FRUGAL FOOD: BRAISED ORIENTALSPICED WINGS, healthier

Impressive appetiser, snack or main course. Frugal, easy, make-ahead, portable. Low fat, low-sugar, reduced salt.  Perfect... 

Frugal Food for a Hot Summer NIght: Braised Oriental Spiced Wings 
'Splendid summer food with very little grease.' 'Even cold, these had a great Chinese flavour with a lovely amount of garlic!' Tasters

         updated 2021; photo 13/9/16

40 years ago in Hong Kong, a bakery just off the Central District was renowned for its western offerings.  The honey-glazed bread doughnuts were astoundingly good, given that for most of their history, the Chinese only had access to communal village ovens.  Chinese delicacies included baked custard tarts in the most tender, flaky pastry imaginable.  

But also displayed were -- surprisingly -- braised spiced chicken wings.  They were snapped up by foreigners and Chinese alike; many had demolished at least one wing before leaving the bakery.

Here's 67's take on the braised wings, assisted by the Chinese Cookbook by Craig Claiborne & Virginia Lee (1973; sadly, out of print).

They're low-fat, low-sugar and reduced-salt but shot through with exotic Oriental flavours.

Cost: approx: £3 (but supermarket wings are often on special)
Feeds: 2-3 as main; 4-5 as snack

Ingred:
   12 chicken wings (the best budget allows)
   3 tablespoons dry sherry or shao xing rice wine or white grape juice
   zest of one orange

   water

   2 whole star anise or equivalent
   2 small sticks cinnamon 1 inch/2 cm long or generous half teaspoon dried
   1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
   1 med to large clove garlic, finely grated
   1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

   2 tbsp low-salt soy sauce or 

dark soy sauce
   1 tbsp soft brown sugar

   salt to taste
   toasted sesame oil

   corn starch (not polenta) OR rice flour

Garnish: lettuce, orange slices
  
Method:

1. Divide wings into drumlet & wing OR leave whole 
2. Place wings in an ungreased wok or large pot; add wine & orange zest; cook over high heat, tossing continuously, until almost all the wine is gone
3. Add 1 cup water, cover; turn heat down to med; cook 10 mins
4. Add star anise, cinnamon, 5-spice powder garlic & ginger; cover & cook 5 mins
5. Turn heat down to simmer; add soy sauce & sugar; partially cover; cook 20 mins, stirring occasionally
6. Uncover; cook a further 10 mins
7. Remove wings, keep warm; strain sauce through sieve lined with muslin or a clean, wet j-cloth; return sauce to pan
8. Mix a tablespoon corn starch/rice flour with a few tablespoons cold water; add to the sauce; over medium heat reduce by half; serve on the side (it makes a surprisingly tasty dipping sauce for crunchy lettuce leaves)
9. Serve warm or at room temperature with lettuce and orange slices.
10. If refrigerating, allow to come to room temperature (at least 20 mins)

Tips:

1. If star anise is beyond the budget, increase 5-spice by half a teaspoon 
2. Kids may not like these

                                                                                            
Comments:

'They were splendid summer food.  Usually eating chicken off the bone is a greasy chore (except for 'picking the chicken' as my Granny used to say).The wings had a lovely bright taste and light flavouring that complimented the chicken.  There was very little grease which made them specially palatable.  I usually remove the skin but at the recommendation of another taster, ate it and was glad I did.  Add to that, my cat Emma will have a treat tonght as she will get the bones.' Middle Aged English food lover

'I had the chicken wings cold rather than room temperature and they were still great.  Normally when I have cold chicken wings they're covered with solidified oil and fat but these were not.  They had a great Chinese flavour with a lovely amount of garlic.'             20+Fijian-Australian 
                                                    
                             
                                           More chicken on Nav Bar, Recipes I

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This recipe has been adapted by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.