Thai Sticky Wings

This is a recipe from my book, The Kamado Smoker and Grill Cookbook.  It's one that I like to use for the "anything but" category of KCBS BBQ competitions and it got us our first award last year. 

Our NMT Thai Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce gives these wings a ton of flavor.

I also used it this weekend when our team did a grilling demonstration at The Great Backyard Place here in Knoxville.  We met some great folks there, passed out lots of samples, and helped sell a good number of Grill Dome kamado grills and Saber gas grills.

 

Why yes, that is a Tennessee orange Grill Dome in the center.  You can get Grill Dome's in custom colors and this is one that the dealer has.

The book calls for cooking these wings indirect using the 30-20-10 method because it is real easy to burn the sugars.  Yesterday I tried cooking them direct on a raised cooking grid and just saucing them as the wings came off piping hot.  It worked just as well, if not better.   Tip:  I like to do the sauce, rub and trimming the night before so I can come home on a weeknight and just throw the wings on the grill for a quick bite.

Thai Sticky Wings

Ingredients

• 4 pounds chicken wings
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

For the sauce

• 1/2 cup red pepper jelly
• 1/4 cup Mr. Yoshida's Original Gourmet Sauce
• 2 tablespoons cashew butter
• 2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro (optional)

 For garnish

• wide Chinese crispy noodles
• chopped fresh cilantro
• finely chopped cashews

 Instructions

1. Trim your wings into drummettes and wingettes, discarding or saving the wing tips for stock.
2. Air dry the wings by placing them on a raised rack in the refrigerator for one hour.  This step is optional but gives you crispy wings.
3. Preheat your grill to 400°F and set up with a raised rack like the Grill Extender or a homemade raised grid.  
4. Mix together the salt, starch, pepper, garlic, and ginger and season the wings on all sides, turning to coat.
5. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, stir together the sauce ingredients until combined, about 5 minutes.  Make sure the cashew or peanut butter is thoroughly dissolved.
6. Place on the grill, close the lid and grill for 15 minutes.  Flip, close the lid, and grill until crispy and an internal temperature of 180°F, about 10 minutes.
7. Remove the wings to a large bowl, top with about 3/4ths of the sauce and toss to coat.
8. Spread about 2 cups of the crispy noodles on a platter, top with the wings, and drizzle the remaining sauce.  Top with cashews and cilantro and serve.

We get our Yoshida's at Sam's but I've seen smaller sizes in grocery stores.  If you can't find it, use a quality terriyaki sauce instead.  Our local Food City carries cashew butter.  If you can't find it at your store, you can substitute peanut butter or even make your own using a food processor and grinding up cashews.

This is the rack set up that I use in the refrigerator.  This is a half batch of the recipe shown.

If you don't have a raised grid you can lower the temperature to 350°F and turn the wings every 5-8 minutes until done.

The raised rack just makes it a little easier to avoid burning your wings by lifting them up from the direct heat and closer to the heat reflecting off of the dome for even cooking.

 

Make sure that you toss them in the sauce as soon as the wings come off the grill so that the heat will set the sauce onto the wings.

Shot from the grill demo, there we passed samples out in small paper boats like this, which would also be great for one handed tailgating.  Excuse the mobile phone picture quality.

Make sure to have napkins or towelettes because these things are sticky, it's not just a cute title.

Kamado Karrier

Several folks at events have asked about how we transport our ceramic kamado grills to demos and competitions.  John and I spent a Saturday building 4 boxes like this.  When we arrive, we flip that base, add a paver, and it becomes our stand.

In transport, the "kamado karrier" sits on a 3/4" rubber mat.  The kamado itself sits on a piece of double thick cardboard and a rubber mat.  The ceramic firebowl inside of the kamado also sits on a piece of cardboard and rubber.  

Oh yeah, forgot to mention our trailer floor is rubberized, so that is 3 layers of shock absorption under the kamado.

Finally the rest of the internal ceramic pieces are braced and cushioned with pieces of cardboard.  I'd guess that 99.5% of kamado grill owners will never have to transport your grills like we do, but there ya go.