Tuesday-night wings. The version that gets dinner on the table inside half an hour without sacrificing the lacquered, sticky-shiny finish that makes wings worth wanting. The trick is to let the wings render in the pan first – skin down, undisturbed, until the underside is a deep gold – and only then add the glaze. Sauce in too early and you steam the skin pale; sauce in at the end and the honey turns to a glossy coat in two minutes flat.
Yield and time
- Makes: serves 2, generously
- Hands-on: 30 minutes (rice, glaze, sear, toss)
Ingredients
The wings
- 900g chicken wings, split into drumettes and flats, wing tips removed (most supermarkets sell them already split; if not, two snips through the joints with kitchen scissors does it)
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil (rice bran, peanut, or sunflower)
- A pinch of fine sea salt
The glaze
- 4 tablespoons light soy sauce (Kikkoman or a Chinese light soy – not dark soy, not tamari, not “all-purpose”)
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (dry sherry is the standard sub if you don’t have it)
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 4 garlic cloves, finely grated on a microplane
- A 3cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
- A pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)
The rice and finish
- 1½ cups jasmine rice (300g)
- 2¼ cups (560ml) cold water
- A pinch of salt
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
- A wedge of lime, if you have one
Rice on first
Rinse the jasmine rice in a sieve under cold running water, swirling with your fingers, until the water runs clear – about a minute. The cloudy starch on the outside of the grain is what makes a gluey pot.
Tip the rice into a heavy-based pot with a tight lid. Add the water and a pinch of salt. Lid on, bring to the boil over a high heat, then drop to the lowest simmer for 12 minutes. Off the heat, lid still on, rest for 10 minutes. Don’t peek. The steam trapped under the lid is doing the last bit of cooking; lift the lid early and you’ll have wet rice with a hard core.
Mix the glaze
Whisk the soy, honey, Shaoxing, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and chilli flakes in a small bowl until the honey has dissolved into the soy. Set it next to the stove – you want it ready to go in one pour.
Sear the wings
Pat the wings bone-dry with paper towel. A dry skin sears; a wet skin steams. Season lightly with the pinch of salt – the soy will carry most of the seasoning, so go easy.
Heat the oil in your widest heavy frying pan – a cast-iron skillet or a thick-based non-stick – until it shimmers. Lay the wings skin-side down in a single layer with space between each one. Crowd them and they boil in their own juices instead of browning. If your pan is small, cook them in two batches; the sear matters more than the five minutes saved.
Cook over medium-high for 6-7 minutes without moving them, until the underside is a deep, even gold. Turn each wing with tongs and give them another 5-6 minutes on the second side. They should be cooked through (the meat at the thick end of a drumette should be opaque to the bone) and the skin should crackle audibly when you press on it with a spatula.
Glaze and toss
Tip out most of the fat from the pan, leaving about a tablespoon clinging to the wings and the surface. Pour the glaze in all at once – it’ll erupt and steam violently; stand back. Swirl the pan so the glaze spreads, then drop the heat to medium-low. Roll the wings through the bubbling sauce with tongs for 2-3 minutes, turning often, until the glaze has gone from runny to syrupy and clings to each wing in a glossy lacquer. Pull the pan off the heat the moment they’re shiny and coated. Push past that and the honey starts to scorch – you’ll smell it go from caramel to bitter very quickly.
Plate
Fluff the rice with a fork. Pile a mound into each bowl. Wings on top, then scrape every last drop of glaze from the pan over them with a silicone spatula – that’s the best bit. Scatter the spring onions, then the sesame seeds. A squeeze of lime over the top if you have one; it lifts the soy and the honey and stops the whole bowl from reading as one note.
Eat with your fingers. Have a damp tea towel close by.
Leftovers
Reheat in a 200°C oven on a tray for 7-8 minutes. The skin re-crisps; the glaze re-tackifies. The microwave works in a pinch but the skin goes flabby and the magic is gone. Cold from the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch is, frankly, also fine.