Chicken wings may be my favorite part of the chicken. I rarely cook with chicken breast. It’s the most expensive cut of the chicken, and it dries out so easily. The last time I cooked with chicken breasts, it was wrapped in bacon. I don’t mind paying more for good meat – the wings above are organic, and I do think that organic, free-range meat tastes noticeably better.
But I think it would be hard for these wings to taste anything but good – they are roasted in the oven at a high heat to achieve a crispy skin, then bathed in a honey-hoisin sauce and returned to the oven to roast just a little longer, until the glaze is sticky and sweet. It’s one of my favorite ways of preparing chicken wings, since it doesn’t take much work. While the chicken is roasting in the oven, I can prepare other dishes.
Back to these wings – the glaze is a sweet, salty, and spicy mix of hoisin sauce, honey, sesame oil, soy sauce, black pepper, and sriracha. It’s a snap to put together – I don’t usually measure, just eye it, taste, and adjust as I go along – but I’ve included approximate quantities.
Hoisin and Honey Glazed Chicken Wings
Ingredients:
3 lbs chicken wings, separated
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/3 cup honey
5 T soy sauce (I use reduced-sodium)
2 tsp sriracha (or to taste, depends how spicy you would like it)
2 t toasted sesame oil
1 t black pepper
1 T toasted sesame seeds
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the chicken wings on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and roast them at 400 for 25 minutes.
While the chicken is roasting, combine all the other ingredients in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes, until it is slightly reduced. Put aside 1/3 cup of the sauce in a small bowl.
When the chicken is ready to come out, transfer the wings to the saucepan. Make sure each wing is coated in sauce. While the wings are in the saucepan, I usually drain the fat that was rendered out of the chicken wings from the baking sheet.
Return the coated wings to the baking sheet and pour the rest of the glaze from the saucepan over the wings. Roast for 10-15 more minutes, until the glaze on the wings is thick and sticky.
Transfer the wings to a serving dish. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over them and serve with the reserved glaze on the side.
