Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings
As I type this post I’ve just licked my fingers, after finishing my final wing. When I tell you these are the most insanely moreish things you’ll ever eat, I truly mean it. Here’s why you’re going to LOVE these wings:
Texture – Perfectly crispy AND gorgeously sticky. Yes, you really can have your wing and eat it! Easy – No faffing around with deep frying, these bad boys are baked until golden perfection. Flavour – The flavour in the homemade sweet and sour sauce is honestly drinkable.
These wings are perfect for game day, perfect for as an appetizer and just all round great for feeding a sweet and sour craving. Heck – do you really need an excuse to whip up a batch of wings?!
Preparing Chicken Wings
Most stores/butchers will give you the wing, the whole wing and nothing but the wing. But, we don’t really want whole wing, not all intact anyway. As such, we’ll need to divide it into the following:
Wingette – aka the ‘flat’. Drumette – easiest to eat, because you only need one hand. Tip – No meat on this, we don’t need it.
To divide the wing: find the joint where each part is attached. You don’t need to chop through any tough bits and certainly don’t need to slice through bone. If you’ve got the right part, the knife should slide through easily.
Baking Powder
This is the absolute key to getting crispy baked wings. Once you’ve diced the wings, pop them in a zip lock bag with salt and baking powder. The salt will not only season the wing, but will also help draw moisture from the skin (i.e. extra crispy). The baking powder causes a reaction with any moisture on the chicken and creates tiny air bubbles, which results in that airy, bubbly texture you see on crispy chicken wings.
Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
For the first time in a long time on this blog, I’m going to need you to step away from the deep fat fryer… Yes, that really did just come out my mouth. Once you’ve coated the wings in salt and baking powder, space them out on an oiled wired rack on top of a foil covered tray. Important the rack is oiled so the wings don’t stick and also important you place foil underneath or your kitchen will smoke out. Trust me – been there.
Twice Baked Chicken Wings
We’re actually going to bake the wings twice. The first is at a low heat, this will render down the fat. Chicken skin has a lot of fat in it, so it’s important to try and extract as much of this as possible in order for them to get crispy. After this we’re going to crank up the heat. This will blast the skin with intense heat and leave you with extra crispy chicken wings.
Sweet and Sour Sauce
A homemade sweet and sour sauce truly couldn’t be easier to make. Here’s what you’ll need:
Brown Sugar Apple Cider Vinegar Pineapple Juice Ketchup Soy Sauce + Cornstarch/Cornflour
Just simmer on medium heat until nice and thick, then combine with your wings. Simples! From there I like to garnish with sesame seeds and some finely diced spring/green onion.
And there we have it! My top tips to getting crispy baked wings in an easy peasy sweet and sour sauce. If you’re after another sweet and sour recipe then make sure you check out my Sweet and Sour Chicken Stuffed Spring Rolls! For more surprisingly CRISPY baked finger foods check out these beauties too:
Crispy Baked Finger Foods
Crispy Baked Avocado Fries Crispy Baked Chicken Tenders Crispy Baked Jalapeño Poppers Crispy Baked French Fries
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these chicken wings shall we?!
How to make Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings (Full Recipe & Video)
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