Coca-Cola Chicken Wings

When you’ve got a lovely flatmate such as Rita, the kitchen is constantly filled with the most incredible, authentic Asian cuisine.

Originally from a small town outside of Peking, Rui (or as she’s known by her Spanish name ‘Rita’) moved to Madrid to study a Master’s degree in museum curation at the local Complutense University.

In two years she not only completed her degree after a gaining a highly sought-after internship at the world famous Prado Museum, but also became fluent in Spanish and fully immersed herself in the Iberian culture.

Before she moved back to her native China, we found an afternoon for her to whip you up an out of this world, east-meets-west recipe that is all the rage back in her home country: Coca-Cola Chicken Wings.

Ingredients

1/2 kilo chicken wings
2cm cube of fresh ginger, finely chopped2 cinnamon sticks
330ml can of coca-cola
A glug of olive oil
50ml soy sauce

Put the chicken wings into a large pot

And fill with water until the wings are well submerged

Slowly bring to the boil and allow to bubble away for 2-3 mins

Remove from heat and drain

With your pan on a medium heat, cover the bottom on your frying pan with a glug of olive oil

Pop in your cinnamon sticks and finely chopped ginger and add in your wings

Sear until lightly brown all over and then crack open that can of coke and pour away! Make sure you’ve given all the wings a nice coat in the brown nectar before turning down your heat slightly.

Leave to simmer away on a medium heat for around 25mins, or until the coke has significantly reduced and has thickened. Remember to stir your pan every 5mins or so and regularly flip the wings to ensure they are cooked through.

Then add your soy sauce and continue to simmer until your coke has reduced to a thick glaze. Another 10mins or so should do it.

Allow them to tumble enticingly onto your plate and serve while piping hot!

Napkins are a must for when you finally get your hands on the finished product – if you think coke is normally sticky, wait until you reduce it down to a glaze!

These wings are a fun addition to a night in watching the football with friends, or as part of a buffet.

Thanks for taking your time to cook with us, Rita!

Kitchen Basics: Cinnamon Sugar

It wasn’t until very recently that I got a taste for cinnamon.

I would always associate it with over-spiced mulled wine or the bright red cinnamon jelly beans whose taste paled in comparison with the delicious pink ones (the flavour never really mattered, it was a simple formula of pink = yummy).

But on the drive somewhere between Boston and Iowa this summer, my eyes were opened to the magical world of sweetened cinnamon.

Cinnamon sugar has now become a staple on my kitchen counter and I wanted to share my easier-than-easy recipe with you all.

Ingredients

1/3 cinnamon powder
2/3 white sugar

Mix with spoon until fully combined.

Take a good whiff of the sweetened delciousness before storing in a clean, dry container.
I have millions of these small glass jars lying around that are perfect for storing such things. But a tupperware container would work just as well.

If you store it in a lid-less jar like mine, cut a square of brown paper to cover the top and secure with an elastic band.

You can pop a few grains of rice into the sugar to soak up any moisture that gets into the container. Moisture in sugar or salt makes it horribly clumpy.

Here are some ideas to put your cinnamon sugar to good use:

• Sprinkled on buttered toast
• Stirred into a steaming mug of hot chocolate
• As a topping for a homemade apple pie
• To sweeten natural yoghurt or porridge/oatmeal
• On warmed, sliced apples for a simple dessert or snack