Thai Style Chicken Wings

I’m a big fan of the tv series “Chef’s Table”. One of my very favorite moments is in the first episode, Massimo’s wife is recounting a memory in which Massimo wonders “if I (he) can make mozzarella invisible”. This moment for me absolutely captures the magic of the endless creative possible uses of ingredients and that “ah-ha” moment I feel when I am struck with a new idea. This recipe came from one of those such moments, and I hope you enjoy it. This recipe wields the flavors of my favorite Thai soup, Tom Kha, and applies them liberally to smoky chicken wings with meat that just falls off the bone.

Tips to get you started:

· The spice amounts in this recipe yield a mildly spicy product, if you like, the heat can be turned up a notch to your tastes.

· This recipe uses the oven to render down the chicken wings before they are grilled, this step may be skipped if you’re short on time.

· Reserving some of the sauce before it touches the raw chicken will leave you with a nice dipping sauce for serving.

Tools: Oven, grill, food processor, tongs, basting brush.

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 30-40 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb. Chicken “party wings”

For the glaze:

1 Teaspoon fresh lime juice

½ Teaspoon Sriracha sauce

3 Tablespoons sweet chili sauce

For the sauce:

1 ½ Tablespoons minced garlic cloves

1 Teaspoon dried cilantro

¼ Cup white onion, minced

1 Teaspoon fresh ginger, minced or grated, skin removed

2 Teaspoons lemongrass paste

1 Teaspoon fish sauce

1 ½ Tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 Tablespoons sweet chili sauce

A Pinch of truffle zest (optional)

6 Oz. Whole fat coconut milk

½ Teaspoon Sriracha sauce (more to taste)

¼ Teaspoon red pepper flakes (more to taste)

Part one: Pre- heat oven to 300 degrees F. Remove chicken wings from any packaging and pat dry. Place a cookie cooling rack or other oven safe wire rack in a jelly roll pan and arrange chicken wings in an even layer across the wire rack. Lightly season the wings with salt and pepper on both sides of the wing.

Part two: In a medium mixing bowl, combine all glaze ingredients and mix well. Using a basting brush, liberally brush the wings with the glaze. Discard and leftover glaze and wash your brush for later use, and to avoid food contamination. Put the wing laden pan in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Part three: While the wings render in the oven, pre-heat your grill to about 400 degrees F. Then proceed with making your sauce.

Part four: To make your grilling and dipping sauce, place the sauce ingredients into a blender or food processor and process until smooth, about 3 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides occasionally with a rubber spatula so you don’t end up with odd chunks in the sauce. Reserve ½ Cup of this sauce in a serving bowl or small ramekins for dipping once the wings are served.

Part five: Using caution for the hot pan, remove the chicken wings from the oven and turn the oven off. Transfer the wings from the hot pan directly to the grill and brush each wing liberally with the grilling sauce. Allow these to sear and cook for about 3 minutes, then flip and cook for about 3 more minutes, allowing the wings to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Serve immediately, with reserved dipping sauce.

Serving suggestion: I enjoyed these wings sprinkled with some sliced green onion, and served alongside some jasmine rice and my cucumber salad as a refreshing complement to the spicy wings.

Tiny chefs at home? They can:

· Help measure ingredients

· Mix the glaze

Nutrition information:

Total Calories: 394

Total Fat: 26 g

Cholesterol: 85 mg

Sodium: 729 mg

Total Carbohydrates: 16 g

Sugars: 12 g

Protein: 23 g

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.