THE JOURNAL

Buffalo wings. Photograph courtesy of Randy's Wing Bar
How to make buffalo wings to fend off the effects of the night before.
If you have the time, money and patience, there is nothing quite like being lavished with the cooking techniques and service that comes with a 14-dish taster menu at a three-Michelin-starred restaurant. If you’re looking to mop up a hangover, however, no gastronomic flourishes in the world can compete with the satisfaction provided by something sweet, fatty, filling and, above all, fast.
With this in mind, we spoke to Mr Richard Thacker – co-owner of east London chicken-wing specialists Randy’s – about the perfect snack to make the morning (or, let’s be honest, afternoon) after the night before. Enter: the traditional buffalo wing, which Randy’s know a thing or two about. “We started out as a street food outlet in 2013, simply because we love buffalo wings,” says Mr Thacker, who opened the second Randy’s location in the City last week. “Buffalo wings and beer go hand in hand, so they’re good as a party starter,” he says. “But the morning after, they’ve got the spice to get your serotonin going again. There’s a lot of butter and garlic to fire up the taste buds. Fried food is always good on a hangover, although baking them in the oven is easier than cooking them in a huge fryer with loads of oil. This recipe will take no time at all.”
HOME-COOKED BUFFALO WINGS

Ingredients
1kg chicken wings (the largest you can find) Course flour 125g butter 1 tbsp crushed garlic 1 dash Frank’s RedHot sauce Newman’s Own Blue Cheese Dressing, to serve

Method

First, pre-heat your oven to 200ºC. Cut your wings into joints – the drum, the flat and the tip. If you consider the chicken wing like a human arm, the tip is the hand. The forearm is the flat, which has the two bones in it. And the top bit, the bicep, is the drum – it looks like a drumstick. Discard the tip.

Toss the wings in a coarse flour, ensuring they are well covered. Lay the wings out on the rack of a baking tray. Place in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes. The longer you leave them, the crispier the skin gets.

Now the buffalo sauce. While the wings are cooking, melt half a block of butter in a pan. Add the crushed garlic, then add your desired amount of Frank’s RedHot to the pan. (Frank’s was used in the first-ever buffalo wing recipe in the 1960s and is always useful to have in your cupboard.) Warm everything through and stir, then take off the heat.

Using the largest tossing bowl you can find, combine the wings and the sauce. Make sure the wings are coated in the sauce.

Serve with Newman’s Own Blue Cheese Dressing as a side dip. We make blue-cheese sauce from scratch. But if you’re hungover, can you be bothered?

Enjoy.
Worse-for-wear wear
