New Orleans Chicken Wings (新奥尔良鸡翅)

Probably not from New Orleans, but hey.

So for the longest time, we've wanted to show you how to make Chinese New Orleans chicken wings. See they're this modern classic over here – like, if you asked ten people in China what they knew about the city of New Orleans, probably nine of them would quickly retort… "chicken wings".

And while the origin of this wing is kinda mysterious… KFC China's probably got the oldest, most famous version - although these days it's spread around to be a super ubiquitous cheap snack the country over. For almost anyone in the mainland under the age of, like, 30 it's a childhood classic, just.. one of those simple, good things. I mean, a honey baked chicken wing marinated in spice mix? How could you go wrong.

Of course, there’s obviously pretty much nothing “New Orleans” about New Orleans Chicken Wings. We could maybe blame KFC here, but the actual origin’s murky as all hell… and there’s certainly a pretty rich history of Chinese dishes trolling the world naming themselves after relatively random places (see: Swiss wings, Singapore rice noodles). I’m content keeping it as a question mark.

The Spice Mix

So then, first things first, let's take a look at that New Orleans chicken wing spice mix - because whether you're talking homecook or small restaurant, generally people here'll just reach for these packages of pre-mixed spices.

It's mostly a base of paprika, salt, sugar, MSG, and spice wise the processed food musts like garlic and onion powder. Besides that, it's also got some coloring agents, because over the years New Orleans chicken seems to have gotten increasingly… neon.

Lastly, the final additive that you usually find in these mixes is something called yiji maiyafen, or… ethyl maltol.

Ethyl maltol is becoming this increasingly common additive these days in China, especially like in street food kinda fare. It's supposed to sort of taste like caramelized meat. Honestly though, both me and Steph really kind of dislike the ingredient, so in the video we didn’t use any - but do know that if you wanted to 100% mimic the bag, you would need a touch.

New Orleans Chicken Wings

• Chicken wings, 20 flats or drumettes -or- 10 whole wings, sliced into flats and drumettes.

• For the marinade:

  Paprika (甜红椒粉), 1 tbsp.

  Salt, 1 tbsp.

  Sugar, 1 tbsp.

  Chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), 1 tbsp.

  Onion powder (洋葱粉), ½ tsp.

  Garlic powder (大蒜粉), ⅛ tsp.

  White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), ¼ tsp.

  MSG (味精), ¼ tsp.

  Red yeast rice (红曲), ½ tsp -or- 1 drop red velvet food coloring -or- skip this.

  Turmeric (姜黄粉), 1 tsp.

  Optional: Ethyl Maltol (乙基麦芽酚), just a sprinkle. We didn't use this because we personally do not enjoy the taste of this ingredient.

  Water, 1-2 tbsp.

• Baking soda (苏打粉), ½ tsp.

• Oil, 2 tbsp.

• Glaze of one part oil (~1 tbsp) to two parts honey (~2 tbsp).

Process:

Mix the ingredients for the marinade in with the chicken wings, really massaging the marinade into the chicken, ~2-3 minutes. Cover, and marinate in the fridge for at least 8 hours, or ideally over 24.

After that time, mix in the half teaspoon baking soda, and let that sit for 30-60 minutes. Then, mix in the oil. Transfer over to a baking tray, bake for 20 minutes at 210C (410F).

Make a glaze by mixing one part (or about one tablespoon) of oil in with two parts (or about two tablespoons) of honey.

Brush on half your glaze, then bake for another two minutes. Remove, flip the wings, brush on the other half of your glaze, and bake for a final two minutes. Remove, rest for a couple minutes, then devour.