Salt 'n' vinegar chicken wings ... a fantastic UK/USA BBQ fusion

Stormbringer · July 2018

Being a Brit born and bred, the aromas and flavours of salt and vinegar are synonymous with late night fish and chip shop visits over the years. Recently we were in the USA, and visited Butte ... well, with a name like that, the immature nature in me wanting a photograph of a sign saying "Welcome to Butte", "You're Entering Butte" or similar.

However, my abiding memory of Butte was discovering salt 'n' vinegar chicken wings. Amazing. It bought back memories of home fused with a classic USA BBQ dish. Upon returning home, I looked up a few recipes and came up with this one, best done with a night-before marinate:

https://www.thecooksdigest.co.uk/2018/07/13/salt-n-vinegar-chicken-wings/

It also pairs incredibly well with the gherkin infused ranch dipping sauce SWMBO created:

https://www.thecooksdigest.co.uk/2018/07/06/ranch-dipping-sauce-with-gherkin/

Ready to eat:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/ek/4hyzw1xicila.jpg

Cooking in the MMX:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/12/qlg2f5iu6zyu.jpg

Lastly a shot of Hayden Valley, Yellowstone ... which isn't related but a taste of the photos to come once SWMBO has finished faffing about with the thousands of shots she took:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/7p/f8f3ssev5ekd.jpg

Thanks for looking!

lousubcap · July 2018

Always looking to try new options with wings and that looks and sounds great. Thanks for the post and link.
BTW- I'm sure the pics will be outstanding.

jeffwit · July 2018

Faffing about. Gonna have to put that one in the repertoire.
Wings look great!

JohnInCarolina · July 2018

Awesome! I’m definitely trying these.

CigarCityEgger · July 2018

Looks great, thanks for posting!

Legume · July 2018

Nice! Have you considered or played around with malt vinegar powder at all?

Ozzie_Isaac · July 2018

Stormbringer said:

Lastly a shot of Hayden Valley, Yellowstone ... which isn't related but a taste of the photos to come once SWMBO has finished faffing about with the thousands of shots she took:

Thanks for looking!

Wings look great, the thought has my mouth watering.

That last photo is awesome! Reminds me of Thomas Mangelsen.

GrillSgt · July 2018

Great cook, like Lou I am always looking for fresh ideas for wings. Thanks.

GrillSgt · July 2018

Question on your Ranch sauce. In the US a gherkin is almost always sweet, so is that what you used or something more like a cornichon?

Theophan · July 2018

@Stormbringer they look gorgeous, sound great (I love malt vinegar), but I'm curious about whether the "chili powder" you're talking about is the same thing as what we call "chili powder" over here. You say, "The chili powder is optional, it gives a bit of heat to the wings."

In the US, what's labeled "chili powder" adds no heat at all to anything, just flavor. It's a mixture of ground dried chilis that have little to no heat, plus cumin, maybe a few other things, but those are the main ingredients. What we call "cayenne," on the other hand, adds only a tiny bit of flavor (depending on how much you use) but definitely adds some heat. (There are also more specific powders of dried chiles, like "ancho chili," "chipotle chili," etc., or people sometimes grind up guajillos or any other kind of chili, but anything just labeled "chili powder" in the USA usually is very mild dried ground chilis plus cumin, and really isn't hot at all, but definitely adds a chili flavor.

So what kind of "chili powder" are you talking about? Did it make the wings taste like ancho chilis and cumin, for example? Or was it pretty tasteless but added a bit of a bite?

Thanks for posting -- it sounds good, and I'll add it to my list to try.

mEGG_My_Day · July 2018

Those look really good!!!

Stormbringer · July 2018

Thanks folks.

@Legume I looked for it in the UK, not easy to find though. I did see that Buffalo Wild Wings use a salt and vinegar rub on their wings, we're back in the USA in September so I'll look to pick some up then.

@Ozzie_Isaac you just made SWMBO's day.

@GrillSgt I had to look cornichon up

. As far as I can determine, in the UK a cornichon is a small gherkin pickled in vinegar with dill flowers or tarragon. A cocktail gherkin is pickled in vinegar alone. I used these cocktail gherkins. The purpose of them was to give a little tartness and bite to the sauce without adding extra flavour.

@Theophan the chili powder I use is made up of dried, powdered chili. It imparts flavour and a small amount of heat. The heat is there in the background, rather than up front, but it is there.

GrateEggspectations · July 2018

Thanks. Will try these.

Theophan · July 2018

@Stormbringer: many thanks for the additional information! It does look to me as though some of your ingredients are different than ours. Our gherkins usually say "sweet gherkins," and they're sour like most pickles but also really quite sweet. Yours seem to have a little sugar in them, but from your description I'd guess they're very different than ours, much less sweet.

And the chili powder does look very different than our "chili powder." We have lots of similar powdered chilis, probably the same thing exactly, but probably with a different name. Usually our powdered chilis have a specific name, like ancho chili powder, chipotle chili powder, etc., and usually something just called "chili powder" is mostly ancho but also has cumin, maybe some garlic powder, maybe some other stuff. Quite different. I'm guessing a little bit of cayenne might be similar to what you used.

Really sounds good -- I'm sure I'll try it one of these days. Thanks again!

Stormbringer · July 2018

Theophan said:

@Stormbringer: many thanks for the additional information! It does look to me as though some of your ingredients are different than ours. Our gherkins usually say "sweet gherkins," and they're sour like most pickles but also really quite sweet. Yours seem to have a little sugar in them, but from your description I'd guess they're very different than ours, much less sweet.

And the chili powder does look very different than our "chili powder." We have lots of similar powdered chilis, probably the same thing exactly, but probably with a different name. Usually our powdered chilis have a specific name, like ancho chili powder, chipotle chili powder, etc., and usually something just called "chili powder" is mostly ancho but also has cumin, maybe some garlic powder, maybe some other stuff. Quite different. I'm guessing a little bit of cayenne might be similar to what you used.

Really sounds good -- I'm sure I'll try it one of these days. Thanks again!

@Theophan it therefore appears that we're separated by a common language and how that language is applied to food ingredients.

Killit_and_Grillit · July 2018

Oh yeah I’m giving this a run.

thetrim · July 2018

Looks pretty freakin' outstanding! Both the wings and Yellowstone!

caliking · July 2018

Bravo, sir!

your cooks never disappoint. Always a joy to peruse.

tml1230 · July 2018

Stormbringer, GEEEZZZZ, thanks to you I am about to be en route to Publix ( a grocery store chain here in Florida ) to purchase the accoutrements (sounds very British to me!) for your recipe.
normally I would express sincere appreciation for the great idea and recipe you offered.
However we have JUST driven 12 hours from the cool North Carolina mountains to the oppressive heat of our home in Florida and I am tired.
relaxing before retiring early tonight, and while pursuing this site , I mentioned to my wife your post....
now she has determined we must try your recipe NOW....I said No way! We will try it next week"

i m headed to the grocery store in 2 minutes ....this better be good!!

if you happen to run into Prince Harry, give him my sincere best regards...he is one of my heroes.
PS: being retired, and the only reason we are in Florida currently ....is the immenant birth of our twin grandaughters here in Sarasota Florida.
in all seriousness, thanks much for a great recipe!! All the best to you and family.

Stormbringer · July 2018

tml1230 said:

Stormbringer, GEEEZZZZ, thanks to you I am about to be en route to Publix ( a grocery store chain here in Florida ) to purchase the accoutrements (sounds very British to me!) for your recipe.
normally I would express sincere appreciation for the great idea and recipe you offered.
However we have JUST driven 12 hours from the cool North Carolina mountains to the oppressive heat of our home in Florida and I am tired.
relaxing before retiring early tonight, and while pursuing this site , I mentioned to my wife your post....
now she has determined we must try your recipe NOW....I said No way! We will try it next week"

i m headed to the grocery store in 2 minutes ....this better be good!!

if you happen to run into Prince Harry, give him my sincere best regards...he is one of my heroes.
PS: being retired, and the only reason we are in Florida currently ....is the immenant birth of our twin grandaughters here in Sarasota Florida.
in all seriousness, thanks much for a great recipe!! All the best to you and family.

@tml1230 the command of SWMBO ... I know the feeling.

Thanks, and good luck with your cook. I marinate the wings for 12-24 hours, however if you're not used to the concentrated flavours of malt vinegar associated with classic UK style fish 'n' chips, maybe go for a shorter time and see what you think. Then adjust for the next cook.

We had these again yesterday, bloody lovely, served with home-cooked thick-cut chips (or fries, for you). Harry had other things to do though so missed out.

Salt 'n' vinegar chicken wings ... a fantastic UK/USA BBQ fusion

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