Chimack - Korean Cheekun Wangs & Beer

Botch

I've been an Egger for 4, 5 years now, and today is the first time I've tried wangs!  Found a recipe in a recent Cook's Illustrated for Korean Chicken Wings, Chimack.  It called for deep-frying the wings twice, 7 minutes each time, but I "winged" it (har, I slay myself) and cooked them on the Large instead.  
 
First, do your supermarkets normally carry fresh wings?  Mine doesn't, they had acres of breasts, legs, thighs, boneless thighs, fingers and even pink nuggets, but no wings.  The butcher said they had some in the frozen section, so that had to do.  I had to laugh at the bottom feature:
 

 
"Ice glazing ensures freshness"??  In my day that was called "freezer burn"!  
The frying recipe called for a batter of 1 cup flour, 3 Tblspns cornstarch, and water; since I was grilling I just mixed the dry ingredients and shook the wings in it.  Grilled them at 400 indirect, with pecan/mesquite smoke, turning them once halfway through.  Note to self: don't use the cast-iron grate for wangs, the skin stuck in spots.  
 

 
The Sauce:

• 1 Tblspn toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp grated ginger (I didn't know ginger was used in Korean cooking)
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 Tblspns sugar (I will use 2 next time)
• 2-3 Tblspns gochujang (this is a fermented rice & chile Korean condiment)
• 1 Tblspn soy sauce

 
Mix the first 3 ingredients in a large glass bowl and microwave 45 seconds (this mellows the garlic and ginger).  Whisk in the rest of the ingredients.  I removed the wangs, tossed them in the sauce, removed the platesetter (which I won't do again, the wings burned quick), went with the wire grid, and removed after just a couple minutes.  
 

 

 
After resting I brushed a little more of the sauce on the wings, and served with white rice and kimchee:
 

 
This one's a keeper, these were excellent.  The original recipe spent a lot of time making the skin "shatteringly crisp" (deep-frying twice, 7 minutes each) but my skin was not; no matter, it was great and no rubbery-ness.  Loved that sauce!  
(I forgot the beer)
 
Thanks for looking!  

da87

Great wings!

chuckytheegghead

Ain't no thang like a chicken wang. Nailed it. They look dynamite!