Vietnamese Orange & Ginger Chicken Wings, with Cucumber Salad

Vietnamese Orange & Ginger Chicken Wings, with Cucumber Salad

Vietnamese Orange & Ginger Chicken Wings, with Cucumber Salad, started off with some inspiration from my mate Gordon, courtesy of his cook book – The Food of South East Asia – bought me as a present from Doug and Annie Peris.

Reading through that, this rainy day in Singapore, I did indeed gain inspiration and pulled together these two amazing bed fellows. The wing are jammy because of the orange and honey, and the salad is acidic because of the water. Oh yeah baby. You gotta love this dish.

Oh ding dong – check these bad boys out. How good do they look (even if I do say so myself) – bloody fantastic taste too!!!

A cracker of a salad on its own, but with these orange jammy chicken wings a bloody double whammy winner! Amazing!!!

Here comes my Vietnamese Orange & Ginger Chicken Wings, with Cucumber Salad. Easily enough for a family of 4 -5 – easily. I’ll also spilt the recipe down to make it easier to follow. So much easier then to encourage you to get off your bum and have a go.

Dressing for Salad

• 6 tablespoons white wine vinegar;
• 2 finely sliced shallots;
• 2 packets of mint leaves removed from the stalks;
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger;
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic;
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar;
• A good pinch of sea salt and cracked black pepper;
• 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce;
• 1 tablespoon of fish sauce;
• 2 tablespoons of Yuzu juice/or lemon/lime;
• 2 tablespoons of water.

Mix all these together until the sugar has dissolved and then pop in the fridge.

The Salad

• 2 cucumbers;
• 1/2 a packet of cleaned beansprouts;
• 4-5 thinly sliced chilis – or red radishes as I used today so kids could eat it.

Cut then ends of the cucumber, then cut in half lengthways and then again in half to leave quarters. Remove the seeds out to leave just the flesh, and then cut the 4 pieces in to thin slices. Throw in a bowl and give a toss to mix all the colours. Pour that dressing over when ready to serve with the wings and there is the salad element of Vietnamese Orange & Ginger Chicken Wings, with Cucumber Salad.

The Wings Marinade

• 2 tablespoons of honey;
• 3 roughly chopped shallots;
• 3 stalks of trimmed and bashed lemongrass;
• 2 heaped teaspoons of chopped garlic;
• 2 heaped teaspoons of chopped ginger;
• 2 oranges;
  • Squeeze out the juice; and
  • Cut off the zest only from the skin;
• 3 tablespoons of Yuzu juice;
• 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce;
• 2 teaspoons of fish sauce;
• 1/4 cup water;
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Put all these in to a pan and heat until bubbling. Reduce that to a simmer and then slowly reduce the liquid down by about a half – it should start to thicken. Off the heat. Whilst it is still hot – take a tray of chicken wings and stab them like a maniac with a sharp knife – you are making little holes for the marinade to soak in to. Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and pour over the lovely hot jammy marinade and let that sit for a couple of hours if possible.

This is now nearly the final part of the process for the Vietnamese Orange & Ginger Chicken Wings, with Cucumber Salad. All you do now is lay some greaseproof baking paper on a couple of trays, arrange the chicken pieces over and then ladle over the juices from the marinade. In a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees.

15 minutes in, turn over the chicken pieces and baste the other side with the marinade. Repeat until the chicken is nicely cooked. Then drain off the marinade and whack to 225 degrees for 5-10 minutes to crisp those little suckers up nicely. BOOM!!! Serve these up with the salad and stand back. I tell you what these will FLY off the plate.

Serious how good does this dish look. What you can’t get from this photo is the smell and taste of the Vietnamese Orange & Ginger Chicken Wings, with Cucumber Salad. These are crispy but also jammy (because of the honey). The sweetness of the wings is counteracted by the sour of the salad.

Dear me if these two dishes don’t have plans to get married they bloody well should do. Match made in heaven. Very proud of myself for these two brought together as one. You are absolutely, categorically going to LOVE these.

ENJOY!!!