Orange Ginger Honey Chicken Wings

There is a Chinese saying that you first eat with your eyes, then your nose, then your mouth. In the case of these savory and sweet honey chicken wings it will be the smell of them cooking in the oven that will grab you around the taste buds and drag you into the the kitchen.

The smell of orange mixed with the sweetness of ginger, melted into honey will cause a mouth-watering curiosity to those in the vicinity, compelling them to reach for the oven door and peek inside. “Oh my, what are those?!”

The tantalizing smell is the first tap on the door of your senses. The golden brown skin of these honey chicken wings, crispy, glistening and sticky with glaze is a visual delight.

As kids we are taught there are five basic senses; sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. I argue there is actually another sense, the 6th sense. Common sense. It is often the first to be overlooked and it goes mute, turns a blind eye or we lose it altogether when faced with a delectable goody. Sweet, savory, tart, it doesn't matter. We know we lost it when the internal negotiations begin, the bartering, the weighing of trade-offs, the reasoning or lack thereof. We debate with ourselves about how much we can eat without loosening the belt, without reaching for sweat pants and their stretchy waistband. Or worse yet, we consider taking the bottoms off altogether in our internal tug of war over the quantity we can eat. This is the sign of a winner dish. This is one of those meals.

The last batch of these honey chicken wings I made, I tripled the quantity and we still had nothing left; nuttin', nada, zip. Next time I make honey chicken wings it's going to be a quadruple batch. I purchase wings when they are on sale and stock up because I make so many at a time. I always put foil down on the cookie sheet and then lightly grease it before placing the chicken onto the foil. I learned the hard way that these tasty little jewels can stick something fierce. So – I repeat – lightly grease foil placed on cookie sheet and you are ready to go. When done, I just remove the honey chicken wings and place onto a platter, roll up the foil and toss it in the trash. Clean up is a breeze.

Sweet Glazed Honey Chicken Wings

As a side dish I make garlic mashed potatoes or some sort of rice, steamed vegetables and a big glass of sun tea. I dare you to eat just one. It's virtually impossible! Kind of like trying to get these little beauties off an ungreased cookie sheet. Trust me.