MAY THE 4th BE WITH YOU: X-WING BLASTER WINGS recipe

It's Star Wars Day, May the 4th, May the 4th Be With You . . . get it?

 I decided to honour today with a chicken wing recipe.

I searched the net to see if others had done star wars chicken wings, but I couldn't find anything. I wanted something that would tie into the star wars world, but food isn't very important in this franchise, so I had a pretty clean slate.

Now I'm an Empire man myself, a vetern of the old TIE Fighter gaming series, and the AT-ST's & AT-AT's seemed like a way to go - but nothing tasty seems to fit. Then it hit me, X-Wings have wings right in the name! And they shoot lasers, so blaster/hot/spicy was a natural conclusion.

But I wanted to elevate these wings to another level, and that meant a secret ingredient, worthy of the force. Ketchup Pop Corn Seasoning.

INGREDIENTS

• Wings (1 pound)
• Ketchup Flavoured Popcorn Seasoning
• Cayenne Pepper
• Spanish Sweet Paprika
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Garlic Powder
• Baking Soda
• Flour
• Liquid Smoke
• Butter
• Hot Sauce (3rd Degree)
• 1-2 eggs (for egg wash)

For the most part, these are pretty straight forward, breaded, deep-fried wings with just a few blaster zaps of flavour to make them nuanced.

Adding some liquid smoke to the wings for, well, smokey flavour. Then a quick dusting of flour to give something for the egg wash to hold on to.

Next I dipped the wings into the eggs, then dropped them into a paper bag with the flour and seasonings. It might be hard to believe, but that`s a drummette in the above photo, and not a leg drumstick. The wings I got at the butchers were massive on this visit.

A little shake shake shake in the bag and these wings were properly breaded. They went onto a wire rack and chilled in the fridge for just over an hour.

Then the deep fryer was heated up and into the oil bath they went.

The wings came out as crispy, delicious looking fried chicken. Not only could you just eat them sauced like this, you could also just eat this as fried chicken.

Now here`s where the "blaster" part of these wings come in - a mix of chili flakes with the ketchup popcorn seasoning. This seasoning came from Bulk Barn, and it's a good quality seasoning. If you are like me, I love popcorn, but love popcorn with various seasonings even more.

The ketchup seasoning doesn't have a strong tomato taste, but rather the sweet yet acidic/sour properties of ketchup. Be generous in your sprinkling of this secret ingredient.

Again, at this stage the wings would be ready to eat as a very tasty dry wing. But these wings need to take on the Empire . . .

. . . so we add a spicy hot sauce/butter mixture that was placed in a squirt bottle and drizzled over. These aren't supposed to be saucy, because you might loose the crispy skin and that ketchup seasoning with spices.

I also decided to have some 'blue milk' that Luke's aunt Beru served on Tatooine. It was just chocolate milk with blue food colouring.

The wings turned out crispy - the skin was deep fried just right. The seasoning mix was tart, sweet and spicy and tasted like no wing I've ever had before. There was also that hint of smoke that gave another layer. The sauce gave that nice lubrication that complimented, rather than detracted. I kept licking my fingers it was so good.

So if you are looking for something unique this Star Wars Day, my Rebel Blaster X-Wings are the way to go. Sharp and accurate, just like an X-Wing's blaster, with a residual smoke trail following.



I did ask the galaxy what they would do, and here are a few good ideas too:

Anyway, May the 4th Be With You . . . Always. And enjoy the new Star Wars trailer if you haven't seen it yet: