"Wings are a meal, especially in Buffalo, make no mistake."
September 20, 2020 11:25 AM   Subscribe

A chicken wing is actually three conjoined parts and their popularity in the US is more recent than you might think. Calvin Trillin's Short History of the Buffalo Chicken Wing runs to nearly 3000 words. In July, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo was thought to have said that chicken wings are not substantive food (he did not). Buffalo rebelled, a little (lulzy insta song).
posted by jessamyn (83 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
But he served his wings breaded and whole (rather than chopped into flats and drumsticks), distinctions that suggest to many wing traditionalists that they belong to an entire different category.

Humans have an astounding capacity to quibble over meaningless and barely-differentiated minutiae. And what the hell is a "wing traditionalist"? Are there established qualifications?
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:39 AM on September 20, 2020 [2 favorites]


As long as no one serves me chicken tenders boneless wings, the other minutiae are irrelevant to me.
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:43 AM on September 20, 2020 [6 favorites]


btw, Calvin Trillin is a national treasure.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:57 AM on September 20, 2020 [5 favorites]


I'm going to buffalo Buffalo by saying that I don't care for the canonical Anchor Bar wings. My current preference is smoked, then fried, then sauced, then given a final pass over the grill or under the broiler.

I will however give Teressa credit for the celery and blue cheese -- an inspired stroke of genius. And I will now always hear "I don’t belong in the sauce!" when gazing upon a family pack of wings.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:17 PM on September 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


As a life-long resident of the Buffalo area, I can confidently say that a "wing traditionalist" is definitely not someone who would allow ranch dressing near their wings.

And, if anyone is curious, no, we don't call them "Buffalo wings" here. Just "chicken wings", or, more likely, just "wings".
posted by jonathanhughes at 12:17 PM on September 20, 2020 [8 favorites]


Well, pffft! I was just innocently letting the morning slide into the afternoon, and suddenly the thought "wings," has been teleported into my head, and wings is an action verb with me. What am I going to do? Maybe Rusty's is open.
posted by Oyéah at 12:39 PM on September 20, 2020 [3 favorites]


Metafilter: wings is an action verb
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:16 PM on September 20, 2020


Chicken wings are one of those foods I've never understood. Surely you waste more calories picking out stringy pieces of meat then you ever recover from an entire plate.

You want chicken and hot sauce? Get yourself some chicken strips (or chicken fingers, chicken tenders, chicken thumbs or whatever they cal them where you are), bread 'em up, fry 'em (or bake, your preference) and toss in sauce.

Not only do you get a better chicken to sauce ratio, you don't end up with a pile of bones covered in tooth-marks like some paleolithic archaeological dig.
posted by madajb at 1:26 PM on September 20, 2020 [8 favorites]


Oh, madajb, you are not counting on the multiple ratios involved other than meat to sauce. There is skin, fat, and flavor from the bone to take into account as well in a wing.
posted by linux at 1:40 PM on September 20, 2020 [28 favorites]


You want chicken and hot sauce? Get yourself some chicken strips (or chicken fingers, chicken tenders, chicken thumbs or whatever they cal them where you are), bread 'em up, fry 'em (or bake, your preference) and toss in sauce.

Short response: wing meat is the tastiest part of the chicken

Long response: boneless chicken wings are not a great food
posted by skewed at 1:54 PM on September 20, 2020 [3 favorites]


Wow, madajb. You've either never actually had a decent plate of wings, or you hate the things that make wings wings. The crispy skin, the fat and bone and connective tissue flavor soaking in, the mix of light and dark meat, and the fun of picking the meat off the drums and flats. It's not just meat and hot sauce. Plus, when you're done, there's a pile of bones covered in tooth-marks like some paleolithic archaeological dig, and that's fun too.
posted by mrgoat at 2:21 PM on September 20, 2020 [26 favorites]


Chicken wings are one of those foods I've never understood.

Seconded. If I'm hungry, gnawing on skin, bone, and gristle is not my idea of food.
posted by Splunge at 2:28 PM on September 20, 2020 [6 favorites]


I was forbidden from mentioning boneless wings in this post. 😂
posted by jessamyn at 2:29 PM on September 20, 2020 [13 favorites]


Chicken tenders are an anatomically distinct part of the breast, not a breast that has been cut into strips.
posted by porpoise at 2:44 PM on September 20, 2020 [2 favorites]


What is commonly labelled as "chicken tenders" is the opposite of an anatomically distinct part of the chicken breast. They're usually just a pulverized slurry of chicken parts ground and pressed into a strip shape, like McDonald's chicken nuggets.
posted by mrgoat at 2:49 PM on September 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


Chicken wings are one of those foods I've never understood. Surely you waste more calories picking out stringy pieces of meat then you ever recover from an entire plate.

Ojala' que fuera asi.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:52 PM on September 20, 2020 [5 favorites]


There's a Korean wing place thats relatively new to my town(yes its probably the chain you've heard of) and they've got the biggest chicken wings I've ever seen. Theyre fried Korean style, which is extra crispy and divine. Wings are not just skin and bone. Preposterous.
posted by FirstMateKate at 3:00 PM on September 20, 2020


Wither Whither "tendies" on the chicken spectrum? Among a few work associates, that's the preferred nomenclature for strips of fried chicken.

I do love a plate of wings, but if I want spicy chicken, I prefer Nashville hot chicken.
posted by emelenjr at 3:22 PM on September 20, 2020


Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo,...
posted by darkstar at 3:23 PM on September 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


Mod note: Here's The Kitchn talking about what part of the chicken a tender is. Not that there aren't processed pseudotenders, but they are also a real meat part.

Please note this is a post made as part of MeFi's Fundraising Month. Read more about this project here.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:26 PM on September 20, 2020 [2 favorites]


Daniel Gritzer at Serious Eats is a fanatic about wings: The Right Way to Eat Chicken Wings Is All the Way
My mother would agree.
I love wings, but I'm not fanatic, and I think this is a great post.
posted by mumimor at 3:29 PM on September 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


I love chicken wings, probably more than I should; for me it is far and away the best part of the chicken.

The "Buffalo-style" wings are not my favorite style (vs, say, marinated in soy, garlic, honey, etc.), but I've never had them in Buffalo and perhaps the originals are better than the versions I've had.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:48 PM on September 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


Wings are also extremely collagen-rich and make a superb broth. Don't toss those bones, freeze 'em.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 3:54 PM on September 20, 2020 [2 favorites]


emelenjr, “tendies” is a 4chan meme (link goes to Know Your Meme — but content warning for 4chan, so everything from ableism to sexual abuse). It means “chicken tenders” but has a whole connotation. Your coworkers may or may not be aware.
posted by snowmentality at 3:55 PM on September 20, 2020


Ah, thanks for the education, snowmentality. That explains.... a lot.
posted by emelenjr at 4:15 PM on September 20, 2020


the portland version is a "vietnamese" wing (garlic mixed with pungent fish sauce, no blue cheese or celery), which made pok-pok into a destination
posted by idiopath at 4:21 PM on September 20, 2020 [6 favorites]


The whole point of chicken wings is the atavistic thrill of eating with your hands and using your teeth to tear the flesh from the bone.
posted by SPrintF at 4:27 PM on September 20, 2020 [3 favorites]


There was a place near me that had the worst restaurant service I have ever experienced but also the best hmong stuffed chicken wings I have ever eaten and I dream about them sometimes.

Regular wings though are a great monster meal. One of the things I miss most during pandemic is being able to go out for wings and beers with my pals and shoot the shit in-between demolishing tiny pieces of meat like a feral animal.
posted by Ferreous at 4:28 PM on September 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


A FPP in honor of the Mexico City Wild Wings' first championship! Wild Not Mild!
posted by snwod at 4:29 PM on September 20, 2020 [4 favorites]


I spent two years in Buffalo in the early 90's and I'll admit it spoiled me a bit for wings. Most other places I have been did not compare, and certainly not many places have the diversity of quality that I found in Buffalo at the time. It is some combination of source materials, preparation and affordability that makes for a satisfying serving of wings. But, when they are right they are a wonderful mixture of textures, flavors, contrasts. For nostalgia I'll still wash them down with pour of Genny Cream Ale when I return to the area.
Anchor bar is good, but over time, for consistency and variety I've come to appreciate Duff's a bit more. Still, I'm no connoisseur. Just a guy who appreciates a good pile of wings, preferably shared with friends.
posted by meinvt at 4:33 PM on September 20, 2020 [2 favorites]


For those complaining about eating wings, I offer "BD Wong Teaches You How to Eat a Chicken Wing"

Now I want a weck.
posted by mikelieman at 4:41 PM on September 20, 2020 [9 favorites]


Some day Spiedes will conquer the world but until then Buffalo Wings are good enough.
posted by Fupped Duck at 5:01 PM on September 20, 2020 [5 favorites]


This Is Just To Say

I ate the wings
You left in the icebox
Which you were
Probably saving
For breakfast.

Forgive me
They were so hot
And so...
AAAAAuuuuggghhhh!
Kerflump.
posted by Oyéah at 5:44 PM on September 20, 2020 [2 favorites]


One other argument in favor of wings vs “boneless” wings (aka, chunks of white meat from the breast) is that breast meat is hard to cook well, and it’s all too easy to end up with a sad, dry lump of chicken covered with a bunch of breading.

Now, in sensible countries, where chicken thighs are beloved, where there is an understanding that fat, in fact, equals flavor, might I suggest getting yourself a bunch of karaage and dousing then in buffalo sauce?

Or, go one further, and experience the splendor of the Nagoya tebasaki? They use flats (can’t win em all, the drumette being the clearly superior piece o chicken), but holy god they’re fantastic. No batter, just a light, vaguely sweet glaze after frying, dusted with white pepper and sesame seeds.

You don’t even have to go to Nagoya! Just drop into a branch of Sekai no Yamachan! And, if you’ve ever thought “flats are too difficult to eat, just scroll down the page to see a step by step guide to leaving nothing but a little pile of bones on your plate!
posted by Ghidorah at 5:50 PM on September 20, 2020 [3 favorites]


Now I want a weck.

You can get weck wings some places here.

Can't vouch for 'em, but... I was gonna say that I want to try them but wings don't travel well and you will not see me in a restaurant seat until we haven't had any new cases for a few days.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:06 PM on September 20, 2020




So, what's the dilemma?? I mean he's right, no question.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:23 PM on September 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


My preferred (very much NON-canon) coating for fried wings:

2 dozen wings, fried/baked
2 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika
2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp dried thyme
zest from 1/2 a lemon
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp chipotle powder
1 tsp salt
4 Tbsp melted butter

Mix together everything except the butter. After cooking the wings, toss them in the melted butter then sprinkle on the other ingredients and toss until evenly coated. To hell with fussily-prepped vegetables or silly salad dressings, just devour tasty wings like an adult!
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:33 PM on September 20, 2020


Just a small point of clarification:

ground and pressed into a strip shape, like McDonald's chicken nuggets.

In the case, the meat is actually glued together using something like transglutamase, commonly referred to as meat glue.

(Oh, and another vote for Team Drums!)
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 6:37 PM on September 20, 2020


(Oh, wait! We haven't devolved yet into the Flats v. Drums debate yet?)

Still on Team Drums!
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 6:39 PM on September 20, 2020 [2 favorites]


I am a relative newcomer to the wings world (recovering picky eater who didn't really eat wings until maybe the last five years) so I don't know if that colors my opinion but I am on Team Flats. More fun!
posted by jessamyn at 6:57 PM on September 20, 2020 [2 favorites]


Can I reminisce here? There was some early spill-over in to Ontario. I moved to the Niagara region for my final year of high school in 81 and met some fellow Rush fans who introduced me Buffalo wings. The summer after school, we'd play D&D until about midnight and then whip over to the seafood restaurant/sports bar/wing place for the closing time special...basically an unsold wing dump. Blue cheese dressing, celery, being 18, summer...back to watch Chuck the Security Guard music videos and play more D&D.

EDIT: ...and smoke hash oil.
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:54 PM on September 20, 2020 [7 favorites]


I'd consider myself a Radical Wing Fan (i.e. I'm not restricting my love to Buffalo tradition, I love Buffalo wings but I love whatever wing I've got in front of me), and my addition to this is a discovery of a local Victoria, BC thing which is a worthy addition. Blue Moon wings. Nothing to do with the beer, the sauce consists of a blend of buffalo hot sauce (Frank's or otherwise), ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, and blue cheese chunks if the dressing isn't sufficient. Dress the wing with that, then dip additionally as required.

It's a fantastic variation, for when you want more savory goodness, and as a bonus it lets you crank the heat because it'll mellow back down with the integrated creaminess.
posted by CrystalDave at 8:09 PM on September 20, 2020


Can't see why I would want wings, when I could have fried chicken breasts or a back. White meat FTW.
posted by Windopaene at 8:20 PM on September 20, 2020 [3 favorites]


White meat is white noise
posted by Ferreous at 8:24 PM on September 20, 2020 [4 favorites]


Flats are best, especially when they come with the tips still attached. I like a good amount of heat, but not delivered on an especially vinegary sauce vehicle. Hooters has a spicy garlic version which is actually fantastic, opinions on the restaurant’s other qualities notwithstanding.
posted by Night_owl at 8:25 PM on September 20, 2020


three words: lemon pepper wet
posted by dudemanlives at 9:13 PM on September 20, 2020


any good southerner will tell you that tenders are best served breaded and fried dry with some comeback sauce on the side and some zippy coleslaw. don't you dare sauce those tenders and make the breading all damn soggy, what's wrong with y'all
posted by dudemanlives at 9:28 PM on September 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


This recipe by Alton Brown is divine and really easy to make at home.

Wings and ribs are my favorite foods, mainly because they are messy and it feels kind of animalistic to gnaw on a bone. I prefer making both at home, though, because restaurants somehow rarely get them right. Might be my preference for less sweet sauce. Also, maybe not the most advantageous foods to eat in public...
posted by The Toad at 9:29 PM on September 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


The best "buffalo wings" I ever had was a place whose name I can't remember in mid-state NY that used turkey wings instead of chicken. Mind you, I like chicken wings with butter and hot-sauce, but these turkey-wings were spectacular. Much more meaty, a better skin to meat ratio, and delicious to boot. That was 20+ years ago, so factor in the old-fart "everything was better long ago" factor, and I haven't seen the like since anywhere, so who knows if that's even a thing anymore. Still, if I could buy turkey wings like I can chicken wings, I know what I'd be buying when I get a hankering for some finger food.
posted by Blackanvil at 9:39 PM on September 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


This recipe by Alton Brown is divine and really easy to make at home.

I love the "steam the wings before cooking" step. And the 'butter, garlic, hot sauce, salt' is the "traditionalist" stance.
posted by mikelieman at 10:17 PM on September 20, 2020


I prefer beef on weck and tom & jerrys
posted by brujita at 10:19 PM on September 20, 2020 [2 favorites]


METAFILTER: a pile of bones covered in tooth-marks like some paleolithic archaeological dig
posted by philip-random at 10:52 PM on September 20, 2020 [5 favorites]


And we've yet to argue about big-assed 'grinder' wings versus the chain-bar measily little ones.


For a while I was in a "young" office where I was the "old." Converted luxury log cabin into an office, with a full kitchen.

A recent hire had an "in" on really amazing quality frozen wings on the cheap. The social committee decided to stuff the freezer with them. Every Friday, I made a bunch for the office's Friday afternoon whatever.

For baked (as opposed to deep fried), fully defrosting and drying them with paper towels was a must. Salt, white pepper, corn starch (to crisp it up and soak the sauce later and soak up residual surface moisture).

10(+ a little) mins at 420'F, flip, 10(+ a little) more mins,

Melt butter in a big bowl in microwave (several of them, one for each flavour), pour in flavour (Thai sweet chili, Frank's Buffalo sauce, range-made honey+garlic, black pepper+coarse salt), toss and mix.
posted by porpoise at 11:22 PM on September 20, 2020 [2 favorites]


Fried turkey wings are absolutely wonderful, and honestly two is a meal. I always disassemble the thanksgiving turkey before cooking it to make turkey stock with the bones. The breasts and thigh/legs get smoked, and the wings get packed into a freezer bag for either smoking or frying at a much later date. So tasty.
posted by Ghidorah at 12:20 AM on September 21, 2020 [2 favorites]


There's a Cantonese restaurant here that makes sticky rice stuffed crispy fried wings, a special order in advance, and I've only had them once and they were super delicious. I wonder who came up with this dish though, is it originally Chinese, I'm actually not sure though my parents and aunts seemed familiar with it.
posted by polymodus at 12:22 AM on September 21, 2020 [2 favorites]


I was always under the impression that the "Buffalo" part of buffalo wings was the buffalo sauce? Is it really a different type of cooking the wing in general?

(And I'm a Texan so ranch all the way!)

Also you can keep your drums. Gimme all the flats!
posted by LizBoBiz at 3:57 AM on September 21, 2020 [2 favorites]


Most traditionally, it's unbreaded deep-fried wings with the skin on and with sauce. Breading gets soggy in sauce, is the issue there, while bare fried chicken skin keeps its texture.
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:45 AM on September 21, 2020


My mom has the best palate of anyone I know. In the 90s she developed a fixation with Hooters’ wings, but couldn’t bear to go there herself and resorted to sending my fifteen year old younger brother. I always assumed my plebeian taste buds were making me miss out on what made this particular wing variant learner’s permit worthy.
posted by q*ben at 6:55 AM on September 21, 2020


Breaded vs. unbreaded is a long-standing debate but they're really significantly different prepartations (assuming they are both competently made). Breaded chicken wings are just fried chicken. The word "just" there doesn't really make sense, fried chicken is incredibly delicious. I love fried chicken wings. But I also love Buffalo style, which if done properly, leads to a very crispy skin, and a significantly different flavor profile than batter-fried, even apart from the sauce. Fried wings with sauce are very good, but I find that the breading will not allow any subtle flavors to come through. So for any interesting sauces, I definitely prefer unbreaded.

The biggest stumbling block, in my experience, for good at-home preparation of Buffalo style wings is getting that crispy skin, which traditionally requires deep-frying. Most people don't have the right equipment for proper deep frying of large batches of chicken wings. If you drop too many wings into a home fryer, the temp drops, and the skin will not crisp up until after the interior has already dried out. So you have to do small batches, and I want too many wings to mess with that.

Grilling wings also produces amazing results, though very inconsistent for me. Not really Buffalo style, but still.

Serious Eats' oven-fried Buffalo wings is a great guide in general, and the method words really well. It is kind of a pain to salt them ahead of time and dry them out on a rack, but it's worth it, and you can make a large amount of really high-quality wings this way. I also use sous vide, which is probably more fussy than it's really worth, but allows me to do a lot of the work ahead of time (cutting up wings, salting them, vac-sealing), so that when I want the wings, I can just drop them in the water and they're ready in a couple hours.

As for sauces, I'd love to hear about a good, not too fussy lemon-pepper sauce recipe, or a curry one that doesn't require access to an Asian grocery store.
posted by skewed at 7:07 AM on September 21, 2020 [5 favorites]


I prefer beef on weck and tom & jerrys

This is a chicken thread, not a beef thread. If you're not gonna have wings, then at least get a spiedie.
posted by delicious-luncheon at 7:43 AM on September 21, 2020


Naw, if you're not gonna have wings, have a chicken finger sub.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 8:30 AM on September 21, 2020 [1 favorite]


Chicken wings are one of those foods I've never understood. Surely you waste more calories picking out stringy pieces of meat then you ever recover from an entire plate.

I love buffalo wings but also agree with this. I get more full from the drink refills (beer or soda, especially if they are spicy) than from the wings. I also love the crazy sauce combinations though hot Buffalo sauce is still the overall champ.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:07 AM on September 21, 2020


nu? we're also talking about buffalo
posted by brujita at 12:19 PM on September 21, 2020


I love wings! I'm on team flats and drums are both great. Sometimes I'm more in the mood for flats, sometimes drums. I mainly just want a lot of chicken wings. Traditional is great, but I'm also a huge fan of the Korean style. I'm also a sucker for the mango habanero at BWW. My wife prefers heavy garlic based flavors.

Pre-COVID I'd go out for wings on a fairly regular basis. Since the shutdown I've actually taken the air fryer I never used out of the box and it now lives on the counter making wings at least weekly. The air fryer is great for home wings! Crispy skin, perfect meat, and super fast which makes cooking multiple batches really easy.

Boneless wings are an abomination. Breaded (bone-in) wings are just fried chicken. Fried chicken is delicious, but not what I'm after when I want wings.
posted by Arbac at 12:30 PM on September 21, 2020 [2 favorites]


I spent my student years in NY eating buffalo wings and here in Maryland I eat Chesapeake Bay seasoning wings.
posted by acrasis at 3:33 PM on September 21, 2020


I have made literally hundreds of the serious eats oven fried wings. They're delicious!
Very easy to vary the sauce, the basic butter + franks works great.
posted by flaterik at 6:40 PM on September 21, 2020


The air fryer is great for home wings! Crispy skin, perfect meat, and super fast which makes cooking multiple batches really easy.

Agreed!

I know this "Cajun" wing recipe would be blasphemy for so many (not quite wet, not quite dry rub, definitely not Buffalo, I would argue against it being Cajun....), but they are so easy and so tasty and, as Arbac mentions Air Frying hits all the notes of what makes a wing a wing without having to make a huge production of making them.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 7:06 PM on September 21, 2020


When I was in high school a wing place opened up that had breaded wings in sauce. I had only ever had buffalo wings before, which I loved, but the wings at this place were a revelation. The wings were fairly large and the combination of the breading and the sauces, which they made themselves, worked really well. For my last 2 years of high school my friends and I probably went there 2-3 times a week. We may have been keeping the place in business because the place closed down the year after we graduated and we could never find wings that were as good again.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 7:09 PM on September 21, 2020


sticky rice stuffed crispy fried wings

I'm pretty sure it's not a Han Chinese cuisine. I'd place it more Southerly, perhaps Laos/ Cambodia/ Vietnam.

(but yeah, Top Gun's quality [used to be? I haven't been in a really long time, and haven't heard anyone praise it recently])
posted by porpoise at 11:03 PM on September 21, 2020 [1 favorite]


It is Cantonese cuisine, ask any old HKer and they'll know the dish. Here's a recipe that flat out asserts it is Cantonese, or at least, of that rendition. I was not able to Google up the definitive origins of the dish. And it's possible there was cultural intermixing involved given the history of HK, or like many great ideas, invented independently.
posted by polymodus at 11:22 PM on September 21, 2020


Flats, no breading, husband to eat the gristly parts I don't care for.
posted by dame at 2:29 AM on September 22, 2020


I went to college in Buffalo, and while I no longer eat meat, the local tradition of ten cent wings and ten cent beer night helped many a hungry student get through the 80s.
posted by freakazoid at 6:36 AM on September 22, 2020


worth repeating because as expected, everybody is again wrong ...

to clarify -- good chicken wings don't need dip. dip (any dip) is a way to disguise shitty chicken wings.

This is how it's done ...

1. whole chicken wings (not the divided kind -- buffaloes don't have wings).

2. fill a plastic bag with flour, some garlic powder, salt, pepper, maybe a bit of chicken seasoning.

3. drop each wing into said bag, shake it up, get it fully coated.

4. lay the wings out on a baking pan (either well-greased, or on parchment paper, the no-stick kind)

5. brush a bit of soy sauce onto each wing (maybe mixed with some Lee + Perrins). But just a bit. Don't overdo it. The goal here is to actually taste the chicken.

6. bake in the oven at 415 degrees. 45 minutes.

7. pull the pan out, flip the wings, drop the temperature to 375. 40 more minutes.

8. eat the best chicken wings you'll ever have. Don't dip them in anything.

This is my mom's recipe -- at least fifty years old. There has never been a wing that didn't get eaten.


That was eight years ago. I've adjusted things a touch since then. Cooking time is a little shorter due mainly to the wings I've had access to lately (so 40 minutes first side, 35 second) and the temperature for the second side is now higher -- 400 degrees. The end result remains superb.

I've also started including a little curry powder in the flour mix which is the trickiest part, I guess. The ratio of flour to everything else being something I just do by feel. But let's just say I tend to err on the side of NOT letting the flour overwhelm everything else.

They're also delicious cold the next day -- maybe even better.
posted by philip-random at 8:37 AM on September 22, 2020 [1 favorite]


as expected, everybody is again wrong

Including you! ;)
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:36 AM on September 22, 2020


have you tried it?
posted by philip-random at 12:35 PM on September 22, 2020


No, but I never let that stop me from being needlessly snarky on the internet!

I'm sure your version is good, but I'm also sure that I've loved many many servings of the other kinds of wings too. So I honestly don't think either of us are wrong, just different.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:04 PM on September 22, 2020 [1 favorite]


I'm not certain of much. But I've certainly never had wings that come close to my mom's old recipe. The flour etc seals in the liquid. The high heat really crisps things up.

Meanwhile it annoys me that most of the continent seems to view wings as sauce delivery devices, so much so that it's become very difficult to even buy complete (three-bone) wings anymore. There oughta be a law!
posted by philip-random at 2:48 PM on September 22, 2020


=) No worries, everyone agrees that it is very tasty, especially when Cantonese cuisine touches/ philosophies are applied to the (very super awesome [taste-wise, it's a royal PITA to make]) idea.

Here's a recipe that flat out asserts it is Cantonese

The writer(s) of that article are credited as "Time Out Dubai staff". Wouldn't be surprised if they first encountered it during a business trip to HK or from a HK-themed restaurant in Saudi Arabia.

posted by porpoise at 8:42 PM on September 22, 2020


6. bake in the oven at 415 degrees. 45 minutes.

7. pull the pan out, flip the wings, drop the temperature to 375. 40 more minutes.


Are you sure about that timing? That is a lot of time for small chicken parts at those temperatures.
posted by Dip Flash at 9:11 PM on September 22, 2020


I did adjust the timing slightly at the end of that note. But yes. The heat gets things crisp. The flour etc seals in the juices. You want the wings to be well browned (not blackened).
posted by philip-random at 7:56 AM on September 23, 2020


At least I know what's for dinner tonight.

(I fucking love all manner of wings, but these are the ones I've been able to successfully recreate at home. SO. GOOD.)
posted by Space Kitty at 11:52 AM on September 23, 2020


my wings end up looking a lot like the ones pictured in your "dinner tonight". Different method. Same brown and crispy result.
posted by philip-random at 1:07 PM on September 23, 2020 [1 favorite]


« Older Prime Minister John Turner: 1929-2020   |   How Supreme is the Court? Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments