The result of today's wingette experiment.
As the pandemic rampages on and I diligently quarantine hard, my cooking practice and experimentation has gone crazy, and part of that is this chicken process that I just gave a shot.
T sectioned some huge chicken wings and used only the wingettes — the drumettes were saved and frozen for eventual soup deployment — and instead of the usual plain salt & pepper method, I seasoned the shit out of the dredge with a melange of numerous spices in an experiment in technique and seasoning, dredged the chicken, and fridged it overnight to let the seasonings absorb, which they certainly did. Sitting overnight allowed the dredge to form into a crust around the individual wings, and when deep fried that aspect soon becomes apparent.
When done and cooled to the point of being edible, they were quite good and needed no further seasoning, though hot sauce would definitely be a welcome accent. That said, the average fired party snacker or bar-muncher would destroy these and love them, but I think they are a case of overkill in all aspects.
Chicken is a simple food and its preparatioon as a snack item should be kept just as elementary. From now on I'm sticking to a standard salt & pepper dredge and not overnighting, just straight into the oil, with crispy skin rather than the crunchy crust/batter. But all of that is just my usual bitchy kitchen perfectionism. They are perfectly tasty wings and can be enjoyed by all audiences.
TWO NOTES: 1. The crust effect unexpectedly allowed the chicken to hold in its juices, so it has cooked all the way through but remains delightfully juicy, and the juices carry the flavor of the seasonings. 2: The crust effect unfortunately overwhelms the tips, making them mostly useless, so keep that in mind. Had I known, I would have saved the tips during prep, bagged them, and frozen them for later use in soup stock.
