I love learning new recipes but when I cook, my main focus is flavours. I tend to ask questions such as, do I want something sweet, sour, savoury or a mix of each? Feeling inspired by the fragrant and spicy flavours of the West Indies, this recipe is light yet impactful on flavour.
A starch (mainly rice) accompanied by a meat (chicken is a popular flavour) is a frequent meal option in the Caribbean and it is always a good option. We love our sauces, and I mean LOVE. My mom used to order take-out from this one restaurant and bring her own container that had compartments. One of those compartments is dedicated solely to gravy. Our love for sauce is serious.
However, sometimes I want the meat to taste like, well, meat. I found this recipe, I created for chicken wings allowed some flavour but kept the integrity of the chicken taste. Feel free to play around with the ingredients and share what you came up with! I’m always excited to hear of new flavour combinations.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Dainty Basmati Rice
- 2 tsp low sodium, msg free, gluten-free chicken broth powder
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 cup Grace Coconut Milk
- 1 cup tap water
- 1 tbsp butter
- Sea salt to taste
- 2 lbs whole chicken wings
- 1 ripe large Mango, seeded and peeled
- 1 tsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/2 tsp scotch bonnet hot sauce
- 1/2 tsp Maggi seasoning
- 1 tbsp San-J Tamari gluten-free Soy Sauce
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/8 tsp grated nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground sage
- 1/2 tsp low sodium, msg free, gluten-free chicken broth powder dissolved in 1/2 cup water
- Pinch of Sea salt
Instructions
For the wings:
SEASON wings will all ingredients in large glass pyrex dish. Mix until all wings are well coated. Cover with saran wrap and let season in fridge for a min of 2hrs to overnight.PREHEAT oven to 400 degrees celsius. Remove saran wrap and place chicken wings in middle rack of oven. After 20 minutes, turn chicken wings in dish to ensure even browning on both sides. Increase temperature to 425 degrees celsius and bake for 30-40 minutes until desired brown-ness and sauce is bubbling. Allow to rest before serving.
For the rice:
POUR rice, ground turmeric, chicken broth powder, coconut milk and water in a medium pot. Bring to a boil on high heat.ADD salt and butter when rice is boiling. Turn heat down to very low (number 1) and cover completely. Cook until all water is dissolved (approx 10-15mins) and rice is al dente. Turn off the heat, fluff with a fork and let sit prior to serving.
Notes
After-the-fact Wisdoms:
The best way to cook rice is to have a 2:1 ratio of liquids to rice. Note that anything you add to rice will either draw moisture out or add more moisture. For e.g potatoes take moisture and tomatoes add moisture.
A great way to check if rice is ready, is to take a fork and push a very little amount of rice aside til you see the bottom of the pot. If there is still water, it's not quite done yet. If all the water is done, Your rice is ready.
In the recipe, I used the term 'fluff' for the rice. To fluff rice, take a fork and move the right around until it is no longer packed in the pot.
Bon Apetit and happy eating!
