On a scale of 1 to nomThanks to Jeff, our contest winner, we finally have a name for a recipe that should have been posted shortly after the Mangle-ian Beef.

It’s long overdue.

This is one of my stepfather’s recipes. I remember having these delicious chicken wings for the first time at one of the parties my parents had for whatever social reason they needed back in the ’80s. They were a party staple growing up, served as an appetizer for whatever was going on the grill that day: burgers, steaks, chops, bratwurst… they made for some really awesome summers. When I graduated from high school in 1995, my stepfather must have made 20 pounds of these things for my graduation party. I don’t recall that he ever got to eat any of these – they were gone by the time he was done cooking everything.

I made these once at a party my GM was throwing for a few friends in Phoenix, my hometown. Everyone loved them, and, like my stepfather, I don’t recall ever actually being able to eat one by the time I was done making them and cleaning up afterward.

They’re that good.

This recipe will feed up to five people, if you choose to make it as an entree. You can split the recipe in half (I do this normally for easy marinating, myself), and the wings do reheat pretty well, so if you’re only cooking for one or two, it still works out. The best thing about this recipe is that after the preparation, once you get the chicken in the oven, it pretty much takes care of itself – you can walk away for a half hour before you have to turn the wings. Anyway, on to the ingredients!

  • 5 lbs. chicken wings
  • 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
  • 1 cup soy sauce
  • 1 stick butter (salted)
  • 1/2 cup water

Preparation:

  1. Combine brown sugar, water, soy sauce, and butter in a medium saucepan.
  2. Heat over low heat until sugar and butter melts completely. Stir occasionally.
  3. Let the marinade cool, then pour over chicken wings in a sealable container (I use two gallon-sized ziploc bags, splitting evenly between the two).
  4. Allow chicken to marinate at least two hours. (I prefer to let it marinate overnight, almost 24 hours.)

Cooking can be done one of two ways: by baking or by using a grill. Regardless of which way you choose, you’ll need to transfer the chicken from the bags into a baking pan (I prefer Pyrex when baking) or aluminum baking pans for the grill. Depending on the size of your baking pan, you might actually need two.

For the oven:

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Spray baking pan with Pam or other non-stick cooking spray to prevent sticking – for easier cleanup, line the pan with aluminum foil, and then spray.
  3. Add chicken and marinade to baking pan, bake for one hour, turning once halfway through baking.

When grilling, you’ll want to turn the chicken occasionally to ensure an even coating, and the chicken is usually done right about the time the marinade starts to caramelize – between 40 and 60 minutes depending on the heat of your grill.

Enjoy!