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.
 

Honey'd Preserved Figs

I still had some figs left over from my last meal, Fig Balsamic Vinegar, and I didn't want them to go bad. At the same time, I didn't have any dishes I readily wanted to make with figs, so I decided to make a fig jam. I went online and found a recipe for Honey'd Preserved Figs, from a blog called Will Cook for Friends.

This turned out really good! I used some Hawaiian honey from the Big Island and it was so delicious!

This works great as a spread for toasted rustic bread! I am thinking about making some sort of ice cream with it.

Ingredients
1 lbs black mission figs or any other type
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup granulated sugar




Gently wash and stem the figs. Cut them into half or quarters and add them to a saucepan.

Add the remaining ingredients. Give them a good stir, its okay if you break down the figs a bit.

Let the figs marinate in the lemon juice, honey and sugar for 15 minutes.

Put the saucepan with the figs on medium heat, and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
I found stirring the figs with a large wooden pestle really does the trick! Continue stirring until the fruit begins to break down.












Reduce the heat to low. Continue to cook for 7-10 minutes more, or until the jam has thickened to your liking.











Spoon the preserves into a glass jar. They will stay in the refrigerator for a few weeks. Alternatively, you could can the fruits. Properly sealed jars can stay in a cool dark place for several months. Just be very careful with the canning process!