Slightly Spicy Chicken
Slightly spicy chicken is a reworking of Red Pepper Chicken Wings. We have been here before.
Why rework a perfectly good recipe?
A couple weeks ago, while trying to organize my desk, I found the original notes for Red Pepper Chicken Wings. and decided to make the recipe that very evening.
Lacking a photo illustration of making a recipe that very evening, I give you downtown Berkeley. This is Allston Street looking West. If all those pesky buildings weren’t in the way, you could see the San Francisco Bay.
Of course, once I started cooking, I realized I was missing several key ingredients, notably, the Korean red pepper flakes.
Lacking Korean red pepper, I give you fresh hot red peppers instead. These were not used in the recipe. They’re just eye candy.
Also absent: lime, fresh ginger, and lemongrass.
Above, limes, taken when I had some in the fridge.
As one does in these situations, I threw together something else, and that something else was so good I decided to repeat it. Fortunately, in a rare moment of foresight, I wrote down the something else.
This recipe calls for brown rice vinegar. It is easy to confuse brown rice vinegar for mirin. At least, in the past I found it easy to confuse these ingredients, so warn you not to now. Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine. Brown rice vinegar is not the least bit sweet. In fact, I have no idea why I confused them, but I did.
Slightly spicy chicken is just that. Instead of gochugaru, the recipe calls for modest amounts of cayenne and Aleppo peppers. The goal is to add warmth and depth to the dish rather than causing choking, spluttering, or watery eyes.
If Aleppo pepper proves difficult to locate, either smoked or hot paprika may be substituted.
Finally, chicken wings are certainly tasty, but there is no neat way to eat them. Slightly Spicy Chicken is ideally prepared with chicken thighs, which are more manageable for the less dextrous amongst us. Even better, chicken thighs offer the benefit of crisp skin.
Slightly Spicy Chicken is wonderful served with rice and steamed or stir-fried greens. Leftovers are to be hoped for.
Slightly Spicy Chicken
Serves 2-3. Easily scaled upward
Slightly Spicy Chicken may be marinated up to 24 hours ahead of time or seasoned and baked without marination. The choice is yours.
Preparation time: about 15 minutes hands-on work, about 1 hour cooking time.
You will need an oval or square baking pan roughly 11×17 inches/ 30x20cm to prepare Slightly Spicy Chicken.
Please read the notes, below, before beginning to cook.
approximately 1 pound/454 grams skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
1 scant tablespoon soy sauce
1 scant tablespoon fish sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon brown rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons honey
Juice of a lemon
2 teaspoons pepper, ideally white, but black is okay
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon Aleppo Pepper
1 star anise
1-3 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
2 scant tablespoons canola or peanut oil
Generous 1/4 cup/60ml dry white wine or Shao Tsing wine
Allow the chicken to come to room temperature before cooking.
Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
Lay thighs flat, skin side up, in a baking pan. I use a Corningware baking pan measuring 12×17 inches/20x30cm.
Drizzle the soy sauce, fish sauce, and rice vinegar over the chicken thighs. Before measuring out the sesame oil and honey, spray the measuring spoon with a little nonstick vegetable spray. Lacking that, smooth a small amount of vegetable oil on the spoon with paper towel. This aids pourability.
Halve lemon and remove visible seeds. Squeeze lemon juice over the chicken pieces and around the pan. I don’t worry if a few seeds land in the dish; I remove them before serving. Toss spent lemon halves into pan, if you wish.
Lightly pepper the chicken. Do not add salt.
Scatter the cayenne and Aleppo peppers over the chicken pieces. Break the star anise and strew the pieces in the baking pan.
Slice garlic cloves roughly and scatter across chicken and pan.
Pour oil into bottom of pan. Add the wine.
Place baking pan in middle of oven and bake, checking at 20 minute point. The chicken may need additional liquid. If so, add more wine or water; either works well. Bake chicken for about an hour, until skin is browned and cooking juices are deeply colored and reduced. Chicken should be completely cooked through.
Serve Slightly Spicy Chicken with rice and either steamed or stir-fried greens: we had broccolini. Bok choy, yam leaves, gai lan, or spinach are all good choices.
Slightly spicy chicken keeps, refrigerated, up to four days and may be frozen in a suitable container up to three months.
Notes:
Hot paprika may be used if Aleppo pepper is unavailable.
Slightly spicy chicken may be prepared with other chicken cuts or a whole chicken. If you use boneless chicken, decrease cooking time.
A little white vinegar and baking powder helps clean oily measuring spoons.
