Sweet Dragon Wings With Spicy Peanut Sauce

These savory Dragon Wings won't have you breathing fire... just craving more!  

Plump, juicy chicken wings are skewered whole and bathed in a salty-sweet Kecap Manis marinade.  Next, a quick dip in coconut milk and then onto the BBQ.

When your Dragon Wings are grilled to perfection and ready to serve, lace them with Spicy Peanut Sauce and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. 

Dragon Wings present beautifully and the taste is absolutely sublime. Leaving them on the kabob stick will save sticky fingers, too!

Serve as a main course with Jasmine rice and sauteed Snow peas... or serve as an Appetizer.

Dragon Wings are simply YUMMY no matter how you serve them! 

Step 1: Ingredients for Spicy Peanut Sauce

This sauce requires resting time, so you'll make this first.

Spicy Peanut Sauce:

1/2 C Peanut Butter
3-4 T Soy Sauce
2 T Honey
1 T Olive Oil
1 t Sesame Oil
2 t Thai Chile Paste or canned Chipotle Chiles - seeds removed- minced
1-2 T MILD Molasses*
1-2 T Water
1 T Lime juice

1 t Chile Powder
1 t minced Garlic
1/2 t Cinnamon
1/4 t Paprika

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a fork.

Start with the lesser amount of Soy, Water & Molasses.

If you prefer less "heat", add just 1 t of minced Chipotle chiles to begin with. If you want more heat, add more minced Chipotles to taste.

Let  the sauce rest for an hour or so giving the ingredients a chance to meld together and mature. Then you can taste the sauce and adjust it as desired with more soy, water, molasses, chiles, etc.

Cover the sauce with plastic wrap and set it aside until serving your Dragon Wings. It tastes it's best at room temperature. 

*There's a HUGE difference in the taste of mild and full-flavor molasses. If you insist on using full-flavor molasses, you'll need to adjust/increase the soy in this recipe and you still might not get the same taste. I personally don't recommend it.

Step 2: Chicken Wings and Preparation.

What you'll need:

6-8 large, meaty Chicken Wings (4-5 ounces each)
Bamboo kabob skewers- soaked in water for 20-30 minutes

I discovered skewering the entire wing on a bamboo stick without puncturing the skin is really easy! I'll be doing this a lot more often with other wing recipes.

Hold the wing with the underside facing up. Insert the skewer beginning at the drummette end, (see picture) and twist/push it toward the wing tip, always keeping the skewer on the underside on the wing. Work slowly and don't force the skewer. You'll be able to see and feel the progress as it travels toward the tip. If the skewer get stuck against a joint bone, just ease it backwards a little, then twist and push it through at a different spot.

I've probably made this process sound a lot more difficult than it is. You may just understand it better by just looking at the pictures.

Step 3: Kecap Manis Marinade

This sauce also require a little resting time, but not much.

For the Kecap Manis Marinade you'll need:

1/3 C Soy Sauce
1/2 C MILD Molasses*
2 t minced Garlic
1 pinch of ground Ginger- optional

Stir all ingredients together and let it set for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to integrate. Taste the marinade and add more soy or mild molasses according to your personal preference.

Brush the chicken wings generously with Kecap Manis marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and put them into the frig for an hour.  You can even leave them in the frig overnight at this stage. Just flip the skewers over every few hours or so.

Save and refrigerate the unused marinade for basting and as a side sauce.

Just before you're ready to start grilling, brush a nice thick coat of coconut milk onto the wings.

*Please use only MILD molasses.

Step 4: It's Grilling Time!

Unfortunately, our weather has been too cold & rainy for an outdoor BBQ.  Thankfully, my Jenn-aire Range allows me to BBQ indoors all Winter long... or all Summer long in this case!

Preheat your BBQ on high heat for 10 minutes. 

If your using briquettes, wait until a good layer of ash has built up. Move all of the charcoal to one side of the grill, so you have a hot side and cool side.

If the grill grate need cleaning, this is the time to do it. To keeps the wings from sticking, use tongs and a paper towel and swab a light coat of cooking oil onto the hot grate. 

BBQ the Dragon Wing over high heat for 3-4 minutes, turn and BBQ the other side for another 3-4 minutes.

Next, turn the heat down to medium low and flip the wings over again for a few minutes. If your grilling with charcoal, move the wings to the cooler side of the grill.

Repeat the process, basting with the leftover Kecap Manis marinade throughout the grilling time until the wings are cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

I used large 4-5 ounce wings and the total cook time was about 15 minutes.

Step 5: Garnish and Serve

If you like to pretty up your dishes, here's a fun, informative website to give you some great ideas for vegetable garnishes.

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tools-and-techniques/how-to-garnish-cooking8.htm

Plate up the Dragon Wings and spoon the Peanut sauce over them. (I put several tablespoons of Peanut Sauce into a squeeze bottle and drizzled it over the wings.)

Sprinkle the Dragon Wings generously with Sesame seeds and serve with Kecap Manis and more Peanut Sauce on the side.

Enjoy! 

btw... if you love the tapestry placemats, you can purchase them right here: http://cgi.ebay.com/NATURES-ELEMENT-Fall-Collage-Tapestry-Placemats-Set-4-/200458870790?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eac47a006#ht_1376wt_905

Step 6: Update: Leftover Marinade and Sauce?

Do you have any leftover Kecap Manis marinade and Peanut sauce like I did?

All of the ingredients in both sauces are stable, but do require refrigeration.

I grilled boneless Chicken Breasts tonight and decided to use the Dragon sauces I already had prepared 3 days ago.

Three words: Taste Bud Nirvana.  

Like fine wine, the sauces got richer and more delectable with age. The smokey heat of the chipotle chile had mellowed. I'm sure these sauces would also taste wonderful with grilled Pork Tenderloin!