Aromatic Sweet (aka Swiss) Wings (瑞士雞翅)

Aomatic Sweet (aka Swiss) Wings (瑞士雞翅) is a popular dish unique to Hong Kong. There is a story behind the name of this dish. Apparently, the word "sweet" spoken by a Chinese waiter was misinterpreted as "Swiss" by a Western customer! The use of soy sauce, rock sugar and aromatics give these chicken wings a sweet aromatic taste and a gleaming glossy look that is so appealing. They are definitely finger licking good! Mmmm.....

Video Link: https://youtu.be/w8RGQCFxbIo

Ingredients

• 12 chicken wings (cut at the joints into 2 pieces, discard wing tips)

• 2 cups of water

• 5 slices ginger

• 2 tbsp fried onion (use spring onion, if available)

• Seasoning:

• 1/4 cup rock sugar

• 1 1/2 star anise

• 1/2 piece cinnamon stick#

• 1 cardamom pod

• 1/3 cup light soy sauce

• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

• 1 cup water

Method

1. Boil 2 cups of water in a pot. When the water starts to boil, add ginger and fried (or spring) onion and cook for 1 minute or  two.

2. Add the chicken wings.  Cover and bring water to a boil.

3. When the water start to boil, remove the chicken wings to an ice bath.

4. Let the chicken wings sit in the ice bath until completely cool. Strain and set aside.

5. Into a pot, add star anise, cinnamon stick, cardamom, light and dark soy sauces, oyster sauce, rock sugar and 1 cup water.

6. Add the cooled chicken wings to the mixture.

7. Bring the mixture to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 20 mins. During the simmering proces, turn the chicken wings regularly to ensure the wings are evenly coated with the sauce.

8. Remove chicken wings and continue cooking the sauce to reduce it to a thick and glossy consistency.

9. Once the sauce reaches a thick and glossy consistency, turn off the heat. Add the wings back into the sauce and coat them evenly with the sauce.