- Prep Time: 10 min.
- Cook Time: 27 min.
- Yield: 4 pounds
I’ve made this recipe every year for the last 15 years, particularly for our crazy Superbowl parties with great friends and family and more friends from the Boulder Rugby Club.
Boiling the chicken wings to begin the cooking process removes a great deal of the fat and makes the wings very tender. If you seek a hell-fire hot intensity for your chicken wings, go wild with the habañero peppers.
If you can find Dave’s Insanity Sauce, you’ll be in heaven. Habañero peppers are so intense with heat that one drop added to this recipe will make your guests lips burn! You can always buy ready-made chicken wing sauce from your local grocery shop and add the cayenne, habañero (or Dave’s), and butter.
You’ll get the same result and save more time watching the game! Either way, make the sauce the night before or as early as possible in order to let the spices marry and evolve.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds of chicken wings
- 1/2 cup ground cayenne pepper
- 1 cup of white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon of canola oil
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 2 teaspoons of onion powder
- 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon of tamarind paste
- 1/2 habañero pepper, very finely chopped
- 1/2 cup butter, softened at room temperature
Accoutrements:
- Serve with carrot and celery sticks, blue cheese dressing, and buttermilk ranch dressing for dipping.
- Set a very large pot of salted water on high heat to boil. Clip the third section, the tip, off of the chicken wings. Separate the remaining two sections of the chicken wings with a cleaver. Boil the chicken wing segments for 7 minutes.
- Over medium heat, in a small-medium sauce pan, combine all ingredients except for the chicken wings and butter.
- Whisk the blend to emulsify the liquids and oil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the softened butter. Adjust the hot pepper concentration to taste.
- Set the oven to broil. Drain the chicken wing segments and return them to the large pot. Pour half the hot wing sauce over them and toss well.
- In one layer, place the sauce-coated chicken wings on a foil-lined baking sheet that has been coated with canola oil cooking spray. Broil the wings for 5 minutes, or until they get crispy; turn them over and broil for another 5 minutes.
- Place the chicken wings back in the large pot. Pour the remaining sauce over the wings and toss well. Sprinkle additional cayenne pepper at this time, if desired.
- Place on serving platter together with carrot and celery sticks, blue cheese dressing, ranch salad dressing, and plenty of serviettes (paper napkins) and/or moist towelettes!
