It’s been a while since I’ve posted a new recipe. I decided to take a little break after Halloween to spend time with my family and to clear the creative frenzy that comes with creating Halloween content all year long. I had piles upon piles of Halloween ingredients, crafts, decorations, books, magazines, and half-finished projects scattered all around my house and garage. I needed to clear the clutter not only in my my physical space but also in my headspace to make room for the new. The work-life balance is blurry when you work from home, so the little break was much needed. I’m back at it, drafting menus and recipes, writing and sketching ideas, shopping for materials for three new themes for this next Halloween season, starting with an easy main dish for our Witchy and Wonderful theme. This idea is not a new one, it’s been done a hundred times and in a dozens of flavors, but I was inspired by Shakespeare’s classic 3 witches from Macbeth, where they toss ingredients into the cauldron to cast their spell, paraphrasing of course…”Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wing of bat and tongue of dog”. So here’s a simple recipe of hoisin sticky wings with a dot of black food coloring and a dose of clever plating that transforms plain old chicken wings into wickedly delicious bat wings! Enjoy!
Wing of Bat
Ingredients
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 3 tbsp. hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 2 tbsp. garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp. ginger, finely grated
- 1 drop black food coloring (optional)
- 8 whole chicken wings
- 1 tbsp. water
- 2 tbsp. corn starch
- 2 tbsp. black sesame seeds
Instructions
- Mix soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and black food coloring(optional) in a small bowl and add to a zip lock bag. Add chicken wings and marinate for one hour or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400°. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Arrange chicken wings in a single layer, transfer marinade to a small saucepan. Bake chicken wings for 30 minutes. Flip over and bake an additional 30 minutes.
- Bring marinade to a rolling boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Mix water, cornstarch and add to the marinade. Simmer until sauce thickens, add sesame seeds and set aside.
- Remove chicken wings from oven and place them in a large bowl, toss with the sticky marinade and serve.
- Plating suggestion: Look up the scientific names of a variety of bats and print out labels. Arrange wings on a large cutting board above the labels and serve. Garnish with black sesame seeds.
