Orange is the New Black: Taystee’s Sweet & Hot Chicken Wings

Taystee’s Sweet & Hot Chicken Wings

We really understand Taystee’s love of fried chicken in Season 1 Episode 6, when she promises to bring fried chicken to the prison cafeteria as part of her campaign.  Once elected, one of the complaints she brings to Healey is the poor excuse for hot sauce available; she’d prefer they bring Rooster sauce to the cafeteria.

Now I made a slight mistake in the beginning by not separating the wings at the joint.  But they tasted the same, of course.  They were just a bit more awkward to eat.

Also, I tried to make “Taystee’s Thailand Rooster Hot Sauce” to go with this, but it never fermented.  I’m guessing when they said “put in a cool place” they weren’t expecting the fridge-like temperatures in my kitchen.  I’m waiting a few more days to see if it turns out, but otherwise I’ll just have to try again another time.  I used store-bought Rooster Sauce instead for this recipe.

So, the recipe…

While the oil heats up, the sauce was made by combining the Rooster sauce, vinegar, and honey in a pot and heating until it reduces in volume and is sticky.  This was extremely easy to burn, and I ruined my first batch so be careful!

The wings themselves were easier.  Toss in cornstarch and deep fry.  It’s definitely a good idea to have a fry thermometer to avoid burning or undercooking your chicken.

Once done, the wings are tossed with salt, then the sweet & hot sauce, and finally with butter and scallions.

Taste: 8/10

This was good but not worth the effort in my opinion.  My husband didn’t like that they were way more sweet than hot.

Difficulty: Average

It’s easy to burn the Sweet & Hot Sauce, so be careful and don’t feel like you need to cook it for the suggested 10 minutes if it looks done earlier.

Fry oil is also challenging to work with if you don’t have a thermometer.

Cost: Average

You’ll need chicken wings, Rooster Sauce, rice vinegar, honey, cornstarch, butter, and scallions.  Sour cream is also listed as an optional ingredient to serve with, but I really didn’t find this all that spicy.  Maybe I bought the wrong type of Rooster Sauce…but it literally says “Rooster Sauce” on it with a picture of a Rooster.