Sticky Grilled Chicken Wings →

Tired of dried out, tough, burned, grilled, tomato/molasses-based barbecue sauce wings? Par-boiling the wings is well worth the minimal effort it takes to produce delicious, sticky, finger-liking-good, juicy, grilled wings. Try this delicious savory-fruity basting sauce on parboiled wings that take less than 10 min. to cook on the grill. The glaze will caramelize on the wings as you grill them. The wings will be tender and juicy and deliciously sticky-messy.

Serves 6
Total prep/cooking time less than an hour

For the Sauce-

Ingredients:

• 10 garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press, grated on a micro-plane, or minced

• 1 Tbsp grated peeled ginger

• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander

• 3/4 tsp ground cumin

• Rounded 1/8 tsp cayenne (or to taste)

• 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil

• 2 cups bottled unsweetened pomegranate juice or cranberry juice

• 1 cup duck sauce (available in Asian section of your supermarket), or smooth apricot jam

• ½ tsp. sesame oil

• 1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

• 1 chopped scallion for garnish; tender, pale green, and white parts only (optional)

Preparation:

1. Cook garlic, ginger, spices, and 1 tsp. kosher salt in oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

2. Add pomegranate (or other) juice and boil until reduced to 1 cup, 12 to 19 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and add the duck sauce and sesame oil and stir until well mixed.

4. Cool (it will thicken slightly).

5. Transfer 3/4 cup sauce to a bowl and reserve for serving.

*Note: while you cook the sauce, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
While the sauce cools, par-boil the chicken wings.

For the Chicken:

1. Boil 3 lbs.chicken wings in salted water for 15 minutes.

2. Drain and pat dry with a paper towel

3. Toss wings and a cup of sauce in a large bowl

4. Grill wings over low-heat on gas grill, or indirect over charcoal 3-5 min. per side

5. Turn wings over and baste with sauce. The sauce will caramelize on the wings as they cook.

6. Remove from grill and plate

7. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and chopped scallions

8. Serve with reserved sauce on the side

Basting sauce recipe adapted from: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sticky-chicken-apricot-glaze