i am a food blog

I love a good chicken wing: pan-fried, deep-fried, baked, braised, boiled…well, you get the idea. Chicken wings are one of those universal foods: if you’re a fan of chicken, you’re pretty much a fan of chicken wings. What I love most about them is that they can be completely high or low brow. I’ve had chicken wings in fancy, upscale restaurants (always a little nerve-wracking eating wings in a white table cloth kinda place) and I’ve had chicken wings standing on the street, food truck in the background.

These wings are more food-truck style as opposed to fancy. I employed Cook’s Illustrated oven-baked wing method for some extra crispy wings and then tossed them in a sweet and spicy, sour and savory lime-fish sauce dressing. These wings are seriously finger licking good. They remind me in the best way of being in a super hot South East Asian country.

The funny thing about hot countries is that I never want to eat when I’m there. The heat just makes me lose my appetite completely. The last time I visited Thailand over 8 years ago (!), I didn’t want to eat at all. I mean, I still ate, but really, all I wanted to do was drink massive amounts of sparkling water.

This is going to sound completely sponsored, and well, it is, but I’m a huge fan of S.Pellegrino, so really, it’s not much of a stretch for me to say that I always choose sparkling water over still. I love the bubbles in sparkling water – they make me feel so fancy, no white tablecloths needed. This sounds so cheesy, but I was so happy drinking sparkling water and eating chicken wings at home with Mike. It was like a little trip to Thailand, minus the insane, appetite reducing heat. Bring on the wings and sparkling water!

Spicy Thai Oven-Fried Chicken Wings
serves 2-3
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 1 1/2 hours
total time: 1 hour 40 minutes

• 2 pounds chicken wings
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• juice of 2 limes
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Thai chili pepper, optional
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• lime wedges, to serve

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and preheat to 250°F. Set a wire rack into an foil lined rimmed baking sheet. Pat the wings dry with paper towels and place into a large ziplock bag. Combine the baking powder and salt and add to the bag. Seal and toss to evenly coat.

Arrange the wings, skin side up, in a single layer on the rack. Bake on the lower rack for 30 minutes and then move the wings to the upper rack. Increase the temperature to 425°F and roast until golden brown and crispy, 40-50 minutes. Rotate the sheet halfway through baking.

Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic, and black pepper. Add the wings to the bowl and toss to coat. Sprinkle on the cilantro, toss and enjoy hot!

Note: Using this oven-baked method gives you extra crispy wings, but they aren’t extra juicy. You can also deep-fry your wings and toss them in the dressing if you like a juicier, crispy wing.

This post is sponsored by S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water.

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