
Cooked in seasoned coconut milk, these wings are really good. This recipe is a hybrid of a type of rendang—a slow-cooked type of Asian reverse curry—and the slow-simmered Japanese kakuni flavor profile. “Kakuni” can be literally translated as “cube simmered,” as in buta-no-kakuni.
So, this is basically chicken wings cooked in seasoned coconut milk until the milk is cooked away, leaving a highly-flavorful coating on the wings. With patience and careful monitoring, they can actually be cooked to be slightly crispy, as these were beginning to become before I couldn’t wait any longer to eat them.
Realistically, you could do this with any meat, as I did with this recipe. It works particularly well with wings, though!
Note that due to the nature of rendangs, this dish can take up to several hours to cook. Thankfully, it does its thing without constant supervision.
What you’ll need
- 1 14-ounce can of coconut milk or coconut cream
- 3T sugar, brown sugar or raw sugar
- 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
- 4 star-anise
- 3T soy sauce
- 2T sake or mirin
- About 2 lbs chicken wings (if making more than that, increase the other ingredients by the same percentage increase as the wings and use a larger cooking vessel, such as a small, enameled cast-iron Dutch oven)
What to do
Over medium heat, add all the ingredients but the chicken wings to a 12-inch high-sided heavy-bottomed frypan (like cast iron). Mix well and allow the coconut milk to just start to simmer.
Add the chicken wings and ensure they’re mostly submerged. Keeping the heat at medium, allow the coconut milk to return to a low simmer. Turn the heat down to a very low setting and let the chicken simmer ever so slowly as the coconut milk gradually thickens and the liquid evaporates. Depending on the rate of simmer, this will take between 2 and 3.5 hours.
For best results, just check on the dish at 10 minutes and 20 minutes into the cooking process to ensure the correct rate of simmering, then check every 20 or so minutes until the coconut milk has mostly evaporated. When the coconut milk is mostly gone, the chicken will be cooking in a very flavorful oily paste of mostly coconut milk solids and rendered fat from the wings. You can stop cooking at that point and serve them hot, or turn up the heat at bit while keeping a careful eye on the wings—and turning them when needed—allowing the wings to crisp up a bit.
Enjoy!

Leave a Reply