Crispy chicken wings! I don’t know about you, but for me, there are days when I just crave for crispy chicken wings – as in I’d rather not eat if it’s not crispy chicken wings (I know, pathetic! ).
It does not happen often, but for days like those, I rush to the supermarket to buy some wings and do this recipe. I don’t stock up on chicken wings at home because I prefer to use and cook an entire chicken, EXCEPT the bony parts – those I keep for making chicken stock.
This recipe is on the same vein as my Salt and Pepper Pork Belly, you only need a couple of items for seasoning. Hang on – technically, one of them contains five spices, but I just buy the ‘mixed’ one, so, I end up with five spices in one bottle. 🙂
The five-spice powder is one of the most common Chinese spice mixture; it contains star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds and Sichuan pepper. Some argue that it’s better to just make your own mix – that is great if you have the time AND if you have everything on hand.
That is also ideal if you want one of the spice to have a more dominant flavor. Personally, I think that the five-spice mixed powder that one can buy is more than enough for this crunchy baked chicken wings.
So now, I will finally address your question – how can it be crunchy when it’s baked, not fried? 🙂
The trick is to make sure you dry your chicken after rinsing them (I wrapped mine in a kitchen towel for a few minutes), season them, leave them in the refrigerator for some time and then bake them in a very HOT oven.
Leaving them in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes helps in drying the chicken wings, and the last bit for glossing with vegetable oil – that adds to the crunch even more.
I normally serve this dish with coriander, lime and sour cream dip, but honestly, even the regular sweet and spicy sauce (or catsup) would be great with it.
Want more appetizer ideas? Then check out my appetizers collection!
- 1 kg chicken wings, separate the drumettes from the wingettes
- 1 tbsp five-spice powder
- 3/4 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
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Rinse and dry the chicken completely. Season with salt and five-spice. Mix by hand and make sure each piece is properly coated with the seasonings.
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Arrange in a baking sheet, and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
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Preheat the oven to 245-degree C.
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Take the chicken out of the refrigerator and rub with the vegetable oil. It should only be like a gloss to the chicken, NOT dripping with vegetable oil.
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Place a rack on top of the baking sheet and arrange the chicken pieces on the rack. Make sure that each piece is properly laid out, no overlapping.
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Cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the chicken to brown the other side and put back in the oven for 25 more minutes.
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Take the chicken wings out of the oven and place them in plate. Serve right away.
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