When I was younger and still living in Hong Kong, my whole family would get together about once a month at my house to have something called a dai sik wui which is pretty much like a potluck turned giant feast. It's always someone's birthday or graduation, an aunt or uncle returning from the UK for vacation or just because it's summer and everyone is itchy for summery food and playing mahjong indoors with the air con blasting. Amongst all the goodies on the table, sometimes I'd spot a dish of Coca-Cola chicken wings. Yes. That's chicken wings cooked with Coca-Cola.
For the longest time, I thought only Cantonese and people from Hong Kong would make this odd-sounding dish. Then after some browsing around, I learned that Coca-Cola chicken wings are actually quite common in mainland China, as well as other Asian counties where Coke is the king of all soda pop.
In the process of coming up with a recipe that reminds me of my family's potluck, I thought I'd do something different here. So instead of using Coca-Cola, I turned to my favorite kind of ginger ale by Bruce Cost (the jasmine flavor is incredible by the way), and made some ginger sriracha chicken wings with a mass of minced ginger, ginger ale, sriracha, and a touch of ginger juice by The Ginger People!
The best part about these wings? They are cooked in the oven rather than braised like you would for the typical Coca-Cola wings. The dry heat from the oven does it's magic to make them less fatty, and it just produces "snackier" wings without the guilt of frying!
Once they've cooked 'til golden brown, garnish with sesame seeds and chopped scallion.
Got a grill? You know what to do!
Ginger Sriracha Chicken Wings (薑汁雞翼)
Prep time: 8 hours 10 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 8 hours 50 mins
You'll need:
- 2 lbs chicken wings (mid sections if preferred)
- 4 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
- 2 tbsp ginger juice by The Ginger People
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ white pepper powder
- 6oz (half bottle) original ginger ale by Bruce Cost
- Garnish:
- 2 stalks scallions, chopped
- 1 tbsp Sesame seeds
Approach:
- Peel, then chop fresh ginger finely using a food processor. Remove ginger and place it in a medium mixing bowl. Add ginger juice, sriracha, salt, sesame oil, garlic powder, white pepper powder, and mix well. Then stir in ginger ale. Add chicken wings to the mix and give it a stir. Cover with plastic wrap and let it marinate in the fridge overnight.
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a half sheet pan with tin foil, then place a cooling rack on top, brush with butter or canola oil lightly.
- Place chicken wings on the rack and make sure they don't overlap.
- Bake each side of the wings at 425°F for 15 minutes (total of 30 mins). Then adjust the temperature to 475°F, and bake for an additional 10 minutes, until golden brown.
- Let the wings rest for 5 minutes, then garnish with sesame seeds and chopped scallion.
Notes:
Ginger juice by The Ginger People
Original ginger ale by Bruce Cost
Classic Nonstick Jellyroll Pans and Cooling Grid, Set of 3, by Sur La Table®