It’s that time of year again…Super Bowl Weekend!!
Football parties give me an excuse to make a meal out of my guilty pleasure…munchies. It doesn’t happen often, but I love when I can fill my plate with a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. Wings are a game watching staple in our house. I love a good Buffalo wing, but this time around, I wanted to try something a little different.
These wings are marinated in a spicy Asian marinade for a few hours before baking off in the oven. They aren’t fried, like traditional wings, so they’re a tad bit healthier than their (delicious) artery clogging cousin. After baking, they’re topped off with a sweet chili glaze and then popped back into the oven for a quick broil just to crisp things up a bit.
To begin, I cut apart almost three pounds of chicken wings at the joint and removed the wing tip. I didn’t take a picture of it this time, but if you’ve never done that before you can check out another wing recipe I posted a while ago right here for details. Once the chicken was ready, I whisked together my marinade. The marinade consists of some peanut oil (You can substitute canola or vegetable oil if there’s a peanut allergy in the house!), chopped fresh cilantro, soy sauce, a lot of minced fresh garlic, fresh ginger, and some crushed red pepper flakes. Once it was together, I poured the marinade over the wings and tossed them so each wing was evenly coated.
I put a lid on the bowl and allowed the wings to marinate for about four hours. They don’t need to marinate that long, or you could marinate them longer if you want. Just make sure they chill out for at least two hours.
The wings only take about twenty minutes to bake, so about twenty minutes before they went into the oven, I started my glaze. Why so early? Because it needs to reduce down quite a bit. So, into a saucepan on the stove top went some rice vinegar, sugar, water, and some chili-garlic sauce.
I brought it to a boil, and then let it simmer away for about 30-40 minutes, until it was reduced by half and started to thicken up, and become syrupy.
Meanwhile, as it bubbled away, it was time to get my wings in the oven. I lined a baking sheet with foil and sprayed it with nonstick spray. Then, I lined my little wings up, making sure that they were coated with some of the garlic and other spices from the marinade, and popped them into the oven.
After twenty minutes, they were nice and toasty brown, so I removed the fully cooked wings from the oven, transferred them to a bowl, and then tossed them with that sweet chili glaze.
At this point, you could serve them up, if you want to, but I wanted to crisp them up just a little bit more. I drained the chicken juices from the cookie sheet I’d used before, and lined the little guys back up on there for a couple of minutes under the broiler.
Be sure to watch them like a hawk! In no time flat, your wings could go from perfectly browned to burnt…and that would stink (in more ways than one!).
When it was time to eat, I sprinkled them with some chopped green onion and we were ready to dig in! The wings have a little bit of kick, but they are in no way “Make you scream” spicy. The marinade ensures that they are tender, and well seasoned, and the sweet, slightly caramelized glaze on top finished it off perfectly.
May the best team win! Have fun this Sunday!
ASIAN MARINATED WINGS WITH SWEET CHILI GLAZE
Adapted from Epicurious
Asian Marinated Wings with Sweet Chili Glaze
Recipe Type: Appetizer
Author: Adapted from Epicurious
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
- 3 lbs. chicken wings
- 1/2 cup peanut oil (or substitute canola or vegetable oil if there’s an allergy)
- 3 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro
- 5 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
- 4 Tbsp. minced fresh garlic, reserve 1 Tbsp. for the glaze
- 3 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
- 1 tsp. dried, crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup rice vinegar
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 Tbsp chili-garlic sauce (you could add more if you’re looking for serious spice)
- chopped green onions, for garnish
- Cut each chicken wing at the joint. Remove wing tips and throw them away. Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together the peanut oil, cilantro, soy sauce, 3 Tbsp. garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper. Pour the mixture over the wings, and toss to coat evenly. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the wings for at least 2 hours.
- The glaze could take anywhere from 20-40 minutes to reduce, so start early based on when your wings are going in the oven. In a small saucepan, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, water, remaining 1 Tbsp. garlic, and chili-garlic sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the mixture thickens a bit and is syrupy.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400*F.
- Line a cookie sheet with foil, and spray with nonstick spray. Line the marinated wings up on the cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until completely cooked and browned nicely.
- Place the cooked wings in a bowl, and toss with sweet chili glaze.
- Preheat your broiler.
- Drain the cookie sheet and then line the wings up on it again. Place the wings under the broiler, watching carefully, for just enough time to caramelize the glaze a little bit.
- Sprinkle with green onions and serve.
- ENJOY!
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