AKA my (formerly) TOP SECRET bitchass chicken wings recipe.
Have you ever set out to cook something that seemed really simple, so you decided to forgo any recipe or research, chucked a bunch of ingredients together with a large cup of optimism, put it into the oven/pot/fryer on a wing & a prayer and it turned out utterly amazing?! So much so that you decided you must be an undiscovered culinary savant and started yelling at the TV “No you’re rubbish, Gordon Ramsey!”
It’s happened to me exactly three times; with crab cakes, potato bake, and chicken wings. Today, I’m spilling the feathers on the latter.
Whether char-grilled on the braai or baked in the oven, I’ve yet to meet anyone who didn’t love this marinade. I based it on the Thai cooking principle of combining sweet, sour, salty and spicy in the same dish. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Chicken wings- this marinade is enough to coat 8 wings, but there is a way to extend the mix without doubling the ingredients, will explain further down.
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar or another acid of your choice (lemon/lime juice also works)
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
- 2 Tablespoons oyster sauce
Time needed: max 30 mins, including pre-heating the oven.
Prep:
Pre-heat your oven to 180 Celsius. Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a dish and mix. To make sure you’ve got the ratio spot on, give it a taste (please do this before you add the raw chicken, I don’t want to be responsible for your salmonella!) you should find a succession of the sweet/sour/salty/spicy hitting your tastebuds.
Coat the chicken wings in the mix. If you are making a larger quantity, you do not need to double the recipe; you can extend the marinade without changing the flavour by mixing it with some plain Greek yoghurt. Spread your wings on a grease-proofed baking tray and bake for 10 mins. Flip them over, bast the other side with more sauce and bake for a further 10 mins or until they pass the poke test with clear juices. You can also crisp the skin under the grill for a bit. Serve & enjoy!
