Breezy Grilled Thai Sweet Hot Chili Wings

[BreezyCooking]

Over the years I’ve tried & enjoyed many recipes in this same family. All have called for “Thai Sweet Chili Sauce”, which has become more & more available in mainstream supermarkets over the years. It’s definitely worth searching out, if for nothing else than this recipe that I’ve experimented & tweaked for quite a bit now. I think, after a lot of experimentation (& simplification), that I’ve brought this as far as I’m gonna after tonights last “tweaking”.

What made this final recipe particularly appealing (not to mention fast & easy) is that - after discovering that authentic Asian chefs never separate the wings - I decided not to bother with separating the wings either. At all. Which worked out GREAT! Not only does leaving the wings whole make them a whole lot easier to deal with on the grill, but those little wing tips get an amazingly tasty char that I - & others – found ourselves devouring whole, bones & all!! In addition, while the heat factor here might look incendiary, it’s really not. The Thai Sweet Chili Sauce actually mellows out the heat quite a bit. Don’t get me wrong – these are still HOT wings, but what makes them so great is that they’re not so hot that milder-loving folks can’t still enjoy them. Hard to explain until you taste them for yourself. It’s a slow burn.

One caveat – I don’t feel that these translate well to indoor cooking. I’ve been tinkering with this recipe for quite awhile now, & the indoor results have never come remotely close to the success outdoors.


Breezy Grilled Thai Sweet Hot Chicken Wings

1 large package (usually around 3-4 pounds) chicken wings, left completely whole, including wing tips

1 cup Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1-1/2 tablespoons Asian Chili-Garlic paste/sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce (or whatever similar red hot sauce you have on hand)
1 tablespoon hot sesame oil

Vegetable oil – regular or spray

Build an outdoor grill coal fire to medium-hot.

Whisk sauce ingredients together with a fork & pour approximately half into another bowl to use for basting. Save the remainder to drizzle over the wings when done.

Brush or spray whole chicken wings with vegetable oil & place on grill, top side up. Close grill & cook for 15 minutes. Brush or spray (**) top side & turn wings. Close & grill for 15 minutes more. Brush sauce over wings, & close grill for another 5 minutes. Turn wings, brush with rest of sauce from basting bowl, close grill for another 5 minutes.

Remove & cut into largest wing close to bone to check for doneness & cook or remove from grill accordingly. Place on platter, drizzle saved sauce over wings, & serve – with lots of napkins or paper towels & beer!!

** While I do use a spray oil for this, it’s definitely not advised. I stand WAY BACK when I do it, but even then I know I’m committing a definite no-no. And even when brushing oil, stand WAY BACK & use a long-handled barbecue/grill brush. Chicken wings aren’t worth a trip to the Emergency Room or worse.

[roadfix]

Thanks for posting this. I'll try this.

[lovergrill]

Why would you brush or spray oil on the wings?

The wings contain sufficient fat on their own.

If you really feel you need to add oil to the mix, pre-heat your grill, scrape it to make sure it's free of cooking debris, then turn off the gas and wipe down the grill with some cooking oil.
You can do this with a clean sponge reserved for this kind of duty or with a wadded up bunch of clean paper towels. It doesn't take much oil to accomplish the task.
Turn the gas back on right after you are done oiling your grill.
The technique is similar to seasoning cast iron cookware and I find it works well to help prevent sticking.
Also you won't accidentally blow yourself up

Your Thai Sweet Hot Chicken Wings recipe sounds great can't wait to try it!

[BreezyCooking]

Well, for starters, you're automatically assuming that I cook on a gas grill. No way - always over coals. In my opinion cooking on a gas grill is no different from cooking indoors on a gas stove - lol!! (But before anyone wants to disagree or lambast me on that one - that's just MY personal preference & I'm sticking to it - lol!)

And secondly - I've just found chicken wings - when grilled & unless coming straight out of a marinade - are more stick-free with a light touch of oil. Fat content or no fat content. (And, yes, I have tried grilling them without the touch of oil.)

Obviously the oil isn't an integral part of the recipe. If you want to grill them without it - go for it.

[DramaQueen]

I discovered Maggi Thai Sweet/ Hot Chili sauce a couple of years ago and now I can't live without it. I put it in my veggie soups, stews and many sauces that I make up myself. I sprinkle Mrs. Dash's Orginal seasoning on chicken breast, smear on a little of the sweet/hot sauce then saute for a few minutes. Wow. For someone watching their weight this is a great way to cook an otherwise dull chicken breast.

When I got to Michigan this year I couldn't find Maggi brand so I got Kame brand. I prefer Maggi but both are excellent. Terrific kick and what a flavor adder.

[lovergrill]

Originally Posted by BreezyCooking

Well, for starters, you're automatically assuming that I cook on a gas grill. No way - always over coals. In my opinion cooking on a gas grill is no different from cooking indoors on a gas stove - lol!! (But before anyone wants to disagree or lambast me on that one - that's just MY personal preference & I'm sticking to it - lol!)

And secondly - I've just found chicken wings - when grilled & unless coming straight out of a marinade - are more stick-free with a light touch of oil. Fat content or no fat content. (And, yes, I have tried grilling them without the touch of oil.)

Obviously the oil isn't an integral part of the recipe. If you want to grill them without it - go for it.

Thanks for the answer.

I honestly never heard of that technique, to oil the food (wings) before.

I sometimes cook with charcoal as well, it's great and I do agree very different from the gas grill.

[BreezyCooking]

Believe me - it's just the very lightest touch of oil, either with a pastry brush or an oil spritzer. I don't slather it on.

Even though I have very well-seasoned cast-iron grates on my grill, I still find that just that light touch of oil does make a difference when relatively small pieces of poultry, seafood, or even vegetables are involved.

[TanyaK]

Sounds great - thanks ! Have copied for next time we barbeque chicken wings (DH is going through a bit of a chicken wing phase at the moment so it will probably be very soon :-))