Braised Chicken Wings Recipe

A homestyle super easy Chinese braised chicken wing can be a super food for children. With this recipe, you will able to make perfect tender chicken wing with a sweet and savory flavor.

About “Red Braising Cooking”

Chinese red-cooking is a famous cooking method which is used in daily cooking for almost all Chinese cooks and housewives. The method of red cooking usually means t braising ingredients with spices, soy sauce, sugar or simply juice; on most occasions are meats, in soy sauce and rock sugar, which creates deeply savory dishes in the color of rich mahogany hue. And after red-cooking process, although fat is also contained, the taste will be fresher. In China, we name this cooking method as 红烧 (red cooking). Almost every cuisine in China gets its own types of red-cooking methods, producing slightly different tastes. However, it is most frequently used in Shanghai and Zhejiang province in China. People in that area loves to cook with soy sauces, similar to the fact that people in Sichuan province loves to cook with Doubanjiang or people in northern part of China loves to cook with black vinegar or sweet sauce.

I use a very basic homestyle red braising method in this recipe. The flavors of the chicken wings is mainly presented by caramelized sugar like what I did in red braised pork belly (Hong Shao Rou Recipe). Caramelized sugar not only brings color but also great unique flavors. Some of the easy home version may suggest skip making caramelized sugar because once burnt, it may bring bitter flavor. I prefer the caramelized version. Caramelized sugar generates hundreds of new and different compounds, with richer flavor and dark color. However, be careful with the process and turn off the heat once the sugar turns amber.

How to remove odd taste from chicken wings

There are several methods contribute to removing any odd raw taste from meat. The first one is to blanching in boiling water (like what we did in red braised pork belly ). Or soaking in clean water, usually used in rib recipes. I choose the soaking method, with the original purpose of avoiding any overcooking. Then I get an add on method. Marinating the chicken wing with ginger and scallion. This is a fabulous way and you will taste no odd taste from chicken wings after this part.

Keep chicken wings tender

Since we already pan-fried the thicken wings for minutes, add hot boiling water to almost cover the chicken wings. Adding hot water can help to shorten the cooking time and avoid overcooking. Cold water will also spoil the dish by shrinking the meat.

Basically, making a red-cooking at home is not difficult. The ingredients are easy to find and process is so easy to worth it.

Steps

1 soak the chicken wings with a pinch of salt and clean water for 15 minutes. Transfer out and drain. You can let it drain naturally or absorb the water with kitchen paper.

2 Transfer chicken wings to a bowl, add white pepper, salt, ginger and scallion. Then message (or grasp is a more accurate words) for 3-4 minutes. This step is the key of removing odd taste.

3 Add a very small amount of oil in pan and fry chicken wings until slightly browned on both sides. Add scallion and ginger to fry until aroma. Transfer chicken wing to aside and fry the sugar over slow fire until bubbled. Mix well. This is the caramelization process which brings unique flavor for the chicken wings.

4 Pour hot water to almost cover the chicken wings. Simmer for 5 minutes. Then pick the ginger and scallion out. They have finished their job! Turn up fire and thicken the sauce until all the sauces are attached on the chicken wings. Move the chicken wings continuously to help thickening the sauce and avoid burning. Serve hot!

How to serve it

This braised chicken wings should be served hot. And a lovely match is still steamed rice. I also suggest match it with simple salad such as smashed cucumber or pickled radish.

How to customize this recipe

You can customize this recipe by adding spices like star anise or dried chili pepper. But I still recommend trying this pure version with minimum ingredients.

If you love chicken wings, try my coca cola chicken wings too. Elaine also have other fabulous Chicken wings recipe including oyster chicken wings, salt and pepper chicken wings.