The only wing recipe you will ever need: Seriously. Make. These. Now.

From the oven

Smokified: Finger lickin'!

Chili Chicken Wings

(from Kevin Dundon who is not Asian but sure knows how to Asian it up)

Pound together in a mortar and pestle:

a few cloves of garlic

a 1” knob of ginger

1 or 2 whole hot chilis (hey, Peter!...you can even use pickled peppers in a pinch,

just make sure they’re spicy, I’ve used pickled hot cherry peppers)

a sprinkling of kosher salt to make things stay inside while you begin pounding away

Once this is a nice paste that smells just this side of delicious, think of someone who got on your wrong side and pound the frick out of it some more.

Once you’ve worked out your aggressions, squeeze in the juice of one lime and scrape everything from the mortar (or is it the pestle? Who cares when you are making tasty!?) out into a large bowl. Zest, then add the zest and the lime halves to this bowl, too.

Then throw in:

red chili flakes

a glug and a half of soy sauce

a couple glugs of olive oil

drip in a mess of honey to make it all thick and syrupy. Once it is nice and messy, ADD MORE HONEY, because it is the magic of this whole recipe and helps to temper the heat.

                                                                                                                          

Toss in chicken wings (about a pound or so) and stir to coat well. I like wings that have been cut up at the joint so you have a mini-drumstick and that part with two little bones. (The wing tip is for soup and should be left out of this recipe as it is not the proper vehicle for delivery of this coating.)

Marinate for a few hours in the fridge. Two should suffice and more is fine.

Spread in one layer on baking sheet. Dump the lime halves in, too. If you have too many wings for one layer, hold the rest back… fill another sheet or they also freeze well.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 or so minutes until brown, caramelized and burny in spots. You will be fighting for these burny parts, so the more, the better.

If you really like to feed your family well and have some extra time, you can smoke these in a smoker at 225 degrees with an ounce of hickory for about an hour and a half. 

Mr. Dundon serves this with a Marie-Rose sauce that involves mayonnaise, ketchup, brandy, tomato puree, Worcestershire and Tabasco. It is a nice accompaniment and cools things down a bit but no one will complain if you forget to make it.

As I am Asian, I eat these wings with rice. I have been told that a meal doesn’t have to involve rice to be a meal. What!?! Don’t believe them.