“Wing-to-wing for all couples in this Lunar New Year!”
If you are still thinking of chicken dish for the coming reunion dinner, but tired of fixing a whole chicken… Chicken wings could be ideal for the lunar new year celebration. Afterall, who doesn’t want to be wing-to-wing with your beloved spouse. Yes, having wings at your reunion dinner is to symbolize flying together, wing to wing like a pair of bird… Walking hand in hand with your loved one… Sweet. :)
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
6 pcs of large 3-joint chicken wings
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
2 tablespoons of Chinese braised sauce (or some brands called it Chinese Marinade sauce. In Chinese: 卤水汁), store-bought
1-2 tablespoons of XO sauce
1 tablespoon of Chu Hou paste (柱候酱)
1 teaspoon of coarse my grounded black pepper
1 heaping teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
1 tablespoon of white sesame
2 tablespoons of honey
Plating use:
Cucumber slices
Method
(1) Clean and trim chicken wings. Pat dry after rinsing. Drizzle light soy sauce, XO sauce, Chu Hou paste, black pepper and sugar. Mix and coat well on every wing. Marinate for 2-3 hours.
(2) Preheat air fryer to 200deg Celsius for 10 minutes. Line aluminum foil on air fryer basket. Drizzle oil and place chicken wings in it. Air fry for 10 minutes. Do not discard the marinating sauce. Mix honey into the sauce and keep for later.
(3) Flip wings after 10 minutes of air frying. Drizzle honeyed sauce and white sesame. Air fry for another 10 minutes. Done. Transfer wings to large serving dish with bed of cucumber slices. Carefully lift up the aluminum foil which filled with hot sauce. Pour over the wings. Serve warm.
Don’t omit the cucumber slices. They are not there just to do the plating, but serve as sides which to be eaten together with the tasty sauce. Those underneath the chicken wings would have been steeped so well in the sauce and turn the cucumber slices into pickles.
One chicken wing with some cucumber pickles counts about 110kcal.
Tips: Chu Hou paste is similar but more than just fermented bean paste. It is available at major supermarkets eg NTUC Fairprice, Cold Storage and some provision shops. Any brand.
* XO sauce is also a paste-like condiment. It’s also available at major supermarkets. This brand I used was from a Chinese soup restaurant, but you may get any brand of the shelves. Pictures are for your reference only. Not particular.
* Chinese braise sauce is available off the shelf at major supermarkets, too. All these bottled/ jarred sauces can be found at the Sauce and Condiments shelves.
* It’s ok if you do not have an air fryer. Oven bake with the temperature setting, or pan fry, or even grill the wings is perfectly fine.