Let Them Eat Healthy: Spicy, Baked, Asian Inspired Chicken Wings

These wings are a household favorite, my husband asks for them every time I mention I am making wings. The sauce is spicy, sweet and full of unique Asian flavors. I only add a tiny bit of butter so that its healthier than traditional wing sauce and my wings are baked, not fried. They still have an incredibly crispy skin and we don't miss the frying at all. Here are a few tips for getting crispy, baked wings:

Bring your wings to room temperature before you bake them, this allows the heat to focus on crisping rather than bringing them up to temp first, when you put cold meats to sear or bake the heat has to work to get them up to temperature before it begins crisping and searing. Ever put a cold steak on the grill and wonder why it won't char or get a brown crust, well its because most restaurants and cooks bring their meats to room temp before cooking them. This takes about 30 minutes on a cool day, if its a very warm day don't leave them out longer than 30 mins, bacteria can grow and cause illness.
Pat off your wings completely with a clean kitchen towel, getting their skin dry ensures a crispy texture.
Brush the wings with a canola oil or other high temp safe oil. This will crisp up the skin without burning it.
I like to put my wings on a baking rack or broiler pan, the top part of the broiler pan has slits in it and sits raised up over another "drip pan" to allow air and heat to flow all around the wings, no more crispy top and soggy bottom.

I always cook my wings first and then toss them in the sauce, make sure to toss them hot, right out of the oven that way they will soak up all your gorgeous sauce. I have been making wings this way for years now, frying requires a lot of oil and then requires disposing of that oil. It makes a huge mess and is incredibly unhealthy. I wasn't, however, ready to give up my crispy wings so I did some test runs and have finally perfected my baking method!

This recipe makes 12 wings, which in my house, feeds 3.

Ingredients

12 chicken wings, cleaned and patted dry.

1 Tbsp Asian 5 spice powder

Garlic infused canola oil, enough to brush each wing and coat evenly, about 2 Tbsp.

Sea salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste, be careful with this because the sauce is a bit salty I used about 1 tsp for all the wings.

Sauce

1/2 bottle (22 oz) Soy Vay, all natural, hoisin, garlic sauce.

1/3 Cup orange juice, I use Simply Orange, I find fresh squeezed is not tangy enough and bitters during the cooking down process.

2 Tbsp local honey, I use Rulison buckwheat honey.

2 Cloves organic garlic, minced or grated.

1 tsp Red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp Siracha sauce or your favorite Asian hot sauce, you want to be careful to watch the sodium content of the hot sauce you use as this can make your sauce way too salty, some Asian hot sauces are very salty.

2 Tbsp organic, sweet cream butter or Earth Balance.

Sesame seeds, about 2 Tbsp, for sprinkling over the top.

Directions

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.

Place your wings on a broiler pan or a roasting rack over a baking sheet, you want the wings to be raised up so that air and heat can circulate all the way around them. You can line the drip pan, the bottom pan, with foil for easy cleanup, I rarely have foil so I don't usually do this, but it does make cleanup so easy.

Brush garlic infused canola oil on each wing with a pastry brush, coat them evenly. Sprinkle with Asian 5 spice, sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Bake for 20 to 30 mins or until they are golden brown and the juices run clear.

While they are baking place first 6 sauce ingredients into a sauce pan. Heat over high heat till they come to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes to reduce by half, it will be thick and syrupy. Keep a close eye on it, checking it often because once it reduces it burns very quickly. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter till it is completely incorporated. Pour into a large bowl.

When the wings are done, immediately submerge them in the sauce and turn to coat evenly with a pair of tongs. Place on a serving platter and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve on your favorite pizza night or make a big salad and enjoy as a main dish!