I've been contemplating on making asian wings for a long time. The only thing that stops me is waiting for the marinade to fully adhere to whatever protein I am using. When I crave something, I would think about it. Constantly. If you ask me what I'm doing later or for the weekend, I'm normally thinking about dinner or what to make. Marinades are usually pretty simple to put together, but it's just the wait that kills me. Especially when some marinades are required to fridge overnight. What I love about soy based sauces is how quickly it flavors the dish without waiting too long. I finally motivated myself to visit a Japanese market one Sunday morning to pick up a few packs of Jidori (free range chicken) chicken wings. With the wings, I picked up some sake for the marinade along with some ginger and garlic.
QUICK RECIPE
- 3 pounds of chicken wings
- 1 Cup of Sake
- 3/4 Cup of soy sauce (I used Kikkoman)
- 1/4 Cup of water
- 3 table spoons of grated ginger (more is optional, I grated probably 2 inches of ginger)
- whole head of grated garlic
- 3/4 cups of sugar (I used granulated white sugar).
- 1 Teaspoon of Red pepper flakes because I like it spicy (optional)
- 1 green onion
- 1 teaspoon of white pepper
I got a large zip lock and threw everything inside. It is definitely the easiest especially when massaging the marinade in the chicken. The wings should be marinading for at least 1 hour before cooking. I left my wings in the fridge for about 2 hours turning occasionally (every 30 minutes).
The wings are then cooked in a pan and flipped occasionally. I literally left the wings on until the sauce started to reduce... and reduce... till it creates a glaze on the wings and slowly starts charring on the skin. You can manage the soy sauce since the flavors do get intensified once it reduces. The smell by the way is amaze-balls. Who wouldn't love the smell of garlicky, soy ginger funk in the air! I'm sure neighbors are probably thinking 'it's gotta be the Chinese again, man I wish I can get some of whatever that is.' Yeah. I bet you that's what they are saying.
Sesame and Green onions to garnish
The wings are done and served with some white jasmine rice which helps cut the richness of the soy glaze. I did leave the wingtips on because it was just something we did in our household when I was growing up. And... It makes me feel more masculine being able to take a huge bite.
Enjoy and keep cooking!
Cheers.
Daiisies