Duvel

Duck, duck, duck ☺️ From my time in Hong Kong I really miss getting a pack of Cantonese braised duck wings (lou sui aap yik, 滷水鴨翼) from one of the vendors in Central. Is there maybe any duck recipe / popular dish from Guangxi that you could apply ?

Additional to @liuzhou’s suggestion I would review the spices you have at hand. If you are on holidays and using most likely stale spices there is very little chance to get a well spiced dish. You can amp the amount of spices, maybe get a fresh jar of Garam Masala to get at least some aroma into the dish. And if it is “just “ the heat you are lacking, grate the chilis you have at hand and add by the teaspoon while tasting …

I felt the same about the inclusion. Most recipes call for aji amarillo, which I had not at hand. Yuzu kosho provided some fruity elements, some fermented touches and of course a bit of heat, so I felt it would be a decent choice. Overall the green sauce was great - I am looking forward to add the leftovers to some Gyros I’ll have for lunch tomorrow. Wings were moderately crisp. I am looking forward to the comparison with “real” fried wings that I plan as my second entry for this Cook-Off. The green bananas were fine - a tad less starchy and a bit sweeter than plantains but far more easy to obtain. It was somehow the only decend side I could think of … The only thing I missed was a decent Pisco Sour for dessert. I enjoyed a buttery, vanilla-y Irish whiskey on the rocks instead and felt good nonetheless 😉

The Cook-Offs are - for me at least - also an excuse and incentive to step outside outside of one’s comfort zone. Those of you that read a few of my posts may have noticed that my comfort zone is pretty much Asian cuisine(s) and thus I wanted to avoid my first chicken wing entry to come from that continent (#2 of course is set) … So tonight something completely different: Peruvian chicken wings. I set my heart on trying that during my prep for the Cook-Off and today I followed through. Reading through a few recipes online and somewhat liked this one. I did not follow it to the letter, but somewhat winged (see what I did there ?). So: 1 kg chicken wings (organic, 7€/kg), doused with 10 g salt & 10 g baking powder, refrigerated for 4 h. Half of the wings were left unadulterated (for the family), half was mixed with cumin, smoked paprika, garlic, vinegar and a pinch of pepper. 15 min on a rack at 250 oC convection, turned, then 25 min at 200 oC. In the meantime made the sauce from a fresh green chili, a teaspoon of yuzu kosho, two garlic cloves, juice of half a lemon, a heaped tablespoon of full fat yoghurt and 75 g mayo (Hellmans). Salt & white pepper. Pureed … And I fried some green bananas in lieu of unavailable plantains … Fresh from the oven … Plated … … and the familiy’s version. Originally. Then they tried the Peruvian version (spicy !) and declared it to be better and finished my portion 🙄

Booooooooh ! 😝

Aaaaaaahh ... so you want to keep your frying secrets 😝 Great wings !!

This is pretty much my go-to method as well. I use slightly higher initial temperatures (250 oC) for about 10 min, then reduce. I have a rack of wings drying in the fridge right now to be baked for tonight’s Peruvian chicken wings …

That looks fantastic, @Steve Irby !

In most Yakitori places I have visited, you can get your chicken wing (“tebasaki”) in two versions: shio (salt) or tare (sauce, similar to teriyaki sauce). The treatment is quite similar. You skewer the whole wing or parts (flats are quite popular, 2 per skewer) and grill them over medium heat on the skin side until golden brown. It will shrink and fat will render out. Then flip and grill the other side; each side will take about 2 min. By this time, the wing is about 80% done and begins to show tiny charred spots. This is desirable. Then you either spray/brush liberally the wing with sake (especially the meat side) and sprinkle with sea salt for the shio treatment, or dip into an everlasting cup of tare (similar to Chinese lu shui this get replenished, but never replaced) for tare treatment. Then you grill for maybe 20 sec more on each side just to recrisp the surface. The shio one would be served with a sprinkling of shichimi togarashi, the tare version as is or maybe with some sesame seeds. In many Izakaya’s wings (again flats are preferred) would also be coated with salt & cornstarch, deep fried and then tossed in a reduced 2:1:1 soy/mirin (or honey, syrup)/sake mixture and sprinkled with sesame seeds before serving.

And yet … the wing is what you really want to buy this week !

Isn’t that combined the information that the OP asked: what is from your experience a solid ratio for Bechamel ? Let’s look at it from a practical view: the flour to milk (or combined liquids, but then we are not in Bechamel territory anymore) ratio determines the thickness of the resulting sauce. You do this in metric and you will get consistent results (the hydration levels of different AP flours do not matter much). The fat amount is required to make a roux is secondary; a 1:1 ratio by weight gives a semi-fluid roux that I can work with easily. If you use ratio by volume you’ll end up with more fat, which will not impact the thickening if you keep the flour to milk ratio constant. It’ll make making the roux a bit easier and the resulting sauce more creamy. The latter is similar to the effect of using full fat milk (~3%) vs. reduced fat (~1%). I am fully with both @Dave the Cook and @AlaMoi: when preparing a target amount of Bechamel you need to know the basic ratio to begin with - either by experience or by recipe, and work from there. That’s what from my point of view what @Bernie had in mind. My “golden ratio” for a Bechamel of medium thickness is 50g butter, 50 g butter and 1 L of milk. @Dave the Cook used 65 g flour, 113 g butter and 0,71 L milk. What does your experience tell you, @AlaMoi, to complete the OPs request (imperial measures ok 😉) ?

Yes, I do the same. Nutmeg is a must, as is a pinch of salt. Celery salt is a good option, too. A bay leaf if at hand. A small onion dotted with 3 or 4 whole cloves to be boiled in the bechamel for 20 min or so if I feel fancy.

I assume you grill them directly over the flame, not with the sheet underneath ? I use the setup in your picture to do my "weekday" wings in the (convection) oven, which yields moderately crispy wings in about 20-25 min with minimum effort.

For my all purpose Bechamel sauce I use 50 g butter, 50 g AP flour and 1 L full fat milk.

That would be a very desirable goal for me as well - something along the lines of marinating, coating in Wondra and then frying before being sauced ? I know that Korean fried chicken gets two or three rounds in hot oil with some "steaming out" time in between (at least that's what I have been told on my trips to the local ChiMeks in Korea), and it usually stays crisp for quite in while despite being sauced. That might be another option for those who can't obtain Wondra (such as myself). I'll give it a go and report back ...

Thank you all for your positive comments and the advance laurels - as if I wasn't already nervous enough to do @David Ross legacy justice. But I will try my best and thanks go to @Dave the Cook and the eG team to let me help to advance this topic and to @Smithy for her support in the preparation of the topic selection. I also already see some great suggestions for upcoming Cook-Offs, and can only encourage everyone to hand in more of those. We have already achieved a pretty comprehensive coverage of the culinary world in the past 87 Cook-Offs, but as Cook-Off #88: Wings shows, there are still some white spots in our map to highlight ... I am looking forward to a fun ride and - of course - all of your participation 🤗

Wings – who doesn’t like them*? In the past, we’ve had plenty of chicken dishes in our Cook-Offs, such as Fried Chicken (#5), Kebabs, Satays and Skewers (#24), Chicken & Dumplings (#51) and Grilled Chicken (#53), but somewhat surprisingly we’ve missed the probably most popular chicken part outside the dieter's classic “101 ways to cook a chicken breast”. With the Football collegiate national championship game just around the corner and next month's Superbowl casting its shadow already, I feel it is more than appropriate to kick off the 2022 edition of our popular Cook-Offs with a dish you all will be eating (and hopefully making) a lot in the upcoming weeks. Even if you are not a football afficionado you should chime in to run a few tests until National Chicken Wing Day in July … Now, similar to the accompanying sport, the humble wing itself can be the center of almost religious zealousness and dispute. Is it “just” a wing, a hot wing or maybe a “real” Buffalo wing – and if either SV'ed, fried, baked, smoked and then coated with which hot sauce, which butter, which ratio between the two? And what do you serve with it? If you find one recipe, you’ll find at least two guys disputing its authenticity. But this is not what this Cook-Off is about – this one is about what you like and make and what you want to share (at least virtually) with us. Hey, we will not even judge if you decide to take the bones out and make Modernist Cuisine's famous (& fancy) boneless teriyaki chicken wing … Equally wholeheartedly contested is which part of the wing makes for the better fried wing** … are you a drums or flats kind of guy/girl ? Do you cut off the wing tip? Do you skewer the whole thing ? And since we are talking merely avian body parts: does it always have to be chicken ? Or maybe duck, goose, turkey or even … ostrich ? And flavorwise, there is far more in the world of wings than the average dweller in the west might have on a regular basis: my family and I, for example, particularly enjoy Korean-style wings, baked & basted with a gochujang-based glaze. I am sure we’ll find other tasty examples from across the globe. So, I hope I’ve made a convincing pitch for the wing. All is left is me looking forward to some strong & enthusiastic participation, and really there is no excuse this time: Quick, inexpensive & tasty, with everyday to gourmet potential – let the Wing games begin! See the complete eG Cook-Off Index here: https://forums.egullet.org/topic/143994-egullet-recipe-cook-off-index/ * the ornithological variety, not Paul McCartney's venture after the Beatles … ** actually, we should all save us some time and agree it is the flat.

This just popped up in my YouTube feed … I think it’s fantastic and just wanted to share:

Yeap … also “handcrafted” the leftover cake crumbs 😜

Well … We successfully managed to lure the Three Kings to Germany (as usually they visit the little one only in Catalunya). He attributes this to leaving out some juicy carrots for the camels, but I am sure it was my wife‘s Pastis del Reis, which turned out very, very god this year …

Rest in peace, Tim !

Yeah … I was looking for something more fancy; like „South-western Alaska pizza, like they make it at Fungholini‘s“ or so …

Since I learned in the Modernist Pizza thread that any pizza can be categorized, I wonder which type I make every now and then. As in my in-laws home no special equipment (read pizza steel, Ooni, a proper working oven) is available I made a pan pizza. Feel free to enlighten me, which style it represents … Half mushroom, ham and olives, half sausage, bacon and Fuet … Fluffy texture … Crunchy bottom

Catalunya 😆

Shrimps & octopus were bought cooked, and the croquettes were also ready-made and just needed to be fried. And if the oil is hot, one can fry whatever lies around 😋 The rest was done en passant, so all in all maybe 30 min. Normally I spend more time than that …