Gordon Ramsay’s Orange and Ginger Caramelized Chicken Wings
I like Gordon Ramsay, although I am not sure exactly what I like about him. He’s loud and brash! Well, to be precise, he’s loud and brash with people who call themselves “Chefs” who try to sell their gruel to the unsuspecting public. In his TV Series Kitchen Nightmares, Chef Ramsay, on behalf of all people who have ever had a bad meal in a restaurant, yells at the Chef and yells again until they get it right! While the yelling might not be so pleasant, Chef redeems himself by being the Mother Theresa of the kitchen and by the time he leaves he has not only made them a better Chef but usually a better person too! I have been enamored with Chef Ramsay for much longer then he has been on TV in the U.S. A British pal of mine turned me on to the BBC version of Kitchen Nightmares years ago. One of the things I liked most about the British version of Kitchen Nightmares was Chef Ramsay performed more demos on how to prepare the dishes than he does on the U.S version.
Recently on Twitter I started following @GordonRamsay01. He is not a prolific twitterer but when he twitters he twitters well! Gordon twitters recipes. Delicious sounding recipes. Recipes for the home cook like Chocolate chip and Walnut Banana Bread or even videos on how to cook an Easter Leg of Lamb. But the recipe that caught my eye was for Orange and Ginger Caramelized Chicken Wings which is from a new cookbook Chef Ramsay has coming out on May 11.
Now for the food confessional. I feel nervous. What in tarnation is humble little Patty Pie doing reviewing a recipe from one of the greatest Chefs in the world? Maybe I should save myself the trouble of actually cooking the recipe and say, “It’s from Gordon Ramsey, therefore it’s excellent!” But no, I am going to take the apron by the strings, cook Gordon’s chicken wings and tell you exactly what I think. I can hear Chef Ramsay’s voice in my head right now saying “What are you doing, you donkey!” But as my friends and family know, I never let voices in my head stop me from doing anything. In fact, they often encourage me. But I digress…
Let’s start with the ingredients. The sauce is made up of shallots, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, orange juice and zest, sugar, water and fish sauce. I had no trouble finding all of these ingredients at my local grocery store. I will recommend that if you live near an Asian Market you may find items like lemongrass and ginger are fresher and usually much less expensive. In a regular supermarket you will usually find the fish sauce in the isle that has the soy sauce. Again if you get the fish sauce in an Asian Market I find it is a fraction of the cost of a regular store. I had never used lemongrass before. I found a little bundle of three stocks for $1.29. I took a little taste and it is indeed very lemony with a bit of spice. Chef Ramsay says to trim and “bash” the Lemongrass. So I trimmed any dark parts off and hit it with a meat tenderizer. I think I may have pummeled the lemongrass rather than “bash” it, because it did fall apart in a big way when it started cooking. In the recipe Chef Ramsay twittered, he has the measurement for the sugar by weight. I am not sure if that is how it will appear in the cookbook, but with my little kitchen scale I had no problem in getting the right amount. Measuring by weight is certainly a foolproof way to cook.
The recipe also calls for cooking the shallots, ginger, garlic, lemongrass and orange zest in a bit of oil before adding the liquid ingredients. This really helps in releasing the flavor into the sauce, so don’t miss that step. Once that is done you add the water, sugar and orange juice and cook for 3 minutes until the mixture is a bit syrupy. Follow Chef’s Ramsay’s directions and you can’t go wrong. Once the sauce is done, simply season the chicken with a bit of salt and pepper and sear in a bit of oil. Just remember – to get a good sear, make sure the pan is hot enough. I always just touch a corner of the meat down in the pan, and when I hear a sizzle just as the meat touches, it’s ready to go. Just remember, don’t crowd the chicken in the pan or you won’t get a nice sear. If overcrowded, the chicken will steam more than it will sear. Once you are done searing the chicken, you put it in a pan, cover it with the sauce and put it in the oven for 45 minutes, basting once half way through. Simple as pie… or even simpler. 🙂
Now for the moment of truth. How does it taste? I don’t know how else to put it, but they are terribly delicious, a bit of heaven on a chicken wing, ambrosia of the pub crowd. Or, as my husband put it, “That’s a darn good wing!” Chef Ramsay, you didn’t fail me. I served the chicken wings for dinner in a bowl over some rice with a little of the reserved sauce over top. We ate the wings with our fingers and then the rice with chopsticks. It was good. You could just as well eat these wings with a good beer while watching your favorite team.
This looks fantastic. I know that my family and friends that come over for our “football Sundays” would love these. I have never heard of lemon grass before ( can you tell how much I cook?) but I have a lemon tree in the backyard and they fall on the grass. Can I pick that grass and use it?
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Orange zest is the orange peel, right? Do you grate it? Can you tell I really do not venture out much with cooking?
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I am a very basic cook. I make some foods really well that my kids like but mostly midwestern basic food like meatloaf, chili, chicken on the grill….stuff like this. This column will be a great learning experience for me.
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One of my biggest imperfections is my dislike for cooking and I said I was going to learn how to cook when I retired so I better follow through on that.
I am pretty sure you need the actual lemongrass – not lemony grass.:-) In the picture of the ingredients at the very bottom is what lemon grass looks like. Kind of a big hard green onion.
Zest is orange peel- I take it off the orange peel with a fine grater – you have to be careful to only get the orange part and not the white part (called the pith) because that is bitter. Zest the orange before you juice it.
These really have a nice fresh taste – people will think you have slaved for hours 😉
PP, looks and sounds delicious! I like how you can serve it as a meal or an appetizer.
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Pam, I love lemongrass. The real kind, LOL! Have you ever smelled a lemongrass candle? Devine! Wait, I think I am digressing like PP….
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Keep listening to those voices in your head, PP. So far, they seem to be steering you pretty good!
PP this looks awesome. One small question…does the fish sauce have gluten in it? Looks alone gets it a 6 out of 5 in my book. This is a recipe I can share with my son & his family. They love chicken wings! PP, I enjoy how you present your recipes. Thanks
Slice of Pie,
Looks great, and if I make this I wonder how they would be in a crock pot for a few hours, as to not heat up the kitchen?? I suppose they would fall off the bone, but I’m going to try it on low and see what it happens. If served over rice, it wouldn’t matter if they were a little more done. You can go grow lemon grass in your herb garden, very easy to grow.
I see a show in your future:) Maybe you and your BF could do a cooking show. 🙂
1free@spirit –
The ingredients on my bottle of fish sauce says Anchovy Extract, salt, sugar.
Oh and wait in big letters at the bottom it says GLUTEN FREE
It’s Thai Kitchen Premium Fish Sauce.
Hi Snickers I don’t use a crockpot much. I don’t know why. I wonder if it would work better in a crockpot if you just used chicken parts? Do you do chicken parts in the crockpot? Be sure to let us know how it works.
Snickers also good tip on growning your own lemongrass. Does it grow big and tall? It kind of looks a bit like bamboo to me.
Dear Patty Pie,
Anytime you decide to invite me for dinner, hint…. hint….. I am free.
Oh yum! These look scrumptious. How I wish rural PA would sprout an Asian market or two. I never cooked with lemongrass, and rarely spend money on shallots, but I may just try these.
What kind of rice do you use?
I love the photos.
LOL Samantha! I’ll keep that in mind!
Ann – Like to use Jasmine rice it has a nice flavor. I often just use brown rice cooked in chicken stock.
While I think the shallot is nice in this recipe – I think you could get away using onion too, I find that shallots cook down a bit better than onion so they disappear into the sauce so just cut your onion fine.
Maybe you can ask Henry =Kate’s veggie guy to grow shallots and lemongrass? 😉
pattiepie,
In cold climates you have to replant lemon grass every year, but will come back if you protect over a harsh winter. Ususally covering in with heavy wet leaves will do the trick. In very sunny and even temps most of the year like California, it will grow all year long. You can purchase plants at garden centers or from a mail order catalog. It’s easy to grow.
This recipe looks DELICIOUS! And I love almost all of the ingredients (especially lemongrass – those who haven’t had it don’t know what they are missing!). Except for fish sauce. No way am I eating fish sauce. I can taste even the most minute amount of fish flavor in a dish. I do not like fish. But I think maybe I could substitute a bit of soy sauce, and get some of the same flavors, if not quite as complex. I can’t wait to try this recipe! Thanks, Pattypie!
Yum! Pattypie, I’m going to gain weight just by looking at the pictures!
I am now hankering for these chicken wings. I need to make them soon. My mouth is watering.
Jennie I have read that soy sauce with lime is a good substitute for the fish sauce!
Theresa – They are really good wings. I kind of wanted not to like them because I think it would have made a funner post but I LOVED them!
Ooh, adding lime juice (another taste I love!) is a great idea. Thanks!
PP, plant lemon grass is a corner of your yard. It is a beautiful plant even if you never use it. It can get big, and if over the years it gets too big, just dig out a part of it. It will reshape itself. I cut mine back in the fall, love the new shoots in the spring. The young shoots have a better taste to them.
These look wonderful -nice pics! You’re quite the cook Pie! I appreciate you making these and giving feedback…I’m both a GR and TopChef junkie and have always wondered if the food tastes as good as it looks. I’ve never cooked with lemongrass so it will be interesting to give it a try.
My, what lovely wings you have P. Pie. Looks yummy!
The song “On the wings of love” come to mind.
I like Ramsey and his show “Hell’s Kitchen” He certainly likes to misuse the adjective that starts with an F, but I do agree, each chef leaves Hell’s Kitchen with an inner strength they lacked, with growth and attention to detail. He sort of breaks them down, to build them back up again. A Kitchen Boot Camp.
I have been looking for an excuse to drive by the Gosselin house. I am going to go to the gate and when asked, answer, “I am looking for Henry the vegetable guy. I heard he grows shallots and lemon grass.”
I’m in the same darn boat as Ann! Rural living has it’s perks but I’d have to drive 3hrs to get to an Asian Market..but I will look for Lemon Grass & Fish Sauce when I go to the “city”…not really a city by most’s standards this weekend. Thanks for the tip on Soy Sauce & Lime that I can do! Hopefully the bigger Stores will at least carry Lemon Grass I really want to give that recipe a try. At the same time I’ll check out the Garden Center I think I’ll try my hand at planting some..it seems to be gaining popularity I’ve seen it in several recipes lately & I like to try new herbs. Thanks for the info Snickers & Pie.
Those look and sound delicious. My mouth is watering !
My husband loves wings. …
Wonder if he’ll make these for me?
Ooooh. I love it , bloghawg, that your husband cooks. I wish my husband would retire so he could cook. 😉
Pam,
The hubs doesn’t know he cooks yet. I’m breaking it to him slowly because I know he’ll love these wings !
He does grill though.
It is early morning, but I would love some of those right now. Yum, it sounds so good. What a great read too. I have never heard of fish sauce, didn’t know there was such a thing. I don’t have to drive for the ingredients, so I think I will be trying this one soon.
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Thanks Patty Pie.
To all those buying fish sauce for the first time- I promise to post another recipe using it so the rest of the bottle doesn’t go to waste. It does last along time.
pattypie, thanks for the name of the fish sauce. So glad it’s gluten-free. I will be able to enjoy this dish along with my family. Yuummm!
Pattypie, I wanted to let you know that I finally got around to making this dish and it was delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe.
Hi Jennie so glad you liked it!
We really enjoyed it when I made it too!
pattipie,
I made these and did put them in a crockpot on low. The flavor was delicious, but they did fall off the bone. Next time I am making them the way you posted them. I used a wild rice as the side dish and it was good.
Now, for that leftover fish sauce???