Ginger-Scallion Chicken Wings

Here’s a quick and delicious recipe for chicken wings. I did make these for a party, and they were very well received.

These are delicious, here accompanied by some sake.

This recipe is very closely based on wings from Regina Kwan Peterson, Los Angeles-based an attorney, writer and performer. The recipe was featured on David Chang’s online Luck Peach website. More on Regina can be found here: http://luckypeach.com/we-love-mom-regina-kwan-petersons-ginger-scallion-wings.

So good they’ll put your camera out of focus.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 lbs chicken wings
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 1″x1” piece ginger
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sherry or rice wine
• + sugar
• + soy sauce
• + red pepper flakes
• + salt and pepper
• wok

Here’s what to do with the ingredients:

1. Rinse the chicken wings, and pat dry.
2. Cut the wings into 3 segments, and set aside—I did not use 3-segment wings, only the drumette and wingette, not the tips.
3. Peel and slice 2 large garlic cloves.
4. Peel and grate a 1-inch x 1-inch piece of fresh ginger.
5. Wash the green onions. Remove tips and chop into 2-inch segments, using both the white and green parts. Set aside.
6. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over medium-high heat and immediately add 2T sugar. The heat will cause the sugar to have a grainy, clumpy appearance and then to caramelize into a brown viscous liquid within the hot oil—this step is crucial to the recipe turning out.
7. Carefully add the chicken-wing segments and coat them with the oil and caramelized sugar until they turn a rich, brown color. Brown wings in oil for 2–3 minutes. (It’s best to use long metal tongs with a rubber handle for turning the wings in the caramel.) Fold in the garlic, ginger and green onions.
8. Add 2T soy sauce, rice wine, or sherry, and 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper. Toss the wings and cover the wok with lid. Turn the heat to low, and cook for 25 minutes. Stir wings halfway through cooking.—I skipped the soy sauce to cut back on the sodium.
9. Uncover the wok and toss the wings. A small amount of rich gravy will have developed. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
10. Can be eaten with plain white rice.

So good that they’re still out of focus.