Thai-style sticky and spicy hot Buffalo wings

I love chicken wings, it comes from the wasted days of youth when we used to meet at the Irish Bar in Philadelphia and drink pitchers of beer and eat the spicy wings. They have always been one of my favourite snacks, and several versions are on this blog.

These wings are lovely, the sweet spicy combination pops on your palate. The spiciness can be adjusted, but I love them quite lip-burning. The earthy palm sugar balances the w=chilli with the sweet and these wings get addictive quite quickly.

This is a new cookbook on my shelf, one I have craved for a long time. The cookbook is from a chain of restaurants in London and across the UK. The recipes are very authentic and they pop with flavours. Most recipes are super simple, and those I have made are always wonderful. You will see me cook from here again when I crave simple Thai cuisine.

For more recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

For the spicy and sweet marinade:

10-12 dried red chillies (arbol or dried Thai bird's eye), or to taste, soaked in water for 10 minutes

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon ginger paste

2-3 Thai red chillies, or to taste

3-4 tablespoons water

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons palm sugar or jaggery

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salt, to taste

For the chicken wings:

20 chicken wings, jointed at the second joint

Cilantro, minced

Scallions, thinly sliced

Red chillies, thinly sliced

Add the softened soaked chilli, garlic, ginger, Thai chillies and water into a small blender and purée to a coarse paste. Do not make the paste too runny.

Heat the rice vinegar and sugar in a small pot and cook for 4-7 minutes till you have a syrupy mix. Add the chilli paste, peanut oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt to teh pot and cook for another 5-7 minutes till the paste cooks down and you have a sticky marinade that is quite thick. This marinade can be kept in the fridge for up to one month in a sealed jar.

Toss the marinade with the chicken wings till well coated. Allow the wings to marinate for 2 hours.

Heat an oven to 375 ° F.

Layer the wings on a lined baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and roast for another 12-15 minutes till the wings are beginning to char and are cooked through.

Serve on a platter garnished with cilantro, scallions and chilli slices.