Spicy Thai-Style Peanut Wings

How can you have a Super Bowl without wings???  You can't, unless you're a vegan.  If you are, then you're probably doing tofu.  Anyway, these are one of my favorite ways to make wings.  The peanut sauce itself plays nicely against the crispy, charred wings.  I like to grill my wings, but you can fry them or roast them too. . .  you’ll like! I'll be doing recipes using all three techniques, so feel free to mix and match. You will want to figure 5-6 wings per person.    This will do about 10-15 people, with other food around, of course.

For the sauce:

1/2 c. chunky peanut butter, room temperature

1/2 c. chicken stock

Always a party favorite

1 tbsp. ginger (fresh), grated or chopped

1 tbsp. garlic, crushed

3 tbsp. chopped cilantro

1 tbsp. chopped basil

1 tbsp. chopped mint

1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. Sriracha (chili Sauce)

juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp sesame oil.  

2 tbsp roasted peanuts (optional for garnish)

2 tbsp scallions, sliced thin bias.  (diagonal, if you're not sure when bias means)

1. I know what your'e thinking, this is a lot of ingredients...yes it is, but it's not hard.  Start with sauce pot and the sesame oil on medium to medium high heat.  Add the ginger and garlic and cook out until you just start to small the garlic and ginger.  You don't want to burn them, just sweat them a bit. 

2.  Once the garlic and ginger are sweated, add the chicken stock, lime juice, fish sauce and peanut butter.  Whisk these together until the sauce is decently thin.  You really don't want to reduce it at all, just warm it up.

3. Once the peanut butter is melted into the stock and the ingredients have come together, Add most of the herbs, scallions, and the Sriracha (I like to add more, but it deppends on how hot you want them.  Just be careful because you don't  want the heat to over power the peanut flavor).  Save just a little bit for garnish.  Keep this off to the side while you grill up your wings.

For the wings:

1.  This isn't hard, but I'll go over it anyway.  If I'm doing wings for this specific recipe, I'll marinate them overnight in some sesame oil and 1 tsp. each of ginger, fish sauce, and garlic.  This is optional of course.

2.  Get your grill hot, if you don't have a grill, use a small indoor grill (like a Foreman), or a grill pan.  Don't have those??  No problem, pop those wings in the oven for 15 minutes at 500.  Anyway, when the grill is hot, take an old cloth or towel, soak it in vegetable oil and rub the grill down.  This is called seasoning the grill, and it's a key piece of not having your meat stick to the grill.  

3.  Place your wings down on the grill evenly.  You'll know when they're ready to turn because the skin will release from the grill.  You'll need 6-8 minutes on each side depending on your grill.  If you have a meat thermometer, which everyone should, then you want to pull the wings off at 160 degrees and let them come up to 165 off the grill.  

4.  When the wings are done, put them in a nice big mixing bowl a few at a time and toss them in 2 oz of the wing sauce.  You want just a light coating of sauce, not too heavy.  Feel free to save some sauce for the side too in case some of your guests want extra.  

5.  When you're done tossing, place the wings onto a plate and garnish with your herbs and scallions.  

Tasty right?   I thought so.  You can do anything with wings because they translate to almost every world culture.  If you have any wing recipes you want to see, let me know in the comments.   I'll be putting up another nice wing recipe you can do for your Super Bowl party later in the week.

Happy Eating,

-The Doctor.