Frank's Buffalo Bat Wings Recipe

- Please Note: the following is an April Fool's prank for April 1st 2019 -

Apparantly I will do anything for a wing post. 

This past weekend we had some beautiful weather, and I had a unique opportunity to try something completely different; my local butcher sometimes has exotic meats to try out - alligator, kangaroo, snake, but this past weekend, he had bats. Yes bats. I thought to myself, well, they have wings, so why not Buffalo-ize some bat wings!?!?!

This was truly going to test the limit on the S#!T I put Frank's hot sauce on.

INGREDIENTS

• 10 small bats
• 1 bottle of Beer
• Garlic Powder
• Smoked Paprika
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salt & Pepper
• Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Remove the fur (if not already done) Be careful not to tear wing membrane - its very easy to do!
2. Wash the bats
3. Let the bats soak in beer* for 1 hour
4. Dry, rub with spices
5. Either grill bats or add to hot oil to fry & cook for approx 15 minutes until brown & crispy
6. Toss bats in a bowl with Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce
7. Plate & Enjoy!  Have extra sauce or add Blue Cheese for dipping.

First off you want to make sure your bats have most of their fur removed. I don't know if you can get them already de-furred, but if you can, that is much easier. Just like chicken feathers, nobody wants a big old bite of fur in their mouth. To be honest, this step is a little freaky, because it's like you are removing these little guy's sweaters. Be VERY CAREFULL not to tear the wing membrane when doing this. I messed up a bunch of times and the wing doesn't taste the same. Then wash, then soak your bats in beer for 1 hour*. The butcher said apparantly they can SMELL BAD when being cooked, but soaking them tames that odour. Dry the bats and add your spices. Ideally, you would air-dry the rubbed bats in the fridge at least one hour before cooking.

Next, heat up your hot oil so you can get a nice crispy fry going on. Since moving I haven't found my deep fryer, so I used my wok on some coals in my garage. Made me feel authentic when I was cooking these flying mammals. Watch out, they spatter.

Alternatively you can grill the bats over some charcoal. I took one that I had screwed up and tore the wings and used him as a grill subject. While this method has a nice smokey approach, the fried ones had a much better texture.

When they are all done, put them in a bowl, and let that Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce flow. Toss toss toss until well coated.

I won't lie, these were a little hard to eat. I mean, I left the heads on, and that might have been a big mistake. They kind of looked like little Xenomorph/Chest Bursters from Alien. But once you get past that, dang these were tasty.

Bat's are low in fat and high in protien, which means you aren't getting a lot of fat on the wings. If you didn't tear the wings, they will be so crispy, crispier than any chicken wing you will ever have. The meat on the bat is slightly tough and chewy though, but it's very lean and thin so no worries there. As always, the sauce is what makes it.

If you are doing this for company or friends, plate them up nicely. Some cucumber does the trick.

Would I make it again?

Sure. Well probably not, they are a lot of work and the wings just aren't that much. You need to eat a lot to get filled up, but I have to say that these were much better than expected. So as it turns out, I will put that S#!t on anything!!!