My husband and I have both been known to go a little gaga over Korean BBQ.
It has that perfectly tastebud-mesmerizing combination of flavors that, once we start eating it, we can't seem to get enough of; with that toasty and nutty warmth of sesame oil, the mild heat of freshly cracked black pepper, the slightly lemony and spicy kick from fresh ginger, the warm pungency from garlic, the sweetness of brown sugar, or my favorite, Coca-Cola, and the “umami-ness” (is that a word?) of dark soy sauce.
And all of those bold and aromatic flavors work so perfectly well together with meat when it comes to the marination of it, or when combined into a finishing glaze, especially for tasty finger-food types of meat like little chicken drumettes—the larger, more succulent part of the chicken wing.
Put Korean flavors together with those tender victuals, and you've got some stellar snacking, or the best Coca-Cola Hot Wings, Korean-BBQ Style, you've ever had, my friend.
(And extra napkins are definitely recommended.)
Chicken wings are the type of finger-licking snack or appetizer that when you see them on a menu at a restaurant or local pizza chain, you get that hankering to order them. Heck, my hubs gets them as an accompaniment almost every time we place an order for pizza for our occasional pizza night.
But really, they're not a menu item that is difficult to prepare, and to prepare deliciously well, to boot. The key is adding as much great flavor to them as possible, giving them a quick fry, and then tossing them in a glossy sauce that'll leave your mouth shiny and your fingers messy. Anything less than a mess just wouldn't be quite as fun, right?
So this week I thought I'd take the opportunity to “wing it” a little with a bone-sucking and sweet-sticky and spicy recipe for chicken wings to give us something umami-ful (let's make that a word!) to get our fingers and possibly even our chinny-chin-chins good and messy over.
Korean tastiness, Coca-cola and chicken? Wings have never had it so sweet.
Taste what's good and pass it on.
Ingrid
Coca-Cola Hot Wings, Korean-BBQ Style
by Ingrid Beer
Yield: Serves about 4
Ingredients:
• 2 ½ pounds chicken drumettes (these are part of the wing, but look like tiny drumsticks)
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1-2 teaspoons (or more if you like it really spicy) chili garlic sauce
• ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 cup Coca-Cola
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 cup rice flour
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• Korean-Style BBQ Sauce (recipe below)
• 1 tablespoon chopped green onion
• 1-2 teaspoons sesame seeds
Preparation:
-Add your wing drumettes to a large bowl, and add in the garlic plus the rest of the ingredients through the Coca-Cola; using your hands, mix the marinade into the wings, and allow them to marinate anywhere from 12-24 hours ideally, or at least 4 hours.
-Remove the wing drumettes from the marinade, and pat them dry with paper towels; set aside for a moment.
-Add enough oil to a pot or heavy-bottom Dutch oven to come about 2” up the sides (I used about 1½ quarts), and bring the oil up to 375° (use a thermometer for accuracy).
-While the oil heats, add the rice flour, the corn starch, plus a couple of pinches of salt and black pepper to a large ziplock bag, and add in all of the wings; close the bag and toss the wings very well in the flour/starch, then remove them and tap off any excess flour, and set them aside until your oil heats up.
-Fry the wing in batches, for about 5-7 minutes, or until a deep golden-brown; allow them to drain on a wire rack; repeat until all wings are fried.
-Add your fried wings to a large bowl, and drizzle in as much of the warm Korean-Style BBQ Sauce as you'd like (start with a few tablespoons worth and go from there); toss to coat, and serve the wings while hot, garnished with the green onion and sesame seeds.
Korean-Style BBQ Sauce Ingredients:
• 1 cup soy sauce
• ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
• 1-2 teaspoons (or more for extra heat) chili garlic sauce
• 1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 ¼ teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 tablespoons honey
Preparation:
-Add all the ingredients through the corn starch to a medium-size saucepan, and whisk to combine; set over medium heat, and allow the mixture to come to a simmer, whisking frequently, until it becomes glossy and thickened; remove from heat.
-Finish the sauce with the honey, and whisk to blend; allow it to cool to room temp, or to slightly warm; toss with the wings.
Lisa @ The Meaning of Me
Oh wow is my mouth watering! These look amazing - nothing in there that we don't love at our place. Wings are great even when they're bad - but good wings? So good!
The Cozy Apron
Haha…Lisa, that's actually kinda true about wings being good even when they're not necessarily that great; but if you're a wing fan, you must try these! Really fun to make, and all too easy to eat, too!
Kim Porter
Of all the recipes I've Pinned this year, this one looks, by far, the most crave-able!! Is that even a word? If not, it is now. My goodness...wishing I had some of these in front of me right now (and it's only 8:00 in the morning!).
The Cozy Apron
Hi Kim! I love it! And btw, what's wrong with wings at 8am? 🙂 Thanks so very much for your kind comments; and thanks for sharing these on your Pinterest boards, as well!
Janet
what do you mean when you say "add all the ingredients through the coca-cola" just a bit baffled since I want to make these next week!
Über excited!!
The Cozy Apron
Hi Janet! What I mean is all of the ingredients "including" the coca-cola….sorry for not being clear! Hope you enjoy!
Miss Kim @ behgopa
Sure does look fingerlickin' good!! I don't like coca cola, but using that in this recipe sounds interesting for a kick in the flavor. I am Korean, so I grew up eating food in this flavor profile my entire life, but I cant ever seem to get sick of it!
The Cozy Apron
Wow, how neat! Yes, Korean food if pretty impossible to get sick of, for sure. And just so you know, since you say you're not the biggest fan of Coca Cola, it really just adds a deeper flavor and a little tenderizing to the meat; the flavor won't be "heavy" on cola, necessarily, so no worries. Hope you try these!
Ben
These look amazing! Do you think the recipe could be adapted at all for grilling rather than frying? Would be interesting to see if this can go well with a slightly more smokey flavor (I'm an addict!).
The Cozy Apron
Hi Ben, I'm sure they easily could! Just skip the dredging and frying part, and take them to the grill, instead.
Sue | My Korean Kitchen
I don't know how I landed on this page but I'm so glad that I did. Those wings look really delicious. I can imagine myself licking through my every fingers together with these sticky wings. Just love the photo so much! Pinned! 🙂
The Cozy Apron
Hi Sue, thanks!
Shawna
Do you think this recipe could be adapted to be cooked in the oven? It's looks yummy, but my tummy doesn't really tolerate fried foods very well anymore. Thanks in advance for your feedback.
The Cozy Apron
Hi Shawna, absolutely! Just marinate them according to the recipe (but don't "dry" them off since you won't be frying), and then bake off. Here's another wing recipe that I have on the site, one you may enjoy, and it's for baked wings; so just follow the instructions for oven temp/baking in this recipe: Crispy-Baked Chicken Wings. Hope you enjoy!