totally at the behest of my husband ::::
When Eat and I lived in Chicago, a Korean fried chicken place, Crisp, opened up near our home. The chicken wings, any flavor, brought us back more than once, fingers sticky, sauce on our cheeks and under our fingernails. It was the Seoul Sassy sauce, however, that really pulled us in: gingery, salty, and sweet, like a kalbi marinade exploded over some KFC. We’d almost have to plan when we went there, expecting that I’d dribble sauce on my invariably white shirt or Peach would end of with most of it on her face, fingers, and every article of clothing.
Saucy chicken is hard to beat. It’s not that I didn’t see the value in today’s recipe, or in its efficiency, or the overall flavor profile, but it was my husband who convinced me to make these one-pot sticky chicken wings one night, and I initially did so begrudgingly. A contribution to Food & Wine by Andrew Zimmern, host of television’s Bizarre Foods, and host of Eat’s idea of a dream job. It was a last minute decision, coming together without much planning needed. It reminded me of those wonderful fried Korean chicken wings, even with a different flavor profile. And Eat wolfed them down just like that Korean fried chicken, dribble free. I can’t say the same for Peach or Grub.
One year ago: sour cream hazelnut brownies
Two years ago: polenta cubes in broth
Three years ago: basil lemonade with meyer lemons
- 3 pounds chicken wings
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 4 small dried red chiles
- 2 to 3 whole star anise
- one 3-inch cinnamon stick
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ⅓ cup sake
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons mirin
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- In a very large nonstick skillet (or in batches), cook the chicken wings over moderate heat, turning once, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the ginger, chiles, star anise and cinnamon and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the soy sauce, sake, oyster sauce, mirin, sugar and ⅓ cup of water and bring to a simmer over moderate heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Uncover and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the wings are cooked through and the sauce has reduced to a thick glaze, about 8 minutes (mine actually took about 15 minutes). Discard the chiles, star anise and cinnamon. Transfer the chicken wings to a platter, scatter the scallions on top and serve.
