Remember that time I had a food blog? Oh yeah here it is, mostly recipes, some subjective wittering on local eats. Whoops but no posts in 2018! Better put at least one up this year.

It’s been a lovely summer and that means lots of BBQ food. One of my favourite things to cook this year has been stuffed chicken wings. I first did these a few years back for the Hot Wing competition at Grillstock and they’ve surreptitiously become a signature dish for me. I’m actually pretty happy about that. This year has seen them as a starter on most of my Asian popups and has received fantastic feedback from diners. Well what’s not to like? A deboned chicken wing stuffed with Thai sausage, smoked, grilled then glazed. As an indicator of what’s to come in a meal it sums up my cooking and hospitality perfectly.

The recipe has evolved over the years and will continue to change as my tastes change, but the basic construction will stay the same. First you have to debone chicken wings! Start with whole large wings, remove the drumette leaving the wing flat and tip joined together. Save the drumette for other dishes or take the meat of them to make the stuffing. With the wing flat take the ends off first to cut the tendons and reveal the two bones. Grip the smaller bone and pop that out first before tackling the larger one. Both bones should come out easy like this:

Once you’ve deboned your wings, stuff them with Sai Oua Thai sausage, here’s the recipe for Sai Oua:

Sai Oua
makes approx 2kg

1300g ground pork/chicken 50/50
320g cooked sticky rice
110g lemongrass paste
35g galangal paste
35g garlic paste
100g red curry paste
20g fish sauce
15g salt
12 large kaffir lime leaves finely shredded
16 Thai birds eye chilli finely sliced (or to taste)
80g cold water

Mix everything together well and put into a piping bag. This amount is enough to stuff 50 large chicken wings. Of course you could just stuff them into skins and make sausage instead. Let them sit with the stuffing in for a couple of hours before cooking:

See how plump they are? This is exactly what you’re looking for and they become even more plump when cooked.

You can cook them anyway you like but make sure to cook them slowly at first to set the proteins. If you cook too fast the stuffing bursts out. I like smoking them indirectly over coconut husks at approx 120C until the internal temp is around 73C, takes less than an hour. Then they’re flashed directly over the coals to crisp up the skin.

Once they’re cooked glaze them as you wish. Sweet chilli is good or caramel fish sauce. Garnish with Thai herbs or roasted rice or just go naked, let’s face it they’re pretty delicious as they are!