When my mum is not trekking across foreign lands (like she is now), she keeps herself very busy at home. Very busy. Fiery to her core, she is a woman who just can’t seem to sit still.
This came in handy when, at age 44, she went from career stay-at-home-mum to full-time business development maven and built, in a short 10 years, a career most people spend a lifetime trying to achieve. It’s inspiring to say the least.
It’s also really annoying when, as a typical boomerang generation youth, I moved back in with her for a few months at age 25 to get set up in the new city.
The Pros:
- I got to live in a much nicer apartment than I could ever afford myself at that time.
- I had an awesome roommate who didn’t care if I wore pants… ever.
- Best friend to hang out with pretty much all the time (yep, I’m one of those people- Mum, you’re great).
- Someone to cook for who, in return, brought home to wine to enjoy with said meal. Happiness.
The Cons:
- I was a 25 year old unemployed woman who had no idea what to do with her life and no significant other and no friends and I was living with MY MUM again. It didn’t feel great on paper.
- After the aforementioned wine, the aforementioned mother-roommate would bust into my room at 6am in the godforsaken morning on a Saturday with the vacuum cleaner blaring and start nagging me about the bathroom I was going to clean today. Yes, Mum. I will. At 8am. Or even 7am. But right now I am in bed. Resting.
She’s a woman who likes a checklist. Moreso, she’s a woman who, having conquered said checklist, will create a new checklist immediately because rest is not something we do here, Finn! (editors note: My mum does not call me Finn, but I will spare you all my pseudonyms today)
Right. So what does all this have to do with chicken wings? Well, one of those things my mum does each year (when she’s not in Spain or Nepal or Finland or Colombia…) is make Seville Orange Marmalade.
And it’s good marmalade. It’s excellent, in fact. Trouble is, I rarely eat toast. And if I do, I usually put cheese on it. So, all those jars of marmalade start gathering dust in the pantry.
It would truly be a shame to let all those wonderful preserves go to waste (and you all know how much I hate wasting food), so I started working marmalade into other recipes! It’s perfect for both sweet and savoury dishes and- well, Mum, I really hope you are around next January because… now I’m starting to run dangerously low on marmalade.
These chicken wings are infused with some brilliant Asian flavours and are wonderfully sticky- truly, finger-licking good. We polished off a whole tray of them last Sunday night and honestly, we’ll probably make them again this Sunday. Well, sometime in the next week. Um, probably tonight, to be honest.
| Orange Sesame Chicken Wings | Print |
- 1 kg chicken wings (2.2 lbs)
- 3 Tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- .
- Sauce:
- ¼ cup orange marmalade
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- .
- 3 Tbsp sesame seeds
- Green onions, chopped (optional garnish)
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
- Using a paper towel, pat dry your chicken wings. This step isn't 100% necessary, but if you like crispy skin on your wings it really helps!
- Mix baking powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl and add chicken wings. Toss to coat.
- Line a large baking tray with aluminum foil and set some wire racks on it. Place the chicken wings in a single layer along the racks. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Turn the oven up to 425 degrees, and bake the wings for an additional 30 minutes, rotating the wings half way through.
- In a large bowl, mix together all the sauce ingredients. Toss the chicken wings in the sauce and return them to the oven for 5 more minutes so the sauce can get nice and sticky.
- Sprinkle wings with sesame seeds and chopped green onions and serve immediately.
Love the wings, love the story. Give hope to us boomerangers everywhere!
Thanks, Sophie! I’m so touched by the feedback I’ve gotten on this post- and here I thought no one even read the story parts 😉 Keep on keeping on and enjoy those wings while you’re at it!