Korean Chicken Wings and More

Hello everyone! I've got some very yummy recipes for you to try out from tonight's dinner! 

I was on supper duty today, and came home to see a big package of chicken wings sitting out on the counter defrosting. Not in the mood for the usual buffalo or salt and pepper wings, I went searching through the fridge and cupboard to see what we had to add some interest and flavor to those puppies. Upon searching, I realized that we were running pretty low - on almost everything!

It must have been my craving for something nice and garlicky paired with our abundance of Asian flavours that inspired tonight's meal! Whenever I think garlic + Asian ingredients, Korean food always come to my mind first. 

After a quick search on the internet to see how things go together nicely to form uniquely Korean flavours, I got started on making dinner!

The menu for the night: Korean chicken wings, Gamja Jorim (potato side dish) & Ol Namul (cucumber salad).

I started off with the wings, as they would take the longest. Here's how I made them!

Korean Chicken Wings

1 to 2 pounds chicken wings

2 tablespoons canola oil (plus more for frying)

3 tablespoons grated ginger

1/4 cup sherry or port

1/4 cup white or rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup Sriracha or other chili/garlic sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place wings on a baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with salt (there's a ton of soy sauce coming later), and cook in the oven for 35 minutes.

While the wings are cooking, in a medium sized frying pan or sauce pan over medium heat, add the canola oil and ginger.

Let the ginger cook for 2 minutes, then add the sherry, vinegar, sesame oil, honey, soy sauce and chili sauce.

Let this mixture simmer for about 2 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.

In a large sauce pan, pour about an inch or 2 of canola oil, and let it heat up to about 350 degrees F for frying.

Add the cooked wings from the oven into the pot and let them crisp up and get golden brown.

Remove from the fry and let them chill out on some paper towel for a bit.

Finally, toss the fried and baked wings in the sauce and serve up!

These wings turned out amazing! The crispiness from the frying and the intense flavours in the sauce were so incredible. I will definitely be tossing those ingredients together again for a marinade, or another sauce in the future. It is packed with multi-layered flavour, and just the right level of spiciness. 

With our lack of ingredients, and need for some sort of salad/vegetable dish, cucumbers were the answer tonight. After a quick Google search, I learned that Korean food actually does include yummy cucumber recipes! What I did with the cucumbers was super simple, and they were a nice, cool addition to the meal.

Ol Namul (Korean Cucumber Salad)

1 long english cucumber

dash of salt

2 cloves minced garlic

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon Sriracha

Cut the cucumber into circles, and "marinate" with a bit of salt while the chicken wings (or whatever else you're cooking) are being made.

Mix the remainder of the ingredients together, and dress the sliced cucumbers!

Serve chilled, enjoy!

The other thing I was surprised to learn tonight is that simple dressed, cooked, cubed, and cooled potatoes (a kind-of potato salad you could say) are also traditionally Korean! This made me happy as I was just not in the mood for rice tonight.

Gamja Jorim (Korean Potato Side Dish)

4 medium sized potatoes

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

3 teaspoons sesame oil

4 tablespoons onions, finely minced (scallions would have been much better, but we didn't have any)

Peel the potatoes and cut into approximately 1 inch cubes.

Place cubed potatoes into a saucepan with just enough water to cover them.

Bring to a boil and cook until just tender.

In the meantime, combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.

When the potatoes are cooked, toss them in the bowl while they're still hot and coat them with the mixture.

Pop in the fridge to cool down.

Serve chilled!

Here's my plate ready to be demolished!

All the flavours went together so well tonight (I sure am glad those cucumbers were in there for a little variety...)!

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I did! Tonight was a nice change from boring old chicken wings, and I learned a couple things about Korean cooking too!

xoxo

Mariel