Jeff’s note: These are one of the two wing recipes that started it all for me. The other — the “Sesame Chicken” wings — remain a recipe that’s somewhat elusive. Maybe it’s taste memory making the ones from my childhood so much “better” in my brain, but I don’t know. When I get them right, I’ll share that one too. In the meantime, this one is a great and easy one.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 T soy sauce
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 T honey
- garlic powder
- sesame seeds (optional)
- 2 pounds of wings cut into segments
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a medium bowl, large enough to hold all the wings, mix together the first four ingredients. Cover and let “marinate” in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes and up to 3 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a baking sheet, foil-covered pan or foil pan with cooking spray and spread the marinated wings evenly across the surface. The fewer wings that touch each other, the more evenly they will crisp.
- Bake wings for 1/2 hour
- Sprinkle with garlic powder and sesame seeds and toss the wings gently to make sure they’re evenly coated and redistributed.
- Raise the temperature to 425F and cook until dark-golden brown (about 20-30 minutes, turning and redistributing the wings with a tongs or spatula at about 15 minutes) Be careful they do not burn.
- Remove pan from oven when done and let the whole pan cool slightly 3-5 minutes before removing the wings to a plate (this makes them easier to “unstick” and lets more of the coating stay with the chicken.
Optional dipping sauce (never a bad thing) mix another batch of the marinade in a small sauce pan and heat over medium low heat, stirring until well blended. You can add garlic or hot sauce if you like. Don’t use leftover marinade if its touched raw chicken — too risky. Any sauce that’s touched raw chicken should be brought to a low-boil and simmered for 10-15 minutes, add 1/4 cup water and cook until it re-thickens.
Jeff’s variation — I’ve recently started adding about 1 T of sriracha or other hot sauce to the marinade… I’ve also tossed the wings in a mixture of 1 T minced garlic and 1 t minced fresh ginger and 1 t chili flakes right before they go in the oven…. (omit the garlic powder in that case). Both are excellent.