Chicken Wings with a Sweet-and-Spicy Pomelo Sauce

I heart chicken wings, especially the crispy, caramelized edges of fried or baked wings. I like to marinate the wing mid sections and drummettes in a combination of soy sauce, scallions, garlic, ginger and honey. The cooked wings can be eaten with or without a sauce. In the preparation in the photo above, I made a marmalade-like pomelo sauce. I happened to have one pomelo leftover from Lunar New Year that I needed to use, so I segmented the fruit and cooked it down with some sugar, garlic and hot sauce.

A note about cooking: I was gifted a T-fal ActiFry, which is a so-called low-fat alternative to deep fryers. It's not an appliance that I would have purchased, but since I have one, I use it for "frying" chicken wings. It does a great job of crisping the skin. It takes about 20-25 minutes for about 2 pounds of chicken wings. For the recipe below, I give directions for baking. If you have a deep fryer, feel free to fry the wings.

CRISPY CHICKEN WINGS

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup water

3 stalks scallions, trimmed and finely chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed wit a garlic press

1 tablespoon honey

2 to 2.5 pounds chicken wing segments

Optional garnish: chopped scallions and/or cilantro

Combine the soy sauce, water, scallions, garlic, ginger and honey in a bowl or dish large enough to accommodate the chicken wings. Stir well to incorporate the honey. Add the chicken wings and coat well with marinade. Alternatively, you can seal the chicken wings in a large zipper storage bag with the marinade. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.

To bake chicken wings: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread chicken wings on two parchment- or foil-lined baking sheets. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Check the wings about half way through and turn them. At 20 minutes, check one of the larger wings for doneness. Bake a few minutes longer, if needed. Toss in Sweet-and-Spicy Pomelo Sauce, if using, and serve right away. The sauce also can be served on the side. Garnish with chopped scallions or cilantro, if desired.

SWEET-AND-SPICY POMELO SAUCE

1 pomelo, peeled and segmented (how to segment citrus), see Note

1 tablespoon pomelo zest

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

1-2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed with a garlic press

Sriracha or your favorite Asian hot sauce to taste

Combine pomelo pulp, zest, sugar and water in a small pot over medium heat. Stir to help dissolve the sugar. Add the garlic and hot sauce to taste. Adjust heat and let sauce simmer, stirring occasionally, until it's syrupy, about 5-10 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside. When the wings are ready, toss in sauce and serve.

Note: If you pomelo is out of season, you can use grapefruit or orange. A shortcut version would be to mix your favorite store-bought marmalade with hot sauce, and warm on the stove or in a microwave just enough to loosen the consistency and make it easier to dip.