You won’t believe how tender and juicy these wings are! The secret? Cooking them twice! Inspired by Neil Perry BBQ Chicken Wing Recipe, the marinade is a flavour explosion that combines some salty & sweet staple Chinese ingredients with some subtle heat from the chilli sauce. These Twice-Cooked Sticky Chicken Wings will be a crowd pleaser and will have you going back for more!
Ingredients for these Twice-Cooked Sticky Chicken Wings
Chicken Wings
I usually purchase these as whole wings. I will usually par-boil them whole, then once they have slightly cooled, I cut them in half (separating the drumette and wingette) and cutting off the wing tip. Evolving Table has a great post with a step by step guide on how to cut them! I personally find that they are much easier to cut once cooked. If you prefer you can also trim off any excess skin at this point too. I love using Chicken Wings for making homemade chicken stock too as you can get loads of flavour from them in a short amount of time! More on that below.
Marinade
- Garlic Powder and Paprika: you can also just chop fresh garlic!
- Lemon Juice or Lime Juice
- Soy Sauce: regular or light soy. Dark soy is quite strong and I would not use it for this. I prefer to use it in very small quantities when making stir-fries instead.
- Siracha Sauce: I love using this garlic and chilli sauce in many marinades! It adds some heat but as it cooks it definitely won’t be as spicy as it is when just used straight out of the bottle. It will just add a nice warmth to the dish. If you want it more spicy, add more! or you can also substitute this for a flat teaspoon of chilli flakes.
- Chinese Cooking Wine: a staple in most chinese dishes and adds a dept of flavour to the wings. You can substitute also for sake or rice wine. I use Double Phoenix that you can find online or at most asian grocery stores or Pandaroo brand that can also be found at major supermarkets.
- Honey: gives the wings some sweetness & caramelisation
- Ketchup / Tomato sauce
- Peanut or Vegetable Oil
How to make these Twice-Cooked Sticky Chicken Wings
Boil
In a large pot of boiling water, boil the chicken wings for just 10 minutes and take them out. Put them in a bowl and let them cool down for about an hour.
TIP: I don’t like to waste the chicken flavour in the water as that is a good base for a simple chicken stock or soup. I make it weekly especially during winter so I do both on the same day to save time. It’s so handy to have a batch of the chicken stock already made in the fridge as it’s so versatile for many dishes, like chicken or dumpling soup or to make risotto of course.
If I am planning to also make the stock as well as the chicken wings, I start off by adding some carrots, onions, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaves to the cold water in the pot and let it come to the boil slowly. Once everything has come to the boil, I add the chicken wings for just the 10 minutes for them to cook. Once the wings are out, I continue simmering the stock with the vegetables for another hour. Homemade Chicken Stock Done!
Marinade
Back to the wings! While the chicken wings are boiling away, make the marinade. Combine the garlic powder, paprika, lemon juice, honey, soy sauce, siracha, ketchup and oil and mix well. Once the wings have cooled down after boiling, add the marinade and stir through.
You can then place the wings in the fridge to marinade for 30 minutes to 1 hour, they won’t need longer as the marinade is quite salty. If you are making them ahead of time eg. the morning for the evening, you can keep the par-boiled wings and marinade separate in the fridge and combine them 30 minutes before cooking them.
Pan Fry or BBQ
Because they have been already parboiled they won’t need long at all on a hot pan or BBQ (see tip 3). 5 to 7 minutes tops! What you are looking for is a nice char on the skin and for them to be hot through in the inside.
Tip 1: Cook the wings in batches if you are using non stick pan. The sauce will thicken and stick to the wings within a few minutes so keep turning them over till they have some char on them.
Tip 2: If you prefer them less charred but with more sauce, take them off the heat when you see that the wings have darkened slightly in colour and the sauce has thickened to the consistency that you prefer.
Tip 3: If cooking on the BBQ and to same yourself some scrubbing later, put just the wings on the BBQ but reserve the leftover marinade. Using a separate small pan, reduce the marinade till it thickens and pour it over the wings once they have been grilled on the BBQ.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve the wings with sliced cucumbers and steamed rice but you could also have them as a starter on their own too! Enjoy!
Twice-Cooked Sticky Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 1 Kg Chicken Wings (if brought whole – each wing cut in half and with tip removed)
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Paprika
- Juice of Half a Lemon
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 tbsp Siracha Sauce
- 2 tbsp Ketchup
- 2 tbsp Peanut or Vegetable Oil (and a few extra for pan frying the wings)
- 2 tbsp Honey
- 2 tbsp Chinese Cooking wine
- 1 tsp Sesame seeds (for garnish)
- 2 Spring Onions (Sliced for garnish)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Once boiling, add the chicken wings and cook for 10 minutes. Take them out and put them in a bowl and let them cool down for about an hour.
- Meanwhile, make the marinade. Combine the garlic powder, paprika, lemon juice, honey, soy sauce, siracha, ketchup, chinese rice wine and oil and mix well.
- Once the wings have cooled down after boiling, add the marinade and stir through. You can then place the wings in the fridge to marinade for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Add a few tablespoons of oil to a non stick pan over high heat. Once the pan is very hot, add the wings in batches and do not overcrowd the pan. They will only need 5-7 minutes maximum cooking. See more recipe notes at the bottom.
- Serve on a plate and garnish them with sesame seeds and sliced spring onions. Serve as a started or with sliced cucumbers and some plain rice. Enjoy!