Sticky Chicken Wings

I really love chicken wings. They are my favorite part of the chicken. It took me ages to convince my husband that wings are good! He is a white meat man and even now, though he has started eating wings, he still does not clean the bones like a true wing-lover does. :)

This is one of my favorite ways to eat wings. I ate something like this in a restaurant once and have been dying to try it ever since. I call it 'Sticky Chicken Wings' because by the time it is done, the sauce around the wings has thickened and caramelized, leaving a sticky, sweet coating over the wings. It is almost impossible to resist licking your fingers.

It is quite simple to put together thought it seems to have a lot of ingredients. It does not need anything more than a little bit of grating and mixing.

Sticky Chicken Wings
Ingredients
15 whole chicken wings
1/3 cup honey
5 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp prepared mustard (or 1 tbsp dry mustard)
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, grated
1 1" piece of ginger, grated
3 tsp paprika powder
2 or more tbsp of your favorite hot sauce (I added even more than 5 because we like it HOT)
3 tbsp cider vinegar

Method
1. Cut the wings into the two wing joints and discard the wing tips. Wash well and set aside.
2. Combine all the ingredients except the wings in a large bowl. I find it most effective to grate the ginger and garlic directly into the bowl using a Microplane Fine Grater.
3. Taste the marinade and add more hot sauce if desired. There is no need to add salt because the soy sauce has enough.
4. Add the cleaned chicken wings and if possible, allow to marinate for an hour. I left mine in the fridge for 5 hours.
5. Just before baking, preheat the oven to 400.
6. Brush the baking tray with vegetable oil or spray with a light cooking spray. Arrange the wings in a single layer on the baking sheet. Drizzle some of the marinade over the top.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes, basting with the remaining marinade twice or thrice during the first 30 minutes. Discard any remaining marinade. At the end of the cooking time, the wings should be cooked through and the marinade, thick and sticky on the tray.
 8. Toss the wings once through the thickened sauce on the tray so that it coats the wings completely.
9. If desired, more hot sauce can be added at this point.

I set aside a few wings for my 18 month old and added even more hot sauce for my husband and I. We ate these wings with a simple garlic bread-crumb broccoli and an Asian style Hasselback potato. A really satisfying meal!

This time I bought a huge bag of wings. I used only half the bag and froze the rest for later. I think next week I will try another recipe for chicken wings & share it!

P.S. - For another fabulous recipe for Chicken wings, you must stop by the Firefly blog! I love that blog!