Coca Cola Chicken Wings

Every now and again there comes a dish that I make and after I've made it, I immediately wonder when I can make it again. I'd long forgotten about Coca Cola chicken wings; it's a popular home-style dish in Hong Kong, but you don't really see it on restaurant menus. It's incredibly simple to make, with few ingredients. Every time I make this now I end up abandoning the vegetable side dishes, slurping the meat off the bones in a pretty grim fashion and covering my face in sauce. Then I spoon more and more of that sauce onto my steamed rice; it really isn't a pretty sight. The combination of savoury, sweet stickiness with a hint of star anise is an addictive one. 

Coca Cola Chicken Wings

Serves 4 with a couple of side dishes

800gr chicken wings
3 cloves of garlic
3 slices of ginger
2 tbsp dark soy
2 tbsp light soy 
1 star anise
1 can of Coke (not diet, or flavoured) 
2 spring onions
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Joint the chicken wings - they're usually in 3 segments, you want to separate the middle bit from the fleshier end (not the wing tip). Place in a bowl and rub with the dark soy sauce. Leave to marinate and while doing so, crush the garlic and separate the whites from the greens of the spring onions and chop the whites roughly. Reserve the green parts, cut into slices diagonally.

Heat the oil up in the wok and brown the chicken pieces well. Remove and set to one side. Stir-fry the garlic, ginger and whites of the spring onions with the star anise. Add the chicken wings back in, stir to coat and add the light soy. Open the can of Coke and pour into the wok. Bring to the boil, then let it simmer for 20 minutes. It may not quite cover the chicken pieces, in which case now turn the pieces over and simmer for another 20 minutes. By this point the sauce should have reduced to become thick and glossy - if not, simmer for longer. 

To serve, place on a serving dish and garnish with the spring onion greens. Serve with steamed white rice.