#LetsLunch: Super Bowl Wings, Two Ways

So far in the new year, I'm continuing to be sadly neglectful to this little blog. But, I was very excited to work on these tasty wings for Super Bowl Sunday last week! 

Our Lets Lunch group picked foods to eat while watching sports on tv this month -- just in time for last week's Super Bowl (or, the Stupid Bowl as I often refer to it).

I love Super Bowl wings. Ever year, whether I'm with a big group, a small group, or if, like this year, it's just me and my husband, I like to go all out for chicken wings for the Super Bowl. 

Some years I make buffalo wings, other year's I've made sticky teriyaki wings. This year I went with Korean Fried Chicken again and also pulled together a curry-spiced wing recipe for Lets Lunch. 

I borrowed some techniques for battering and frying chicken from this Serious Eats Food Lab post. I thought it worked well for the curry wings, but ultimately may not have been worth it for the Korean wings. 

To start, I gave each pound of wings a couple hours of soaking in a buttermilk bath spiced with salt, pepper and coarsely chopped garlic (about 8 cloves for each batch). The curry spiced wings also got a tablespoon of sweet curry powder. After a few hours, I drained the wings from the buttermilk.

This is the step I borrowed from Serious Eats: coating the wings in a mix of corn starch, baking soda and salt. I think for the curry wings it added a nice crispness to the end result. It made less of an impact on the Korean wings, because of the gochuchang sauce that gets added at the end.

The other aspect I borrowed from Serious Eats was in the batter, though, instead of following the recommendation for using half water and half vodka, I took a chance with a beer batter. This was absolutely the right choice (I used about 3/4 of a Blue Moon) and it was delicious. After prepping and frying the Korean wings, I mixed a tablespoon of Moroccan spice rub, a tablespoon of sweet curry powder, and a teaspoon of cayenne pepper into the batter for the second half.



It took about a bottle and a half of mixed peanut and canola oils to fill my wok to acceptable frying levels. In the past, I have sometimes steamed the wings first to ensure that they cook completely. This year, I went with a slightly longer frying time (around 10-12 minutes) to get a nicely browned outside on the wings.


In the end, the Korean wings get tossed with a sweet and spicy gochuchang sauce and topped with toasted sesame seeds and green onions. The curry wings get an aggressive salting as soon as they're removed from the wok.

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Lets Lunch is a digital monthly meet up of food bloggers and writers.

Check out other posts from around the web here or on the hashtag #LetsLunch

Cheryl's Mongolian Buuz at A Tiger in the Kitchen

Annabelle's Idiazabal and Black Pepper Gougeres at Glass of Fancy

Grace's Taiwanese Beef Sliders at HapaMama

Jill's Spiced Pecans at Eating My Words

Karen's Sporting Eats at GeoFooding

Linda's Trio of Salsas from Oaxaca at Spicebox Travels

Lisa's Sausage Rolls at Monday Morning Cooking Club

Lucy's Crabcakes with Chipotle Mayo and Citrus Salad at A Cook and Her Books

Rashda's Finger Lickin’ Good Curried Ribs at Hot Curries & Cold Beer

Superbowl food

Still trapped at home - our metro stop is closed through tomorrow again! Today I finished my french onion soup and baked up some toasty baguettes to serve with the soup.

 

  

  

  

  

  

The baguettes:

  

  

  

  

 

Our Superbowl spread: sticky wings, empanadas, homemade salsa and spinach artichoke dip. Yum!

RECIPES:
French Onion Soup:
Half bag of onions, sliced
1 stick of butter
3 TBS flour
4 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
3 cans beef broth
1 can light beer (or 8 oz white wine or bourbon or whiskey)
2 tsp white pepper
swiss cheese or Gruyere for serving

Brown onions in butter (I tried to do this right in the crock pot, but they just softened. I scooped them out later and browned them up in a frying pan). Stir in flour and allow to thicken with butter. Pour in beer, allow to simmer up to 20 mins in slow cooker. Pour in beef broth and seasonings, allow to simmer 4-6 hours. Serve with crusty bread and melted cheese


Baguettes:
1/4 oz active yeast
1 TBS sugar
1 1/4 c lukewarm water (or half milk, half water)
4 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBS corn meal for dusting

Proof yeast, sugar and water 15 mins until foamy and expanded. Mix flour and salt, divide equally in 2 bowls. Mix yeast into one half, and stir until smooth batter forms. Cover and allow sponge to sit up to 30 mins until slightly expanded. Stir in the rest of the dry ingredients and knead on a lightly flour surface 10 mins. Cover in an oiled bowl, allow to proof up to 1 hr in a warm place. Punch down, and knead 2-3 mins more, then form into three logs, about 12-15 inches long. Allow to rise again, up to 30 mins. Sprinkle bottoms with polenta, spritz tops with water and cut diagonal slices into top. Bake at 400 F for 10 mins, then 5 mins at 375 F or until hollow when tapped.


Sticky wings:
Bake wings (washed, patted dry, salt/pepper/drizzle olive oil) covered at 375F for 25 mins. Drain any liquids, coat with flour and return to baking pan 5 mins each side at 425. Whisk together hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, honey, and oyster or fish sauce, coat wings with sauce. Return to hot oven 5 mins more to thicken sauce. Sprinkle with chopped scallions, toasted sesame seeds.


Spinach dip:
Mix equal parts plain yogurt, fat free sour cream and low fat mayo, 1/2 package frozen spinach (defrosted), handful chopped artichoke hearts, 1 tsp garlic powder (more to taste - can also use minced fresh), 1/2 tsp paprika, pepper to taste, chopped scallions (white and green parts).