Firecracker Wings

I love Guy Fieri. I watched the Next Food Network Star that season and knew from the beginning I'd buy anything he was selling. Recently I was meandering through Costco with no purpose - always a bad thing - and I found his cookbook. 

I immediately went through it at home and found several recipes to add to the bowl.  This one stood out because of the flavor profile it had.  It just sounded so darn good.

First things first, I didn't do wings. I'm not a wing person and so used chicken breast instead.  I cubed my chicken breasts and BBQ'd them on skewers.  Delicious.

Make this recipe. It's really quite good. It's hot, I won't like. Anything with "Firecracker" in the title should say it's hot. If you're not a spicy person you can easily tone it down by not using all the types of hot sauce in this.


Firecracker Wings
Recipe from Guy Fieri
Serves 4

• 5 lbs chicken wings (or 2 chicken breasts)
• 6 c water
• 1⁄4 cup kosher salt
• 1⁄3 c chili- garlic sauce
• 1 c honey
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1⁄2 c Sweet Soy Sauce (see recipe below)
• 3 T sriracha sauce
• 1⁄4 c apple cider vinegar (I didn't have apple cider vinegar. Which is weird considering at one point I had 4 bottles.  I used Rice vinegar instead.)
• 1⁄4 c minced ginger
• 1 tsp ground sea salt
• 1 T freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 T minced green onions

Sweet Soy Sauce Recipe
Note: You can buy sweet soy sauce in Asian markets. I figured this recipe was super easy and I had all the ingredients so I opted to make it.

• 1 c soy sauce
• 2 T sesame oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
• 1/4 tsp wasabi powder

Whisk them all together in a bowl.

Cut the wings apart at the joints and discard the tips. In a large glass bowl, combine the water, kosher salt, ¼ cup of the chili- garlic sauce, and ¼ cup of the honey. Stir until the salt is dissolved. Add the wings and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.

To make the basting and dipping sauce, in a small bowl, combine the remaining chili- garlic sauce, the soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, sriracha, the remaining honey, vinegar, and ginger and mix well. Set aside half of the sauce for serving in order to avoid contamination.

Preheat a grill to medium- high. Drain the wings and season them with sea salt and pepper. Grill the wings until golden, 15 to 20 minutes, turning as needed. When the wings reach the right color, continue cooking over indirect heat until they’re at the desired doneness, then baste them with the sauce, turning as needed until the wings are glossy and well coated. Garnish the wings with the sesame seeds and green onion and serve with the reserved dipping sauce.