Bruce and Mark’s Sichuan Chicken Wings

This recipe is adapted from my friends Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbourough’s podcast, Cooking With Bruce and Mark. They are a fabulously talented couple, married for many years. They are endowed with both humor and cooking talent among many other things. Bruce is the chef and Mark is the writer. Together they are a team that has produced many best selling cookbooks and a great podcast. I suggest you subscribe to it. Bruce and Mark adapted the recipe from the book All Under Heaven by Carolyn Phillips.

These wings are perfect for your Superbowl party, or just for a fun diner with a kick. You can adjust the heat by adding more chiles or leaving the seeds in some of the chiles. A wok or large skillet will work for this.

Ingredients: 

• 24 chicken wings, divided by cutting the drumette from the winglets and discarding the “flipper”
• 1/2 cup of cornstarch
• 4 cups of peanut oil
• 8 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 scallions finely sliced (green and  white parts)
• 2″ of ginger, peeled and finely chopped.
• 20 (or more) Japones dried chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 3/4 cup plain rice vinegar
• 7 TBS sugar (I used Indian Jaggery, grated)
• 3 TBS “regular” soy sauce. If you are buying it in an Asian grocery this is called “light” soy as opposed to the darker, thicker soy.
• 2 tsp crushed Szechuan peppercorns, lightly toasted and crushed in a mortar and pestle

Method:

• In a zip lock bag, toss the chicken wings in the corn starch and place on a rack to go into the refrigerator over night or for 12 hours. This sufficiently dries out the chicken and makes it crisp up perfectly.
• When ready to assemble, heat the oil in a wok to 375  and fry the wings in small batches so that you are not over crowding. You can use a fat thermometer to assure even heat.
  
• Remove the wings to a rack to drain.
  
• Pour and strain the oil into another container.
• In the wok, add aromatics: ginger, garlic and chiles. Stir fry briefly.
  
• Add the soy, rice vinegar and sugar, stirring while cooking
• When fully incorporated add the wings and stir to coat
  

I think he liked them!