Firecracker Wings Recipe
Sinkology is proud to present Emily Schuermann, our food-loving guest blogger who runs Food for a Year. Emily is here to share some recipes she has created exclusively for the Sinkology blog that reflect her view of a copper sink: simple, timeless, affordable and beautifully rustic.
What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than with firecrackers??
Firecracker wings that is! It doesn’t seem to matter what else it happening in our home — at the moment I pull a pan of wings out of the oven, the herd flocks to the kitchen. Because the wings are still blazing hot, I get pelted with questions like : “can we eat them now?” “what kind did you make?” “how many do I get ?” “can we eat them NOW?” “how many did you make?” “is there more?”…
Within 2 minutes, the flurry of questions have been substituted for the sound of smacking & licking. But that “silence” only lasts long enough for them to realize the flavor of the week is crazy tasty. Once they recognize that truth, we restart the question phase.
I know growth spurts are to blame for most of their feeding frenzies ((my oldest officially became taller than me this spring, sigh)), but I think the mania can only be attributed to my mad wing-making skills. Oops, that sounds a little braggy. Actually, my wing recipe has been perfected thanks to lots of practice and tweaking.
Let me tell you all about the perfect wing. Here’s the secret :: I ONLY oven-fry my wings. I can’t stand the splattering mess of oil that goes along with deep-frying. Plus, who needs the extra calories and fat (not me — that’s for sure). In order to get the coveted crispy wing when oven-frying, I have a trick. Without this trick, the wings may taste delicious, but they are not crisp.
The trick to getting a crisp baked wing is CORNSTARCH. 2-3 tablespoons of this pantry staple (per 2 lbs of wings), mixed with your other dry ingredients will result in the most delicious, crisp wing! Talk about easy!
For these Firecracker wings, I combined a shortlist of spicy ingredients with cornstarch and tossed the wings to coat. Once the wings were nicely coated, I placed them on a prepared ((non-stick spray coated)) baking rack and into a rimmed, foil-lined baking sheet ((I will go to extreme measures to avoid scrubbing & soaking a messy pan!!)).
Once the wings are arranged on the baking rack, brush them lightly with 1-2 tablespoons of canola oil, and place them into a 425° preheated oven. After 12 minutes of baking, flip the wings over and bake for 12 to 15 additional minutes.
Look at these “hot out of the oven” wings! You could just stop right here and have a delicious, spicy, crisp wing – but I have one more step that will put these over the top.
Place the hot wings in a glass bowl and toss them with ½ to ¾ cup of sweet chili sauce ((find it in the Asian section of your grocery store)). Once the wings are coated in the sweet and spicy sauce, place them back on the baking rack and into the oven for 5 more minutes. Watch the wings closely, you want the sauce to get bubbly but not burned.
At the first sight of a bubbling sauce, remove the wings from the oven and serve immediately. ((Or maybe you should let them cool for 2 minutes before tasting – those 120 seconds may seem like an eternity once you see and smell these in person!))
These wings are so simple to make and so very delicious. Crispy, sticky, sweet and spicy – the star of the show for sure. No need to order out wings for your Independence Day celebrations — now you can wow your friends and family with your newly acquired mad wing-making skills! The only thing I will do differently next time is to make more. I think the menfolk could have eaten 2 pounds each!
Simple, classic, gorgeous and easy are some characteristics that are common to this recipe & Sinkology’s wide variety of copper sinks. Coming from a girl who can’t stand a splattered mess of from frying, the deep, oversized farmhouse copper sink is a dream. Beautiful, classic, easy to maintain and always the star of the kitchen. Even after close to 3 years of living with my copper farmhouse sink, I can still say – I would chose it all over again. True love — and a platter full of Firecracker Wings, who could ask for anything more?!
- 2 lbs chicken wings
- 2 T cornstarch, heaping
- 1 t crushed red pepper flakes*
- 1 t Hatch (or your favorite) chili powder, I used mild*
- 2 t kosher salt
- 1 t ground black pepper
- 1 T fresh garlic, finely chopped
- 2-3 T canola oil
- ½-¾ c sweet chili sauce
- 2-3 T fresh chives, chopped (for garnish)
- Preheat oven to 425°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray a baking rack ((that fits inside the the rimmed baking sheet)) with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine cornstarch, red pepper flakes, chili powder, salt, pepper & garlic. Add chicken to the cornstarch mixture and toss to coat thoroughly. Place the wings on the baking rack, evenly spaced, and lightly brush with canola oil. Place the baking rack into the rimmed baking sheet and place in the oven.
- After 12 minutes, turn the wings over in order to crisp the skin evenly. Continue baking the wings for 12 -15 minutes until the skin is medium golden and nicely crisped.
- Remove the wings from the oven and place them into a glass bowl, pour the sweet chili sauce over the hot wings and toss to coat. Return the wings to the baking rack & baking sheet and bake for 3-5 additional minutes. Remove the wings from the oven once the sweet chili sauce is bubbling. Be sure to keep a close eye as the sugar in the sweet chili sauce can easily burn.
- When the wings are done, remove from the oven, cool for 2 minutes & serve.
- Serves 4
- *increase or decrease the chili flakes and powder depending on your heat preferences.
For more recipes from our copper-loving foodie, check out our blog. If you have any questions about copper or copper sinks, our Sinkologists are here to help. Contact us or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Houzz, Pinterest, or Instagram for helpful tips, recipes, and design ideas.