These chicken wings are bound to disappear as soon as they hit the table. The combination of ingredients is nothing fancy, but unusual; offering an addictive hot-tangy-sweet punch hard to resist. I am talking about vanilla from Papantla, Veracruz—famous in Mexico and abroad—and the chiltepín chile native to the region.

Some twenty years ago, Zarela Martinez, an amazing chef, restauranteur and author, made a demo on the culinary region of Veracruz for an event I was organizing for the Mexican Cultural Institute in DC. One of the featuring dishes was her Chicken with Chiltepín Chiles from her book “Zarela’s Veracruz”. It was heaven. These wings with their sweet-and-sour effect a la Veracruzana are inspired by Zarela’s dish. I hope you like them.

For 3 to 4 people you’ll need:

2 pounds chicken wings

2 tbs corn starch

1 tbs Pequín Chile, crushed (or 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper)

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground cumin

3 small cloves garlic, peeled

1 cup fresh orange juice

Juice of one lime

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 to 2 tbs honey

1 tbs soy sauce

sliced scallions and cilantro leaves for garnish

How to make it:

1) Prep Work: Turn oven to 400.F (200.C). Line a baking tray with foil—if you have a baking grid that can go on top, use it—it will allow air to flow and brown the wings perfectly. If you don’t, just put them directly onto the pre-lined tray.

2) Marinade: Finely chop garlic or pass it through a garlic press (finally a use for this thing!) Mix it with the orange juice, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, honey, and soy sauce.

3) Chicken Wings: In a bowl that fits all the chicken wings, add corn starch, salt, pepper, cumin, and ¼ cup of marinade. Stir until starch is dissolved. Add chicken wings and toss to coat them well. Arrange wings on the pre-lined baking tray with or without grid and bake for 30 minutes. Open the oven and flip the wings. Spoon a bit more of the marinade on top of each one and return to the oven for 10 more minutes.

4) Make them shine: Put remaining marinade on a skillet and cook it on low heat for a few minutes until it starts to simmer and thicken–pay attention though, because from one moment to the next you can end up with a few tablespoons of burnt sticky mess. Anyway, we were saying; once you have a bubbly thick marinade, turn off the heat. When chicken wings are ready, transfer them to the pan and dress them nicely with the glaze. Serve right away and sprinkle some greenery on top.

Spicy Chicken Wings

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