Teriyaki Chicken Wings

Yep, another teriyaki recipe! I will not rest until I find the perfect one! The one last time was quite ok, but a bit too strong, I thought. This one doesn't have any rice vinegar, so I thought it might be a bit better...

What you need:
500g chicken wings
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
salt

For the teriyaki sauce:
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons Kikkoman soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey

What you do:

1. Perforate the chicken skin with a fork. Sprinkle some salt and leave for 5 minutes. Drop chicken in boiling water for a second, drain and pat dry.
2. Combine all the teriyaki sauce ingredients , excluding the honey, in a pan and warm through until the sugar dissolves. Remove the pan from the heat and add the honey.
3. Pour half of the teriyaki sauce into a tray, add the chicken and marinate for 20 minutes.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan on high heat and fry the chicken, skin-side down, until golden brown. Turn the chicken over and reduce the heat to medium high. Add the remaining sauce to the pan and cook until the sauce looks glazed.

I just found out that teriyaki means "grilled to shine", so basically, any teriyaki sauce should look nice and glossy. Well, this sauce was nice and glossy, but for some reason, the chicken wings were very.... waxy. The sauce wouldn't stick at all, just fell off. It was very weird. I don't cook much wings, so I don't really know if this is common...

I don't really know why you boil the chicken, as well. I remember Ka Anum telling me last time that dipping chicken in boiling water briefly makes it absorb any marinade easily, so maybe that's why?
Also, there was a lot of scum at the top of the water, so maybe it cleans the chicken up a bit. Am grabbing at straws here :P You make your own guess ;)

Anyway, the chicken itself was quite nice. I was a bit hasty and didn't fry the chicken long enough, but the ones that WERE fried for a bit longer tasted much much better. I'll be sure not to skip this step out next time. I might also repeat this with boneless chicken thighs instead. Might taste a bit better...

It *was* again a bit too sweet for me, though not as INTENSE as last time. So maybe I would ease up on the sugar as well, and add more water or soy sauce or something. Hadi wouldn't appreciate that though :P For him, everything is "not sweet enough!"

Anyway...

Quote of the day: If hunger makes you grumpy, better to eat and be pleasant