Slow Burn Sticky Sweet Wings

Wings are one of the most intensely personal foods out there. I mean, it doesn’t get more personal than picking something up with your hands, tearing the flesh with your teeth, and licking your fingers when you’re done. It takes you back to the primal days of yore (YORE!) when we were all hunting and gathering our food, rather than having someone else bag it up and carry it to the car. (Sidenote: it drives me CRAZY that Kroger does that now. I’m able to load my own groceries, thank you! I appreciate the offer, but there’s no way I’m letting an 80-year-old man struggle to load twenty pounds of cat litter and boxes of wine into my trunk.) (Sidesidenote: That just made me sound like a crazy cat lady, didn’t it.)

Anyway. So, as I was saying, wings are personal. My point is, I like to eat them in the privacy of my own home where I can truly ravage them. Which is why I decided to try this recipe I found on the Good Mood Food Blog, via Saveur. (Although I renamed it. “Asian Chicken Wings” seemed pretty generic, and not all that accurate.) It’s one of those recipes that you like more the more you eat it. I think it might have helped to let them sit for five minutes before we began the feeding frenzy, but by the time they were done cooking it was 7:30 and we were famished.

Ingredients

Chicken Wings (the original recipe called for 12. I used 24 full wings and had plenty of sauce)

1 Cup of Sweet Chili Sauce (I found this in the specialty Asian section of Kroger)

The Juice Of One Lemon.

1 Tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce.

2 Cloves of Garlic Minced.

2 Tablespoons of Honey

1 Tsp Ground Ginger

1 Tsp of Chinese 5 Spice powder.

1 Tsp of Sesame Oil.

1 Tsp of Cornstarch

Don’t be like me and make sure to break down the chicken wings. It just makes them much easier to eat, and I think they will lay better in the pan as well. Mix all the ingredients (except the wings) in a bowl. When they are combined, add the wings and mix. If you want to continue the “personal” theme, mix with your hands. It really does make you feel like you are cooking. Get in there! You can either leave the wings in the bowl or spread them out in a roasting tray. Cover with saran wrap and put them in the fridge for at least a half hour. 

Preheat the oven to 400 and put the wings in the roasting pan on the top rack. Cook for 25 minutes, then stir them around, turning them over, and cook for another 25. They should get some good color on them by the end. Let them sit for 5 minutes or so if you can, so the sauce thickens up, then serve! They are sweet but you’ll notice after the first one or two that you are feeling a little burn in your lips. The next time I make them I might add a little Thai Garlic Chili sauce to up the heat factor, but that’s up to your tastebuds. Serve with plenty of napkins! And don't feel guilty about eating them alone where no one will see your savage side. 


(Click here for printable recipe)