Asian-style Chicken Wings

Back in September, I made a recipe from Andrew Carmellini's American Flavor cookbook.  It was his recipe for Asian ribs.  They were so good!  Sweet, spicy, salty, sticky, a little bit of spice, and a nice exotic flavor from the Chinese five-spice powder.  Absolutely delightful.

Carmellini's Asian ribs from my kitchen in September

The spices and sauce seemed rather versatile, so they should also work well with another ingredient that loves Asian flavors - chicken wings.  I found a cheap package of wings at the store, so I thought I would try to scale down and adapt the recipe using the same flavors.

The wings turned out great.  I found all those same qualities that I liked in the ribs with these wings.  Delicious, and very easy to throw together for a quick dinner.  Here is what I ended up with:

Asian-style Chicken Wings a la Carmellini

Asian-style Chicken Wings
-inspired by and adapted from Andrew Carmellini's Asian Ribs recipe

For the wings:

-1 t. Chinese five-spice powder
-1/2 t. chipotle pepper powder (ground chipotle peppers)
-1/2 t. garlic powder
-1/8 t. cayenne pepper
-1/2 t. cracked black pepper
-1/2 t. kosher salt
-1 1/2 lbs. chicken wings (a dozen or so)
-1 T. canola oil

For the sauce:

-1 T. ketchup
-1 T. hoisin sauce
-1 T. rice wine vinegar
-1/2 t. black bean sauce

For garnish:

-1/4 t. sesame seeds
-1 scallion, finely sliced

In a small bowl, mix the Chinese five-spice powder, chipotle powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, cracked black pepper, and kosher salt.  Set aside.

Add the chicken wings to a large bowl.  Sprinkle the chicken with the seasoning mixture and add the canola oil.  Stir well until the chicken is well coated with the seasonings.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours, or even as long as overnight.

When ready to cook the wings, preheat the oven to 350 F.

On a foil-lined baking sheet with a lip, add the wings and bake for 40 minutes.

While the wings are baking, make the sauce.  In a small bowl, stir together the ketchup, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, and the black bean sauce.  Set aside.

After 40 minutes, remove the chicken wings from the oven.  The wings should be completely cooked at this point.  Increase the oven temperature to 400 F.

Place the chicken wings in large bowl and add the sauce.  Stir the wings to coat them well with the sauce.  Return them to the baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes until the wings are nicely glazed and slightly caramelized (keep an eye on this so nothing burns).  

Remove the chicken wings from the oven, make sure they are cooked through (they definitely should be, but check for an internal temp of at least 165 F if you are not sure), and place the wings on a large dinner plate.  Sprinkle with sesames seeds and the scallions.  Serve immediately.

Makes one large serving or two if you are willing to share, which I am not... :)