I have a few weak spots for foods such as donuts, pizza, and steak. Chicken wings are also up there, easily in the top 5. In the past I would stop by KFC to get my dose of guilty pleasure. But since I moved to the US and started to cook more often at home, I feel more and more reluctant to get my meals from a fast food chain.
Why Homemade Oven Baked Chicken Wings?
Two reasons:
(1) The food is TOO freakin’ salty.
I’m pretty heavy-handed on salt when cooking because my primary goal is always taste. In fact, my mom still criticizes my dishes for being too salty. But every time I eat food from a fast food chain (and 60% of the time at restaurants in general), I’m stunned by the insane amount of salt added to the food. (Maybe it’s my hallucination, but I also feel that the KFC wings in China taste slightly less salty.)
(2) Both my husband and I often feel terrible after a fast food meal.
Probably due to the low quality of the meat, the tons of added salt and chemical flavorings, and all the grease. This might sound like an exaggeration, but we always have a pretty bad food coma after a fast food meal. I get a bad headache and feel extremely bloated and heavy, and don’t want to do anything except sleep after my meal.
For those reasons, I tend to develop easy recipes so I can satisfy my immediate food cravings with the healthiest options possible. Plus, you have to admit, homemade food always tastes better if it’s done right. Homemade dishes like Thai sweet chili chicken, beef chow fun, and Mapo tofu are winners, simply because of the fresh ingredients they use. Not only does the food taste better, but you also take in way less sodium, artificial additives, and oil. Win-win.
I’ve shared plenty of Asian-style chicken wing recipes in the past, and this is one of my favorites in that collection. Not only is it super easy to prepare, but it also yields juicy crispy wings that are bursting with aroma. The marinade has a super concentrated umami from the wings, fresh ginger and garlic, and a touch of five spice. I glaze the wings with honey before baking, and it forms a sticky crispy crust that tastes heavenly.
My husband and I love this recipe so much that we usually end up devouring 3 pounds of wings in one sitting. But you know what? We never feel like we’re in a food coma, even after we overeat. That’s because homemade baked chicken wings are way better and healthier 🙂
More delicious chicken wings recipes
- Fried Chicken Wings in Asian Hot Sauce (Crispy Even When Chilled!)
- Oven Fried Chicken Wings with Korean BBQ Sauce
- Chinese Lemon Chicken Wings
- Braised Coca-Cola Chicken Wings
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
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Grilled Chicken Wings - Chinese Style
Ingredients
- 3 lbs (1.4 kg) chicken wings
- 2/3 cup honey , separated
Marinade
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 tablespoons grated ginger
- 6 cloves garlic , chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Mix the marinade ingredients with 1/3 cup honey in a one-gallon ziplock bag. Add the chicken wings. Massage a few times to mix well. Squeeze as much as air out as you can and seal the bag. Let sit in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, up to overnight. Flip the bag in between, for even marinating.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil for easy cleanup. Place a baking rack on top.
- Place wings on the baking rack without overlapping, bottom side up. Brush a generous amount of honey on the bottom side of the chicken wings.
- Bake until the bottom side of the wings turns golden brown, 10 minutes. Flip the wings and brush honey on top. Bake for 10 minutes. Take out the baking tray and brush honey again. Cook for another 5 to 8 minutes, until the wings are cooked and the surface turns dark brown and crispy.
- Let cool for 5 minutes. Serve hot as an appetizer.
Notes
- For a gluten-free version, use dry sherry instead of Shaoxing wine, and use tamari instead of soy sauce.
- The nutrition facts below were calculated based on an estimate of the amount of marinade absorbed by the chicken.
Nutrition
Have a question or feedback? Add a Comment
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The post was originally published on Aug 24, 2013, and updated on Apr 4, 2018.
J
Do you use the grill mode or convection mode in the oven for cooking the wings using this recipe? Is there a difference?
Maggie Zhu
I didn’t use convection mode at the time but you certainly could. If using convection, you should lower the oven temperature by 25F, so roast at 425F convection. It helps the wings crisping up more evenly and faster, so keep an eye out during the last few minutes to prevent the wings from over cooking.
I’ve never used a grill mode because mine doesn’t have one.
Desmond
Hi Maggie,
Just wondering if bone-in chicken thighs would be an appropriate substitute. Thanks!
Maggie
I think you can, just need to adjust cooking temperature and time because thighs are bigger and you don’t want to burn the honey.
I would roast at 400F for at least 20 minutes before brushing the honey. You also don’t need to flip them, just place the skin side up from the beginning and brush on the honey at the end.
Melissa Griffiths
You had me at juicy crispy – these are my kind of wings!
Danielle
I love how simple this recipe is, and love, love love the 5 spice! It sounds so yummy. Wings are a weakness of mine too, I just love them. But you’re totally right about fast food, we always feel awful after eating it! This is a much better way 🙂