Chicken wings are one of those food items that everyone in the world except for me (and vegans) feel is necessary to eat while watching sports. I am perfectly happy to make something for everyone else, but since I hate Buffalo sauce and Sriracha is kind of a thing right now, I thought Sriracha wings would be better than just plain old Buffalo wings. Apparently I was correct.
It turns out that chicken wings are quite easy to make, particularly if you bake them instead of baking and frying. You just have to marinate them overnight, pop them on a baking sheet, and stir together a few ingredients for the sauce. Just be sure you spray or grease the baking sheet first, or the wings will cement themselves to the pan (this is a very bad problem to have).
Even though these are not traditional Buffalo wings, I made some ranch dressing and cut up some celery to serve with them, just in case the Sriracha was a little too much for anyone. Apparently it wasn’t, because the ranch dressing and celery weren’t very popular… but the wings were. I hope you like them, too!
Baked Sriracha chicken wings (Serves 8-12, adapted from Food & Wine)
7-8 pounds split chicken wings
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup Sriracha chile sauce
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
Finely grated zest and juice of 3 limes
Toast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds for about a minute in a small dry skillet. Crush the seeds if you have a mortar and pestle (but don’t worry about it if you don’t have one). If you have a very large bowl, place the wings in it and toss them with the crushed seeds, cinnamon, salt, and olive oil. If you don’t have a bowl big enough, put the wings in a huge resealable plastic bag or other big container, then stir the spices, salt and oil together and pour it into the bag/over the wings. Cover the bowl/container or seal the bag and allow wings to marinate in the mixture (in the refrigerator) for at least 4 hours, but preferrably overnight.
In the morning, spray 2-3 rimmed baking sheets with oil/baking spray and preheat the oven to 375F. Spread the wings out on the greased cookie sheets and bake for 45 minutes, then use tongs to flip the wings over and bake then another 45 minutes, until nice and crispy.
Melt the butter and stir it together with the Sriracha, cilantro, lime zest, and lime juice. Toss the wings in the sauce and serve immediately.