Let us release chicken wings from the shackles of being a mere “game day food”, shall we? I want to bring them on to my everyday dinner table. I want to savor them quietly, intently without any distractions. And with zero guilt. Yes I can, I totally can with my Asian inspired baked chicken wings. I usually pair it with fried rice and make it into a weeknight meal.
This dish came into being while I was puttering around the kitchen, trying to create a meal using my favorite Asian condiments, soy sauce and gochujang. Soy sauce is of course widely recognized in all corners of the world. But what is gochujang?
Gochujang is a fundamental ingredient in Korean cooking and looks like a thick red paste. This paste is made from red chili pepper, glutinous rice, fermented soybean and salt. I know it looks and sounds esoteric but the garb of mystery will be gone once you start using it. Bring on some extra depth of flavor to your sauces and marinades by adding this chili paste. It has some underlying sweetness from the glutinous rice, healthy amount of heat from the chili peppers and some umami flavor from the fermented soybeans. This combination of flavors goes well in soups and stir fries too. Gochujang is available to buy in any well stocked supermarket or grocery chains. This shows how it is slowly becoming a mainstream ingredient in cooking.
I like meals where I can let the oven do its thing. Hands-off meals like these chicken wings where I marinate, put it in the oven and go about and do other things. Chicken wings take about 45 minutes to be fully cooked in the oven. In that amount of time the marinade that I have concocted for these wings caramelizes and becomes this delicious sauce that coats them. I slather the wings with melted butter right after it comes out of the oven and sprinkle green onions on top before bringing it to the table. These wings go really well with egg, tomato and spinach fried rice.
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
 | 4 pounds of chicken wings, drumettes and flats |
| ½ cup soy sauce |
| 2 tablespoon gochujang |
| 2 tablespoon honey |
| 2 tablespoon rice vinegar |
| 1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil |
| 1 tablespoon brown sugar |
| 1 teaspoon salt |
| 1 tablespoon grated garlic |
| 1 tablespoon grated ginger |
| ⅓ cup chopped green onions |
| 4 tablespoon melted butter |
| Instructions | |
|---|---|
| Prepare the marinade by whisking together soy sauce, gochujang, honey, rice vinegar, oil, brown sugar, salt, garlic and ginger. |
| Marinate the chicken in the above marinade for at least 6 hours and up to 12 hours in the refrigerator, more the better. I like to do it in a gallon size ziploc bag. I put the meat and marinade in the ziploc bag, zip it and give it a nice massage so that the wings are nicely coated in the marinade. |
| Preheat the oven to 400 degree F |
| Line two 18 by 10 baking sheets with aluminium foil. I coat the sheets with double aluminum foil each for an easy clean up later |
| Take the wings out of the ziploc and place it on the sheet pans. Make sure the wings are well coated with the marinade |
| Bake the wings in the oven for 20 minutes |
| After about 20 minutes take out the pans and flip the wings |
| Put them back in the oven |
| Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook the wings for another 25 minutes or until done. They should get crispy with a nice brown color. Oven temperatures vary, so if you don’t get that color just broil them for about 4 to 5 minutes. |
| After the wings are done transfer them to a plate or serving platter. Then liberally brush them with melted butter. Sprinkle some green onions and serve warm |
Note: The marinated wings can be stored in the freezer for up to a month. Just defrost them in the refrigerator and continue to cook according to the above instructions.
Cleaning Tip: To easily clean burnt marinade off a sheet pan, fill it with hot soapy water and let it sit overnight. The burned bits will clean right off.
Inspiration: Asian meals
