Malay Wings | Sybaritica

Supper tonight is going to be a simple affair and I thought that chicken wings would be nice and easy. I want something just a little special though, so I thought that using a couple of my previously made spice pastes as a sauce coating might make an interesting experiment…

My wife bought a dozen chicken wings at while I was away and they were thawing on the kitchen counter when I arrived home from my travels. They were whole wings and, after sectioning them into the three separate parts, I tossed them with a little cooking oil, a sprinkle of salt and some pepper, and then laid them out on a baking sheet lined with tinfoil and lightly oiled.

Now … for the sauce ingredients (and the reason I am calling this preparation ‘Malay wings’) I am using:

Naturally, if you want to follow along with this recipe you need to actually make my spice pastes. There really isn’t any other way to achieve the same taste…

I cooked the wings at 450 degrees in the oven for about 30 minutes or so and turned them several times. Turning them at least twice during the first twenty minutes helps prevent them from sticking and then tearing. You can deep fry if you like but I prefer oven-cooking.

Oh, By the way, I love cooking the tiny wing tips along with the meatier parts. They get so very crispy that can even crunch and eat the bones. You may not like that much but it is actually my favorite part and I usually give them a few extra minutes in the oven to get them just right and then eat them alone without even tossing them with any sauce!

When the wings are cooked, simple toss them in a bowl with the spice paste ingredients, plate and serve with whatever accompaniments suit your fancy…crusty bread, carrot sticks, or a small salad, for example…

The Verdict

These weren’t too bad overall… My wife rated them at an 8 out of 10 but my take was a bit less generous. The fermented umami taste of the two sambals is great in many dishes but it was a bit too assertive here, I thought, and possibly tosing the wings with the pastes before cooking rather than after may have muted this a little. It also struck me that a bit of the sambal terasi mixed with some of my Turmeric Paste would probably be terrific with wings, actually, and I think I will try that sometime. Still, we both enjoyed this meal and it is probably worth revisiting…

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