Grilled Korean BBQ Sticky Wings
In the Twin Cities, wings are the ultimate happy hour food. And the stickier, the better: getting sauce all over your hands and face is pretty much our favorite after-work bonding ritual.
We created this recipe with that in mind. The wings are grilled ‘til they’re smoky and lightly charred, and then coated in a tangy, sweet, perfectly sticky BBQ sauce — they’ll give your napkins a new sense of purpose! Fair warning: We put a good amount of spicy gochujang in the BBQ sauce, so it’s got a nice kick. But it’s a “Minnesota nice” kick, so it won’t burn your lips off.
These wings also make a fantastic weekend barbecue appetizer. Once you’ve prepped the sauce, they come together in minutes, so you can throw them on the grill when folks arrive, and then let them nibble and gnaw while you get dinner together. If you’re going to a friend’s place for the barbecue, you can prep the sauce and the wings ahead of time, so they’re ready for the grill when you get there.
Our tips: The Korean BBQ sauce tastes fantastic with a Summit Keller Pils — it’s got just enough malty sweet and honey notes to handle that gochujang. And, if you have extra BBQ sauce, it’ll keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.
4 servings
Preparation time: 20 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Ingredients
For the Korean BBQ Sauce:
½ cup tamari or soy sauce
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
¼ cup gochujang sauce
2 tablespoons ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
For the wings:
2 pounds chicken wings
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup scallions, sliced for garnish
Directions
- To make the Korean BBQ Sauce: In a small pot, combine all ingredients except the cornstarch and water. Bring them to a simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water to make a slurry.
- Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the barbecue sauce, and boil it until it thickens, about 2 minutes.
- Remove the barbecue sauce from the heat and transfer it to a canning jar or another heatproof container. Set aside.
- Prepare grill to high heat.
- To make the wings: Pat the chicken wings dry with a paper towel, and then season them lightly with salt and pepper.
- Grill the wings until they’re slightly charred on all sides and the internal temperature has reached 165 º F on an instant-read thermometer, about 15-20 minutes.
- Brush the wings with a little barbecue sauce and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Remove the wings from grill to a large bowl, and toss them with more barbecue sauce.
- Garnish the wings with fresh scallions and serve hot.
