Sticky Lime & Ginger Glaze

Monday, March 30, 2020

Sticky Lime & Ginger Glaze

Some days you have to say “Bugger it!” and accept that:

The Millennium Hand holds all the shrimps, *
It has you fixed in its steely gaze, and
COVID-19 is a nasty and unavoidable reality

That’s when you throw down Sticky Lime & Ginger Glazed Chicken Wings on the green baize and loftily declare: I’m out! Not that you’re going anywhere soon, but it’s the idea that counts!

Sticky Lime & Ginger Glazed chicken wings are for those days in the pre-COVID-19 universe when the general daily susurration of holding everything together becomes too much and you need to log out from Reality for an evening of mindless couch lolling. In the gentle, pacifist style of Mahatma Gandhi’s conscientious resistance the Glaze represents a gesture – a small, droll rebellion if you wish – against the daily grind of keeping of life and limb together.

The glaze itself is eminently suitable for chicken, pork and white fish, but not beef nor lamb. The iron laden myoglobin of both beef and lamb offsets the pure and simple tastes of sweet lime, garlic and pungent ginger with an underpinning of metallic bitterness.

I am aware that Chinese and most South East Asians cooks and gastronomes will disagree with the above dauntless statement regarding the harmonious pairing of beef and ginger. However, the ultimate truth is that beef and ginger don’t easily pair well when the cook is in a famished hurry to do some serious contemplation of the navel after a rather trying day out and about.

Both Chinese and SE Asian cooks force their gingered beefs in advance to jump through figurative hoops preparation-wise before there is final harmony in the wok and on the chopsticks. That is not our object here. Speed and efficient simplicity is of the essence with this recipe for when you have to reset the Universe in a hurry and restore innermost harmony and balance.

* According to Sir Terry Pratchett’s illustrious character, Foul Ole Ron.

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STICKY LIME & GINGER GLAZE

– PRINT RECIPE –

Recipe yields:

6 Chicken wings or

2 Medium pork cutlets

Preparation time:

± 10 Minutes

Baking time:

35 – 45 Minutes

Difficulty level:

Easy

Special Equipment Required:

1 x Oven roasting pan with suitably sized wire cooling rack inside

Ingredients:

Golden syrup	30ml
Lime juice	20ml
Corn flour	10ml
Ground ginger	5ml
Citric acid	2.5ml
Salt	2.5ml

During the last 5 minutes of roasting:
Crushed garlic powder	5ml
Sumac, optional	5ml

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Method:

Combine the syrup, juice, flour, ginger, citric acid and salt in a small, heat proof bowl. Mix thoroughly. Warm slightly if necessary to thoroughly combine all the ingredients.
Combine and mix the garlic powder and sumac. Cover and set aside until needed.
Arrange and space the meat on the wire rack to allow even roasting with no touching.
Using a basting brush, coat the meat lightly on both sides with the glaze.
FOR THE CHICKEN WINGS:
Roast for 15 minutes in a preheated convection oven at ±165°C (180°C in a normal static oven). Turn and coat with glaze. Roast a further 10 minutes. Turn and coat with glaze again and evenly sprinkle the mixed garlic and sumac over both sides of the glazed wings. Roast a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
FOR THE PORK CUTLETS:
Roast for 20 minutes in a preheated convection oven at ±165°C (180°C in a normal static oven). Turn and coat with glaze. Roast a further 15 minutes. Turn and coat with glaze again and evenly sprinkle the mixed garlic and sumac over both sides of the glazed wings. Roast a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, check for doneness. Roast for a further 5 – 8 minutes if not done. Serve immediately.
FOR THE WHITE FISH:
Roast for 10 minutes in a preheated convection oven at ±165°C (180°C in a normal static oven). Turn and coat with glaze. Roast a further 10 minutes. Turn and coat with glaze again and evenly sprinkle the mixed garlic and sumac over both sides of the glazed wings. Roast a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.