Oh baby! I love chicken wings, and I’m always playing with new ways of making them but this time, I’ve really outdone myself. I decided to combine my three favorite kinds of chicken wings; buttermilk fried chicken, hot wings, and Asian wings. These crispy spicy chicken wings were such a success that I made them three days in a row to satisfy our continual craving for them! I know many of you have been searching for recipes for chicken wings to complete your Super Bowl menu, and you’ve come to the right place!!!
The first night I served these for dinner, conversation around the table pretty much stopped. As an exchange student host family, we try to make sure to have family dinners each night and encourage the boys to tell us about their days, hopes, dreams and struggles. We always have lively conversations that sometimes last long after the last of the food is gone. But this night, the only words coming out of our boys’ mouths were “It is good. It is VERY good!” I wish I’d caught a picture of my husband’s face the next day when I asked if what he’d like for lunch. A hopeful timid, “Could we have more of those chicken wings?” turned into shouts of joy when I smilingly agreed.
Now, the first step for these wings is a nice buttermilk soak. If you don’t have buttermilk in your fridge, you can substitute a cup of milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar mixed in. I’d suggest using whole milk or even half and half to get a nice thick and luxurious bath for your chicken. I put most of my heat in the buttermilk and this time decided to use my favorite spicy Asian condiment, sriracha, to get a kick of tangy hot flavor.
Can you tell I had a little bit of fun squirting the sriracha into the buttermilk. Can’t decide if it looks more like modern art or a crime scene!
Once you got your sriracha buttermilk all mixed up, you need to pour a little bit of it into your breading. When you mix it in you’ll get some chunky bits that, when cooked on your chicken, will lead to big bites of crunchy goodness. The breading has a mix of spices like onion and garlic powder with ground ginger that help add to the Asian flair of the wings.
Now, I understand that deep fried chicken wings are delicious, but honestly, they’re so saturated in grease that I end up feeling sick after just one. I’ve tried to make baked chicken wings, but found that they didn’t give me the same satisfying crunch of the fried ones.
So I compromise. I like to pan fry my wings to get the outside crispy, then finish them in the oven on a rack so any excess oil can drain into the pan below. (If you want a healthier chicken wing, try my hoisin wings!)
Of course, you can’t have chicken wings without a dip. You can stick with the Asian theme by mixing sriracha and ranch (which is surprisingly amazing!), but my favorite chicken wing dip recipe is a honey mustard dip that’s actually good for you!
That’s up next, promise, but first I’d love to hear your Super Bowl 2012 plans. Are you hosting a party? Attending one? Pretending football doesn’t exist?
ASIAN BUTTERMILK FRIED CHICKEN HOT WINGS RECIPES
Ingredients
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2-3 TBS sriracha
- 1 cup flour (any kind)
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 16-20 chicken wings
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (or other high heat oil)
Instructions
- In a small to medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and sriracha.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, garlic, onion, chili, pepper and salt.
- Pour about 1/4 cup of the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir it together until lots of little chunky bits form.
- Soak your chicken wings in the buttermilk for at least 5 minutes (overnight adds even more flavor!).
- One by one, take a wing out of the buttermilk, letting the excess drip back into the bowl, then dredge it in the flour mixture, making sure every inch is well coated. Set it on a large plate and continue until all the wings are breaded, then place the plate in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat your oil in a skillet on high. Test the heat of the oil by dropping in one of the chunky buttermilk breading pieces. If it sizzles away, your oil is ready.
- Use tongs to place up to eight wings at a time in the oil. Cook 3-5 minutes on each side until the breading is a golden brown. Remove the wings to a wire cooling rack resting in a baking pan.
- When all the wings have been pan fried, place the pan in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees. Remove from oven and sprinkle with additional salt if desired.
Notes
Approximate cost/serving:  Chicken wings are CHEAP! You can get a big mama jama bag of frozen wings at Costco or Sam’s Club for a really good price. My wings were just 15 cents each, so at 20 wings, it cost me just $4.70 for the whole recipe. If everyone has 3-4 wings that’s anywhere from 60-95 cents a serving. Yay!
Gluten Free:  These wings are NOT gluten free. If you want a gluten free fried chicken recipe, try my tortilla chip chicken.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 182Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 535mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 7g
Nutrition information is an estimate only.
I’ll be attending a friend’s potluck style superbowl party. I still haven’t decided what I’m bringing yet, but mostly likely a taco type dip (per my friend’s request). I’m still trying to decide on something else semi healthy to bring since I know the spread will mostly consist of prepackaged junk foods.
Ooh Geneva, on Wednesday I’ll be sharing my healthy version of seven layer dip. It’s several hundred calories less per serving than the traditional version and still deliciously satisfying!
These were delicious! Thank you!
Oh thanks Kel! I’m so glad 🙂