Sticky Wings and Crispy Rice

This was a fun thing to work on while ‘Zooming’ with distant family members. If I counted correctly, we had 10 people on the Zoom call, along with cameos from our various pets.

Chicken wings are easy to make, especially if they are baked in the oven. You can use any type of sauce imaginable for the wings, which makes wings an exciting go-to recipe for a weekend afternoon.

This time, I went for an Asian flair.

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs chicken wings (about 20 drummets and mid-joints)

1 Tbs cooking oil

2 Tbs sliced ginger

6 garlic cloves, mashed

2 cups broccoli, chopped

1 white onion

3 small carrots

3 jalapeños, seeds removed

¼ cup cooking oil

2 cups cooked rice (day-old rice is best)

Asian sauce (Ingredients shown below)

Ingredients for the sauce:

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup apricot preserves

3 Tbs soy sauce

2 Tbs Sriracha sauce

2 Tbs Hoisin sauce

1 ½ tsp oyster sauce

½ tsp fish sauce

Directions:

Rinse the chicken wings in cold, clean water. Allow the wings to air dry for about 20 minutes. Pat them dry with a paper towel and place them on a parchment paper covered backing tray. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes and then turn them over to brown on the other side. Turn the oven down to 350° and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the skin on the wings have crisped.

While the wings are baking, prepare the sauce. Mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into a sauce pan and simmer for about 10 minutes at low heat. Whisk the sauce while it cooks. Return the sauce to the bowl and set aside.

Cut the vegetables. I went for long and slender pieces this time so that meant julienne cuts on the onion and jalapeño and match stick cuts for the carrots. Set the vegetables aside.

Take the cooked rice and add it to a mixing bowl. Add about ¼ cup cooking oil and thoroughly mix the rice by hand. All of the grains of rice should glisten when mixed properly.

Add the rice to a large skillet. Do not add oil. Spread the rice out evenly over the bottom of the skillet and cook at low/medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Do not stir!

Turn the rice over after about 5 minutes and crisp the other side. The rice should turn light brown. Turn the heat off after 4 or 5 minutes. Keep the rice on the stove top while the vegetables are cooked.

In a wok, add 1 Tbs cooking oil and the ginger and garlic. Simmer at low heat for about a minute. Remove the ginger and garlic, (before the garlic browns). Set the ginger and garlic aside.

Add the broccoli pieces to the wok. Set heat to low and stir-fry briefly.

Cover the broccoli with a lid, or aluminum foil. Steam the broccoli for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the broccoli to a bowl and cover.

Add the carrots to the wok and turn the heat up to medium. Stir fry for a few minutes and then add the onion and jalapeño. Chop some of the cooked ginger and garlic and add it the wok. I added about 2 tablespoons of ginger and garlic. Add the broccoli and stir briefly.

Pull the wings from the oven and add them to a large mixing bowl. Pour the Asian sauce over the wings and toss to coat. Add the wings to a serving platter.