Let's face it, chicken wings have a bad press. And it's not altogether undeserved, often deep-fried and slathered in sauce and sometimes a blue cheese dressing, they are not diet food. Eat 12 of them prepared in such a way and you've probably surpassed your recommended daily calorie intake. Not good calories either. That said, I'm not suggesting anyone should eat 12 chicken wings at a sitting regardless of how they are prepared! Chicken wings are a favourite of mine but marinated and oven baked or grilled instead of deep-fried they are far less calorific and make a great appetiser. I like to cook mine using a Crying Tiger marinade, although this is quite a hot sauce when used as a dip it's less spicy as a marinade yet still delivers a sufficient level of heat for me. I keep thinking they would also go well with the Southern Thai paste but haven't managed to get around to doing it yet. (Update. I have and they were great but only for the real heat lovers out there! You could use the Bangkok style curry paste for a less spicy experience) Thai curry pastes make great marinades because they are oil-based so certainly shouldn't just be reserved for making curries, the only limit is your imagination!
There are definite differences not only in the way people like their wings cooked but also how they prepare them for cooking. Here I'm using double wings and cooking them whole but I know a lot of people prefer to cut the double wings in half before cooking. Depending where you buy your wings they may come with wingtips attached,most people prefer to cut these off. And if your wings didn't come with tips attached its quite probably because the wingtips are being shipped off to somewhere like Hong Kong or Vietnam where they are highly prized, along with the feet of course! The chicken industry doesn't waste much, only the cock a doodle do but no doubt they are working on that too. Incidentally, if you're in the UK and you want to make your chicken wing experience a little bit less industrialised then check out Waitrose. They sell organic chicken wings at far less of a price premium than you would pay for other parts of the bird.
Marinade the wings in the sauce and refrigerate for up to 24 hours if possible.
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