I’ve made a few half-hearted attempts at doing chicken wings over the years. Usually in the oven and usually burnt beyond all recognition. I now realise that you add the sauce afterwards as anything with sugar will burn.
Recently I spotted a bunch of blog postings about buffalo wings (mainly related to the Superbowl I think) and decided I wanted to try and do them properly. I’ve always found people raving about Elephant & Castle chicken wings to be a bit weird. I’ve had them, they’re fine but they are chicken offcuts in hot sauce, get a grip.
The simple recipe given on Slashfood seemed to fit the bill. I found a great site in the UK called Chilli World who stock Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. This is the “original” hot sauce used for Buffalo wings. I ordered a few bottles of that plus some other Caribbean hot sauces and some spices. They arrived within the week.
So on Monday, after buying 30 chicken wings in the English market for €2.10 (no, I don’t want to know where they came from), I made my first real batch of buffalo wings. I fried them in about an inch of oil in a pan (rather than going the full deep-fat frying route) and then coated them thoroughly in the mix of butter, Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and cider vinegar as quoted by Slashfood.
Well Frank’s sauce may be tasty and red but it ain’t hot. I ended up dousing each wing in the sauce from the bottle to get any sort of kick. Hell, I could put the sauce straight on to my tongue and it did not burn. I also question the butter. is it just to make the sauce adhere more? I dunno. What I do know is that they were damned tasty and I had 10 for lunch.
Next time I’ll try one of those Caribbean scotch bonnet pepper sauces and see if that works better/hotter.
Can someone do a margin analysis on buffalo wings for me? What are we talking? 1000%? Whoever came up with them has one sharp business mind.
For fans of “My Name is Earl”, the exchange between the main characters on chicken wings this week was comedy perfection. Dammit these guys can write:
Randy: You takin’ Pops’ hot dogs outta Camden County is like taking chicken out of Syracuse.
Earl: It’s Buffalo, Randy.
Randy: No, I’m pretty sure it’s chicken, Earl.
Joy: Yeah, it’s chicken. Hot chicken!
[tags]Buffalo Wings, My Name is Earl, Franks Red Hot Sauce, Chilli World[/tags]
April 1, 2006 at 3:44 am
Wings are like Guinness, the closer you are to the source the better they are. Toronto has great wings – Buffalo/Niagara has stupendous ones.
You should do a research trip. Apart from shopping and eating there’s nothing else to do in Niagara Falls, NY – truly depressing urban form with great prices
April 1, 2006 at 7:14 am
I have cousins in upstate New York. I think it’s about time I visited them and did a bit of on-site research.
But back to “My Name is Earl” – the Buffalo bit really does come from the town name? Well that has removed a big hairy cow from my minds eye when I think of the wings now.
April 3, 2006 at 12:58 am
According to Wikipedia, the butter is to cool the spicyness of the sauce. Hotter sauce is achieved by adding varying amounts of cayenne.
I hate quoting wikipedia as you get told off for its lack of authority and/or accuracy but in my experience it’s the best first line of reference for random things, the second being a straight google query.
April 18, 2006 at 3:19 pm
From a low-sodium website, describes how we always made them at home.
Buffalo Wings
An almost traditional Buffalo wings recipe. These are not deep fried, but cooked them in the oven, reducing the amount of fat while still allowing them to get crispy. McIlhenny’s original Tabasco Sauce is the lowest sodium hot pepper sauce that I’ve seen in local groceries. It has only 30 mg per teaspoon, while most of the others have 5 to 10 times that. A serving is 3 wing pieces.
24 Chicken Wings
3 T Unsalted Butter
3 T Tabasco
2 T White Vinegar
Cut off and discard the small tip of each wing. Cut the main wing bone and second wing bone at the joint. Place in roasting pan and roast in 350 degree oven until crisp, about 30-40 minutes. Melt butter in small saucepan, add the Tabasco and white vinegar. place wings in a large bowl with a tight sealing cover. Pour butter mixture over the wings and shake to coat. Remove wings, allowing extra sauce to drain.
Yield: 16 Servings
April 22, 2006 at 9:19 am
Hey Fixer,
Sorry for the delay in letting through your comment – for some reason Askimet had marked it as spam! I’m going to give your recipe a try.
I was talking to my bro-in-law over Easter and it turns out that he has been obsessing about creating the ultimate Buffalo Wings. He has tried everything: deep fry, shallow fry, baking, pre-coating, post-coating, every sauce receipe on the web, but to no avail. He cannot get the depth of taste he wants which he says that Elephant & Castle in Temple Bar do so well.
As I said, their wings just passed me by. Didn’t notice them as being any better or worse than anywhere else. My suspicion is that they have sugar or something else sticky in the sauce. Anyone else know what their “secret” recipe is?
December 1, 2006 at 7:50 am
I found a free sample of a hot sauce through a freebie site (ashamed to admit but freebies are sooo much fun) that made the best hot wings I’ve ever had… I just wish the sample was a bit bigger… lol… I asked for the blazin hot stuff but now kinda wish I’d asked for smokin because it was hot!!! Seriously though… I asked for the free sample and though it took a month it was worth it… best wings evvaa… (gonna try to ask for smokin now and hope they don’t notice I already got the hotter sample)
yoto
December 1, 2006 at 9:22 am
I’ve discovered that my bro-in-law did not just spend months trying to make the perfect buffalo wing, he also has difficulty passing any new hot sauce on the shelf without buying it.
I put out a lovely Caribbean Habanero Mustard hot sauce on the breakfast table at the weekend and my 10 year old nephew laughed in the face of its heat.
Any idea where that freebie site is? My Frank’s Hot Sauce is running out and there are no suppliers in Ireland (even though it is now owned by a global corporation).
December 12, 2006 at 1:52 pm
A trip to NY in Sept 2005 to Manhatten allowed me to burn the insides of my mouth beyond surgery! Dalton’s Bar & Grill (few blocks up from 42nd St) is a great Irish-run (not Begorah/howaryiz/fightin’ Oirish) place. They have probably the hottest wings I have ever tasted (other than Westimer bar on Sullivan’s Quay, Cork during its’ restaurant era 1990-1996). Plenty of them also, for less than $10 a plate.
January 17, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I see I’m about a year late for the hot wing discussion, but if you are still looking for a great receipe go to this site: http://recipes.robbiehaf.com/H/76.htm These are some of the best traditonal American Wings you can make at home. The heat comes from the spice in the flour dredge not from the sauce. Franks is just for flavor. We have very cold long winters here in the Pacific N.W. and these certainly warm your innerds. Anyway, Best Wishes, to my UK buddies. Lar
January 17, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Thanks for the tip Lar. I’m going to try that out.
We’re in Ireland tho
January 18, 2008 at 6:15 am
I’ll foot the bill for a couple bottles of our sauce all the way to Ireland. I’m talking no cost in any shape or form for shipping or product strictly for this one time and forum. No offense to anyone but Franks sauce is over-hyped vinegar sauce with a touch of heat and hardly anything you’d call flavor. Generations of my family have honed our sauce and I’ll put it up against anything. Let me know conor and I’ll let you be the true judge should you feel the want or need. I suggest the “blazin hot” if heat is what you really want. Next down is smokin and lowest heat is spicy.
Mark
January 18, 2008 at 9:39 am
That is an awesome offer Mark!
If you sent a couple over, we could do a tasting session with some of the other Irish bloggers here and write about it. Will I send you our contact details?
I’m lovin the fact that this thread has re-started. I’ve done so little cooking over the past year, it’s sad. This should get me up off my ass to try a few more things.
January 21, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I use the old fashioned tabasco-&-cayenne with a butter-melt base method. Bung on some paprika to give a colour. Melt the butter, add Tabasco to suit and coat the chicken wings and roast them, occasionally basting. Temperature in the oven should be approx 180 deg as burning will occur. This is a cheats version but is the ideal way to temper the ‘heat’ of the wings. Individual dishes of differing temperatures can be cooked at same time also. My missus likes the wings but I’m not a huge fan. Ribs are my mess-food!
January 23, 2008 at 11:22 am
I love both!
Can’t wait to try out the various hot sauces that Mark is so kindly sending on.
February 2, 2008 at 3:46 am
Howdy folks,
Got the sauce out via postal service about a week ago. Will probably be about one more week until it arrives.
Mark
April 15, 2008 at 6:46 pm
you can buy the sauce from tescos
April 15, 2008 at 6:48 pm
thats fanks hot sauce in tesco’s
April 15, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Serious? That’s an addition I hadn’t spotted. I wonder if it has made it to Wilton or Tesco online?
Oh, reviews of the Branding Iron Foods Saunces coming very soon. They really are fabulous.
Pingback: Hot Hot Hot Hot Sauces
July 27, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Hey Conor,
Can’t believe I missed this thread on hot wings first time round… Yes, Tesco Stillorgan have Frank’s, I nearly collapsed in aisle when I saw it, needless to say I purchased a couple of bottles and a tray of wings and headed home with a smile on my face. I followed the recipe on the bottle, thinking that this would surely provide the ultimate hot wings high… I was bitterly disappointed. I’m with JD on his tabasco-&-cayenne with a butter-melt base method… that’s as good as it gonna get!
I’ve been to Buffalo, got the best wings ever in an Outlet Mall about 5 miles from the Falls on the US side… but I still reckon E&C are the best in Ireland!
I’ve now given up on this holy grail, just like pizza, it can’t be done at home but it’s fun trying
July 27, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Oh stop it with the estranged!
I still have some EZ Earl left which I could pass to one of your fine sons in Rosslare for you to try. I think you’ll like it a lot!
March 14, 2010 at 2:39 pm
As the first person to bring the chicken wing concept back to Ireland, before actually bringing thr concept to the attention of the public, I Registered the entire idea.
In my then mobile catering unit, I introduced the first ever hot chicken wings to the Irish Public and for some time carried on my case study. I then was in the process of developing an Irish franchise, but suddenly, I could no longer get a supply of wings to continue. Now with my idea and regristration I am putting together my case for the High Court in order to collect my royalties.
Regards: Plunkett McKenna. (086) -3335284.
March 14, 2010 at 2:42 pm
See all you CHICKENS in Court
March 14, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Dood Day