Buffalo wing
- This article is about the food. For the roller hockey team, see Buffalo Wings (roller hockey).
Buffalo Wings, Chicken Wings, Hot Wings or Wings are chicken wing sections (called the wing, or "flat" and drum stick) that are deep fried and then coated in sauce. Traditional Buffalo style chicken wing sauce is composed of two ingredients: a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and margarine or butter. Buffalo wings may also be prepared with breading and sauce.
Buffalo wings are named after the city of Buffalo, New York where they originated. [1] In the Buffalo, New York area, the local residents do not refer to them as "Buffalo Wings". They are usually referred to as "Wings" or "Chicken Wings". The appellation "Buffalo" is now commonly applied to foodstuffs other than wings, such as Chicken fingers, Chicken nuggets, Popcorn Chicken, et cetera, that are seasoned with the Buffalo style sauce or variations of it.
Preparation
Cayenne pepper hot sauce, traditionally Frank's Red Hot Sauce, along with butter or margarine is used in preparing the sauce.[2] Buffalo wing sauce can be made with a variable amount of heat/spiciness with the names of these sauces generally corresponding to the level of heat, such as mild, medium, or hot.
In most cases, each contains the same base sauce but varies in the amount of butter and hot sauce used. Purists argue that margarine, rather than butter, is required for the right consistency and taste.[citation needed] Wings can also be served dry with the sauce on the side. Buffalo wings are typically served with celery sticks, carrot sticks and blue cheese dressing. [3]
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Variants
While wings served in Buffalo are almost always unbreaded, some national restaurant chains, such as Hooters, do use breaded wings. [4] In the course of proper preparation of breaded wings, the breading soaks up the hot sauce, making the flavoring more even and the wings less messy to eat.
Some wing restaurants offer wings spiced with other styles of sauces or hot spices, such as Cajun or Caribbean-style jerk spices. Another variation are wings "from the pit" or simply "pit". These wings are fried, tossed in barbecue sauce, then placed on the grill for a quick charring. Sometimes the barbecue sauce will have hot sauce mixed with it, but this is not needed. Lemon garlic or Greek wings are a non-spicy variant also offered by some restaurants. Also, these wings are breaded and fried as opposed to being just fried. Some restaurants bread their wings and then toss them in a mixture of seasonings, varying from hot to mild, rather than a sauce.
In addition, restaurants may include on their menus a dish called "Boneless Wings". Boneless wings usually are made of breaded chicken breast meat strips. They are called "Boneless Wings" because they are tossed in wing sauce like Buffalo Wings, although without the sauce they bear more resemblance to chicken strips or tenders.
References
- ^ http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/buffwinghistory.htm
- ^ "Frank's Red Hot History and Facts" (html). Frank's Red Hot.com.
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