Stop Press! My app – RecipeTin Recipe Manager – is featured in the App Store as a Best New App! With over 1 million apps in the app store, I’m absolutely floored and so honoured!! Woo hoo! If you want to check out what it’s all about, pop on over to the RecipeTin website (click here) or you can check this page I did on Organizing Recipes using RecipeTin, but in a nutshell, it’s an app for iPhones and iPads that lets you store recipes from anywhere (and I really mean anywhere!) without having to type them in. That includes your handwritten recipes cards and all those recipes you’ve torn out magazines (just snap photos, then file them in RecipeTin), and from anywhere online (there’s a built in browser!) so you can store all your favourite recipes in one place!
OK, getting onto these Sticky Chinese Chicken Wings – these are so moorish, once you start you won’t be able to stop! This is my family recipe for Sticky Chinese Chicken Wings which has been tweaked and perfected over years, with input from everyone (mother, brother, sister and me) and many heated debates! We finally agreed this is The Recipe and have been loyal to it for years and I don’t see it changing soon. After all, why tinker with perfection?
The marinade for this recipe is a perfect balance of slightly spicy (very mild), salty, sweet with a touch of tang, and the subtle fragrance of Chinese Five Spice from hoisin sauce as well as five spice powder.
We have a rule that it is acceptable to omit one ingredient from the marinade, but if you are missing more than one, then don’t bother making it…….however, it IS acceptable to substitute with similar ingredients, and I’ve provided a fairly lengthy list of “acceptable” substitutions.
This is not my usual “15 minute” meal, but it’s really simple, and if you purchase chicken wings already split into drumettes and wingettes then it takes a mere 5 minutes to make the marinade and it’s pretty low maintenance to bake. The other great thing about this recipe is that you don’t need to make ahead and leave it to marinate overnight, you only need to leave it for 10 to 15 minutes.
I usually cook this in the oven but it also works well on the BBQ (on the grill side, not the plate side), but it needs to be grilled on low otherwise the sugar in the marinade will char and burn before the inside is cooked. It only takes about 15 minutes to cook on the BBQ. Also, when cooking on the BBQ, I recommend not basting while cooking but instead, right at the end, toss all the wings back into the bowl and coat with marinade then give them a final quick blast on the BBQ for a minute to make the marinade hot and sticky.
I must admit, the times I have enjoyed this the most have involved copious amounts of wine….this is the ultimate midnight snack. Forget kebab stands, we need chicken wings carts outside pubs and clubs, and definitely at every taxi queue!
Pop this in your RecipeTin app and give it a try this weekend!
- 1-1.5kg /2 - 3lb chicken wings, cut into drumettes and wingettes
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar or honey
- ¼ cup ketchup or tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp sambal oelek
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped or minced
- ½ tsp five spice powder
- Finely sliced shallots/scallions
- Sesame seeds
- Coriander/cilantro leaves
- Finely sliced fresh chili
- Combine marinade ingredients in a large bowl or in a ziplock bag.
- Add wings and coat well, then leave aside for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Line baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Shake excess marinade off wings (but reserve the marinade) and spread on baking tray.
- Baste generously once or twice during baking, using up all the remaining marinade (usually for the 2nd baste I just pour the remaining marinade all over the wings).
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until the meat comes off the bone fairly easily and the wings are just starting to char and are a sticky, dark red/golden colour.
- Optional garnishes to serve: coriander/cilantro leaves, sesame seeds, chilli, sliced shallots/scallions.
2. Chinese Cooking Wine (Shao Xing Wine) can be substituted with sherry or sake. You could also sub with mirin, but if you do then reduce the sugar to 1 tbsp.
3. Hoisin Sauce can be substituted with oyster sauce but then you should add an extra ¼ tsp of Chinese Five Spice Powder.
4. Oyster Sauce can be substituted with Hoisin Sauce but if you do so then do not add the ½ tsp of five spice powder.
5. The Sambal Oelak can be substituted for any other Asian chilli sauce or paste, such as Chilli Bean Sauce or Sriracha.
6. Marinade time - it is best not to marinade for too long, 1 hour at most, because the salt in the marinade will draw too much moisture out of the wings (making them drier) and also the marinade will become watery making it harder to stick to the wings.
The nutritional analysis assumes 8 servings made with 1.5kg/3lb of wings.
Your recipe sounds awesome. But, I like my wings with a little heat. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Jo! A good splash of sriracha or chilli powder (pure spicy chilli power, not American Chilli Powder which is mild and flavoured with other things) would be a great addition to this!
Thank you for one of the best wings I’ve ever tasted!!
YAY!!! So glad you enjoyed them H!!!
These are delicious a wow factor in my home!
Great to hear Tracy, thanks!
Will this recipe work with chicken drumsticks? Would it taste the same?
It wil taste the same!
This is lovely with drumsticks. Just cook until dark golden brown and juices run clear when pierced!
I love your recipes and these wings rocked my world. I love your recipes and Farah from the Cooking Jar! SO GOOD!
YAY YAY YAY! I am SO GLAD you loved these!
Family favorite recipe, so it means a lot to know you enjoyed it!!
This looks like exactly the recipe I have searched forever to find. My husband stopped one time at a tiny ;hole in the wall; Chinese buffet while traveling through Arkansas a few years ago. They had sticky chicken wings on the buffet and my husband raved about them. I have tried multiple recipes without success but this one indeed looks promising, Thank you in advance!
Connie
Oooh! I do hope you love these!! I don’t know if it’s going to be exactly like the one from the hole-in-the-wall (PS Often where you fine the best ethnic food!) but I can promise you it is damn yum!!
Hi Nagi.
A question.
Can I put the marinade mixture with these chicken wings, then put in the freezer.
Get them out when I am ready to cook them.
June or Mrs P, lol
YES YOU CAN!
That’s exactly what I do with many marinated meats! What you will find though is that the marinade becomes thinner from the water as it defrosts. So what you can do is either put it in a small saucepan and reduce it slightly while the chicken bakes so it’s thicker for basting, or baste extra. Oooh, I hope you love this! I must admit, this is mostly my brother’s creation. My whole family LOVES this!! N x
Thanks for sharing such a great recipe. I have made them twice now for BBQ’s and everyone said how amazing they were. The marinade is perfect.. love the slight heat at the end from the chilli sauce.
I’m so glad you loved it Emily! Especially because it’s a family recipe
Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and let me know!!
I have been craving Chinese Chicken Wings, and these look like just what the doctor ordered! I’m heading out to the store now. Thanks!
Ooh! Hope you love it!! <3
They were great! Thanks!
These were absolutely amazing! Went in no time!!!! Everyone from big to small loved them! I made my own garnish which I topped the chicken with once they were cooked. Garnish included fried onion, coriander and diced chilli!
Oh wow, your garnishes sound awesome, what a finishing touch! I’m so glad you enjoyed them. Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know! My family will be happy to hear!
I wanted to ask what vegetables to serve with the chicken wings .
Hi Brouria! Oh! Well I would just finely shred a green cabbage, spread it on a large plate and place the chicken wings on it. It looks great and the cabbage is a good contrast with the sticky wings!
I do not have a comnt
It’s look so Good
And I’m going to make tham
Tomorrow
I have question?
I what to serve with the chicken wings
Thank you
Hi Brouria! If I am serving them at a party, I just pile them onto a big platter and serve them alongside other Asian snack foods, like spinning rolls and crumbed shrimp and prawn/shrimp crackers (which are super cheap to buy). If I am serving them as a meal, I serve them with some plain rice and a quick light salad on the side – line finely sliced cabbage with a light dressing.
Okay thank you
These look delicious. I was thinking about making this and bringing it to my family potluck. Are these so sticky that they would stick together when they cooled in a tin tray? Also, would I double the recipe if I want to make 6lbs?
I’m so glad you like the look of this! No, they are no so sticky that they would stick together (not like caramels or toffee), it is more like a sticky glaze. Yep, you sure can double the recipe! It will take longer to cook but you can put both trays in the oven at the same time. When the top tray is cooked, move the bottom tray up. Hope you enjoy it!
Oh my word. These look too good to be true!
Thanks for dropping by Alida! And believe it – they are finger lickin’ good!
I can see how these would be completely addicting! Just the sticky, lacquered look of them has my mouth watering. Lovely recipe! *applause emojis*
Thanks for dropping by Em! And yes….they are ridiculously addictive!!
Oh my god, woman! This, in my belly now! All of it! All your sticky chicken wings are belonging to me (yes, I seriously did just do that). I love it that much!
Though you might! I noticed that you have a fabulous sticky chicken recipe on your blog….:)