Dad’s Asian Chicken Wings

There are certain dishes that immediately bring us back to the past. Often, that includes memories of the time, place, and people we were with when we savored those dishes. #Ratatouille 

For many, those flashback-foods consist of mom’s homemade comforts such as mac ‘n cheese, chicken noodle soup, or cinnamon rolls.

In my childhood, the only mac ‘n cheese we had was made by Kraft, and cinnamon rolls were only found in the malls.

But don’t feel too bad for me. My parents rocked Chinese dishes like no other; our home was often a social space bustling with hungry friends who clamored for more of Mom’s homemade Chow Mein or Dad’s Honey Soy Chicken. To watch my folks work their kitchen magic – sans written recipes – was something special indeed.

My personal favorite dish that’s a blast from the past? It’s gotta be Dad’s Asian Chicken Wings.

Dad didn’t make this for all those gatherings; he reserved these homestyle braised chicken wings for just our family. Whenever the savory aroma wafted through the air, I was immediately hungry and couldn’t wait for dinner. I could put away most of the entire dish myself. I suspect Dad made double just for me 🙂

These wings are combined with flavorful seasonings in one big pot, braised for an hour, and quickly devoured by all.

But of course Dad didn’t and still doesn’t use recipes; it’s all in his head, and you’d have better luck shooting darts in the dark than figuring out the amounts of this and that.

Thankfully, I’ve made Asian Chicken Wings on my own enough times to have landed on the recipe that most resembles the original. I hope you’ll find it easy and totally irresistible.

Here’s to all the favorite flashback-foods in the world.

Dad’s Asian Chicken Wings

5 from 2 ratings

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These Asian Chicken Wings are easy and scrumptious! Simply combine the wings and all the seasonings into one big pot; let it braise for an hour, and watch it get devoured! Serve it as an appetizer or with dinner – the sauce is super delish over rice.

Servings: 4

Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• 3 lbs chicken wings, sectioned, without tips
• ⅔ cups Chinese rice cooking wine, distilled spirits of rice; not rice vinegar
• ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2 TB white sugar
• 5 whole star anise
• 7 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 TB freshly sliced ginger
• 1 TB dried basil
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp Maggi sauce
• ½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• ¼ tsp vinegar
• Optional: 2-3 whole dried chilies

Instructions

• Towel dry chicken wings well. Place in a heavy large pot. Add all remaining ingredients into pot, stirring to combine wings and seasonings well. Cover and cook over medium heat for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. If wings aren’t completely tender by 1 hour, add another 15 minutes. The meat should be fall-off-the-bone tender.
• Serve immediately with sauce. Pour extra sauce over rice, if desired.

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Course: Appetizer, Main

Cuisine: Asian

Diet: Gluten Free

Method: Braise, Stovetop