I’m a wing fanatic. They’re always my go-to dinner when I’m not in the mood for a complicated recipe that’s time consuming and requires a ton of ingredients. I usually lean on my fall back recipes like Spicy, Smoky, Sweet, Chili Wings, Mardi Gras Wings, and my favorite White Girl Can Cook Wings.
But last night, I was in the mood for a new recipe with different flavors. As I was browsing the International Aisle at my local Publix yesterday, I did a quick google search on my phone for chicken wing recipes. I came across a group of Food Network recipes and one labeled Vietnamese chicken wings, with cilantro, garlic and fish sauce as the main ingredients. I followed the recipe but wasn’t thrilled with it, so I doctored it and added Thai Basil from my garden, fresh mint and a bit of honey. It totally took these wings to Flavortown, y’all!
The key to making the wings super crispy is to simply baste them in flour (no other seasoning required because the punch of flavor comes from the sauce) and bake them at a high temperature. Remember, the sauce goes on after they come out of the oven. If you put it on before, the wings will be rubbery and won’t crisp up! I always serve each plate with some sauce on the side so you can get in some extra dipping action!
What I love about wings is that you can throw a party with these as the main course and then offer a variety of dipping sauces to change up the flavors. No need to splurge on expensive protein like steak when you can rock out wings that will have your guests begging for more (and the recipe!)
- Family pack of chicken wings
- Flour
- 1 1/2 cups cilantro
- 1/2 cup Thai Basil (regular basil is fine)
- 1/2 cup mint
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 Tb fish sauce
- 2 Tb honey
- 1 lime squeezed
- 1 stick butter melted
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Grease a rimmed baking sheet with canola oil.
- Dredge wings in flour and put on baking sheet.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes, flipping over after 30 minutes.
- In a food processor, blend cilantro, basil, mint, garlic cloves, fish sauce, honey and lime juice. Add 1 stick on melted butter slowly until emulsified. Keep sauce warm until wings are done or butter will start to solidify.