I have been living here for four years now, and have yet to find a place that serves good Hooter's style chicken wings.
I have made the mistake of ordering "buffalo wings" or "alitas picantes" a few times, and as any red-blooded American would be, I was horrified at what they were trying to serve me. (but politely ate it and paid for it anyway)
So I did some research, and after about 15 attempts have finally come up with a recipe made from 100% readily available local ingredients that I can share with y'all so you can enjoy Hooter's style chicken wings in your own home. If someone could just post a recipe for bleu cheese dressing to go with it I think we will be all set:
Ingredients:
Chicken wings (If you're a big eater like me you need at least a pound per person)
All purpose flour (any brand works fine)
eggs (1 per pound of wings)
cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, chilli powder, salt, (duh) whatever other spices you like
butter (still can't tell how much to use, just have lots on hand in case you run out)
Hot sauce, Luisiana style. (the amount is going to be the same as the butter, "Goya" is pretty good, but a bit mild for my taste, "Baldom" as far as I'm concerned is edible napalm, and everything else is somewhere in between.) Most Dominicans don't eat much picante, but I've gotten good responses from them with the "Goya" version of this recipe nonetheless, if you give them lots of ranch dressing and beer to wash the hot away then they love it. I'm sure if I could get some women to serve it to them in tight white T-shirts and orange shorts they would like it even more, but hey.
Take the wings (make sure they're thawed, if they were frozen) cut them in half at the main joint. Now you have to decide if you want to mess with dressing and cooking that last little wing-tip on the end, since it is 80% inedible, if you get rid of it you will have an easier time with the rest of the preparation and the fry time will be somewhat reduced, but some people like to leave that wing-tip on, so it's your call.
Put the flour in a container that can a) fit at least 6 wing pieces with flour and room left over to shake, and b) has a lid that won't let flour fly everywhere when you shake.
Mix the different peppers, garlic powder and other spices you like with the flour.
Beat your eggs like scrambled eggs. Dip the wing pieces in this and then drop them straight in the flour, shake till nicely covered with flour. Do not let your kids lick their fingers if they are helping.
Take the wing pieces out of the flour and lay them out flat on a plate, cookie sheet or whatever.
Get your oil nice and hot, it should be in a fairly deep pan or a pot. You can buy a deep fryer pretty cheap at almost any big grocery store, this consists of a deepish pan with a basket that fits neatly inside it, if you have any imagination at all I'm sure you can come up with some combination of stuff that will approximate one though. The goal is to be able to get at least 12 wing pieces covered in oil at the same time, so don't be stingy with the oil. It's expensive but you are foreigner so you can afford it. Plus you're saving alot of money by not buying these wings in a restaurant. Plus if you are on a date you are definitely getting laid, whether you're a guy or a girl, since picante turns Dominican girls on, and Dominican guys are always turned on.
Now you drop the wings in the oil and let them cook for about 10-13 minutes. the color should alert you when they are done, but be sure and test one of the thicker pieces from your first batch to make sure it's done all the way through.
In case you haven't guessed, we're working in batches now, and at the rate of 12-15 pieces at a time it is going to take you over an hour if you started with 3 pounds of wings. Try a bigger pot or several medium sized ones to increase your batch size if this is a problem.
Now we make the sauce:
Basically you want to mix half butter with half hot sauce, melt them together over a low fire in a smaller pan, add whatever spices make you feel like a chef to sprinkle in (if anyone is watching, it looks cool to grind fresh black pepper into the sauce)
Then you pour this over the finnished wing pieces, and toss like a salad to ensure even coverage. It is now safe to lick your fingers, but don't let your guests see you.
Alot of people like to give the wing pieces another shake in the flour just before frying, since they are usually sticky again at this point. This makes the breading thinker, which makes more hot sauce stick to the wing, but it's not always necessary.
Serve with ranch and/or bleu cheese, lots of napkins and really, really cold Presidente. Carrot and celery sticks are good, too.
Now can somebody please tell me how to make bleu cheese dressing?
I have made the mistake of ordering "buffalo wings" or "alitas picantes" a few times, and as any red-blooded American would be, I was horrified at what they were trying to serve me. (but politely ate it and paid for it anyway)
So I did some research, and after about 15 attempts have finally come up with a recipe made from 100% readily available local ingredients that I can share with y'all so you can enjoy Hooter's style chicken wings in your own home. If someone could just post a recipe for bleu cheese dressing to go with it I think we will be all set:
Ingredients:
Chicken wings (If you're a big eater like me you need at least a pound per person)
All purpose flour (any brand works fine)
eggs (1 per pound of wings)
cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, chilli powder, salt, (duh) whatever other spices you like
butter (still can't tell how much to use, just have lots on hand in case you run out)
Hot sauce, Luisiana style. (the amount is going to be the same as the butter, "Goya" is pretty good, but a bit mild for my taste, "Baldom" as far as I'm concerned is edible napalm, and everything else is somewhere in between.) Most Dominicans don't eat much picante, but I've gotten good responses from them with the "Goya" version of this recipe nonetheless, if you give them lots of ranch dressing and beer to wash the hot away then they love it. I'm sure if I could get some women to serve it to them in tight white T-shirts and orange shorts they would like it even more, but hey.
Take the wings (make sure they're thawed, if they were frozen) cut them in half at the main joint. Now you have to decide if you want to mess with dressing and cooking that last little wing-tip on the end, since it is 80% inedible, if you get rid of it you will have an easier time with the rest of the preparation and the fry time will be somewhat reduced, but some people like to leave that wing-tip on, so it's your call.
Put the flour in a container that can a) fit at least 6 wing pieces with flour and room left over to shake, and b) has a lid that won't let flour fly everywhere when you shake.
Mix the different peppers, garlic powder and other spices you like with the flour.
Beat your eggs like scrambled eggs. Dip the wing pieces in this and then drop them straight in the flour, shake till nicely covered with flour. Do not let your kids lick their fingers if they are helping.
Take the wing pieces out of the flour and lay them out flat on a plate, cookie sheet or whatever.
Get your oil nice and hot, it should be in a fairly deep pan or a pot. You can buy a deep fryer pretty cheap at almost any big grocery store, this consists of a deepish pan with a basket that fits neatly inside it, if you have any imagination at all I'm sure you can come up with some combination of stuff that will approximate one though. The goal is to be able to get at least 12 wing pieces covered in oil at the same time, so don't be stingy with the oil. It's expensive but you are foreigner so you can afford it. Plus you're saving alot of money by not buying these wings in a restaurant. Plus if you are on a date you are definitely getting laid, whether you're a guy or a girl, since picante turns Dominican girls on, and Dominican guys are always turned on.
Now you drop the wings in the oil and let them cook for about 10-13 minutes. the color should alert you when they are done, but be sure and test one of the thicker pieces from your first batch to make sure it's done all the way through.
In case you haven't guessed, we're working in batches now, and at the rate of 12-15 pieces at a time it is going to take you over an hour if you started with 3 pounds of wings. Try a bigger pot or several medium sized ones to increase your batch size if this is a problem.
Now we make the sauce:
Basically you want to mix half butter with half hot sauce, melt them together over a low fire in a smaller pan, add whatever spices make you feel like a chef to sprinkle in (if anyone is watching, it looks cool to grind fresh black pepper into the sauce)
Then you pour this over the finnished wing pieces, and toss like a salad to ensure even coverage. It is now safe to lick your fingers, but don't let your guests see you.
Alot of people like to give the wing pieces another shake in the flour just before frying, since they are usually sticky again at this point. This makes the breading thinker, which makes more hot sauce stick to the wing, but it's not always necessary.
Serve with ranch and/or bleu cheese, lots of napkins and really, really cold Presidente. Carrot and celery sticks are good, too.
Now can somebody please tell me how to make bleu cheese dressing?
