Is There a True Tailgate Without Wings?
I’d be suspicious. And I want your tailgate to be twice as nice as anyone else’s. Let’s get right to it….
Fried
You’re gonna need a vessel for frying. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, don’t be stupid. Just move on to the Baked Wings. You’re also going to need peanut oil and 5 pounds of wings. Get your oil up to a solid cooking temp, and be sure to pat all your wings dry. This is a common mistake newbies make when frying wings for the first time. They’ve gotta be dry!
The Sauce
Ingredients:
5 pounds of wings
½ cup of Tabasco
1 cup of unsalted butter
3 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire
1 teaspoon of cayenne
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of ground garlic
Salt & pepper (to taste)
Process
It’s pretty basic. Mix all the ingredients together into a pot and bring to a slow boil. Whisk the sauce until it thickens, then cool and set. Fry up those wings, and then toss them in the sauce. You can thank me later.
Baked
Ingredients:
Yet again, we’re going with 5 pounds of wings
2 cups of soy sauce
2 cups of mirin
¼ cup of tahini
4 cloves of minced garlic
½ hand of fresh ginger, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
3 tablespoons of white sesame seeds
½ cup of brown sugar
1 bunch of green onions
2 cups of chicken stock
3 tablespoons of grapeseed oil
2 teaspoons of dried lemongrass
(optional but recommended) ground pink peppercorns (to taste)
What we’re doing with it:
Preheat the oven to 400.
Sauté ginger, garlic, onion, and lemongrass. Add soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, and reduce by ½. Then add the chicken stock and reduce by ½ again. Set aside and let it cool. Add tahini and the pink peppercorns if you went with them to make it creamy yet coarse.
Split the sauce into two bowls, and begin tossing the wings in one of them before putting them in the oven. When the wings come out, toss them in the other, and then bake again until a glaze starts to form. Pull them out, sprinkle them with the sesame seeds, and garish the plate with the some chopped green onion.
Wings two ways that’ll keep people asking for more.