Sweet and Spicy Asian Wings

Sweet, savory, sticky and spicy baked chicken wings inspired by the Chile-Chicken Wings in Debbie Lee's cookbook Soeultown Kitchen: Korean Pub Grub to Share with Family and Friends.

Sweet & Spicy Baked Asian Wings

For the sauce:

6 tablespoons ketchup

3 tablespoons sriracha sauce

1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup minced garlic

1/2 cup 100% apple juice

To make the sauce, combine all of the above ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes stirring occasionally or until it is reduced by one half. The mixture will still be fairly thin. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the wings:

16 chicken drumsticks, skin on

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

salt & freshly ground black pepper

paper towels

sesame seeds and sliced green onions for garnish (optional)

To make the wings, preheat the oven to 475˚F. Line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Pat each chicken wing completely dry with a paper towel. Brush all over with vegetable oil. Place 8 drumsticks on each prepared cookie sheet leaving approximately 2 inches of space between each wing. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper.

Bake both cookie sheets for 15 minutes. Then remove baking sheets from oven and use tongs to turn the wings over and rotate the position of the pans (the pan that was on bottom for the first 15 minutes moves to the top and visa versa). Bake for 7-10 more minutes or until the wings are golden brown and crispy. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 450˚F.

Brush both sides of wings generously with sauce (make sure that you use a different brush than the one you used to brush the raw chicken with oil). Rotate position of pans once again. Bake for 7-10 more minutes or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 170˚F. Remove from oven. The sauce on the wings will have dried up a bit while cooking so brush more sauce on the wings before removing from the cookie sheets to cool. Remove to a platter and let rest 5-10 minutes before serving warm. Garnish with sliced green onion and sesame seeds if desired.

Recipe Yield: 16 drumsticks
Recipe Source: Amanda Jenks, adapted from a recipe by Debbie Lee