same recipe you make, but you are a very good cook and your food is wonderful. I really wasn't much of a cook til way later than you at your age. Keep up the great work, I can't wait to eat at your place soon.
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