Soy Braised Chicken Wings

This is a twist on a very traditional Chinese dish. Whole chickens are slow simmered in soy sauce, shaoxing (Chinese Rice Wine), ginger, garlic and dried mikan peels. I replaced dried mikan peels with freshly squeezed mikan (tangerines) juice and their peels. I also replaced shaoxing with Apple Brandy. I replaced balsamic vinegar with Fig Balsamic Vinegar, to give it a hint of complexity. Finally, to offset the saltiness of the soy sauce, and an additional note of complexity, I added honey'd preserved figs. Its absolutely delicious!



Ingredients
1 lbs chicken wings
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup of Apple Brandy or Applejack (Regular brandy will work too)
1 tablespoon peeled, sliced ginger
3 scallions, chopped
7-8 garlic cloves, whole with skin removed
2 mikan (tangerines)
Honey'd preserved figs  5 tablespoons
Fig Balsamic Vinegar  1 tablespoon
Brown Sugar (optional)

Procedure

Remove the chicken wings from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.

Mix the soy sauce, Apple Brandy, ginger, garlic and scallions together in a wok.

Wash and peel the mikan. Add the peels to the wok.

Add the mikan to a food processor. Remove the seeds from the mikan and discard. Blend the mikan (sans skin and seeds). Add the pureed mikan to the wok. Add the ginger and garlic to the wok.

Over medium heat, bring the soy sauce mixture to a gentle boil.

Add the honey'd preserved figs and gently mix the figs into the soy sauce.

Add the Fig Balsamic Vinegar to the soy sauce mixture. Taste. Adjust accordingly--if the soy sauce is too salty and powerful, add more brandy, figs, fig balsamic vinegar or brown sugar.

Add the chicken wings to the wok. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the chicken is fully cooked, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. The internal temperature needs to reach 165.
 

5 Spice Powder

5 Spice Powder is one of those essential ingredients that you can use to quickly add additional flavor to all sorts of meats.

I usually will add 5 spice powder to lamb when I am grilling it, or searing it to seal in the juices. It also works well with Duck when you are roasting it with honey and soy sauce.

You can easily make 5 Spice Powder with a spice grinder.

Version #1 Ingredients
Dried Mikan peels  5 pieces of peel
Roasted Sichuan Peppercorns  1 teaspoon
Anise Seed    1 teaspoon
Cumin Seed   1 teaspoon
Brown Sugar   1/4 teaspoon




Version #2 Ingredients

Dried Mikan peels  5 pieces of peel

Roasted Sichuan Peppercorns  1 teaspoon

Roasted Fennel Seed  1 teaspoon

Anise Seed    1 teaspoon

Cinnamon Stick   1 stick

Brown Sugar  1/4 teaspoon

Grind it all in a spice grinder until it is very fine. Enjoy!