Chicken wings are one of our favorite items for grilling or backyard cookout. They are the food of good times, whether you have a frosty beer or lemonade or iced tea that goes with it. If you love your wings with a bold flavor, then you must try these Sweet and Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings. They are addictively good and you better make more because they would be gone in seconds!
The Marinade
I created these wings by adapting from my BBQ Short Ribs recipe. The marinade uses simple pantry ingredients such as soy sauce, mirin, garlic, sesame oil, and sugar. To add a savory heat, the secret is to use gochujang, the essential Korean condiment made from red chili, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, and salt. It has both spicy and sweet flavors and umami from fermented glutinous rice. We really enjoy the marinade and have been using it for different dishes, but one day I decided to give it a little tweak by adding honey and grated apple to the mixture. They were simple additions, but boy, how they could really enhance a dish. The honey adds a deep caramelization to the wings, and the apple gives a subtle tart sweetness. My kids gave this newly improved sweet and spicy marinade a big thumbs up and devoured the wings right away! You can definitely use the marinade in other cuts of chickens, or even for grilled tofu or grilled beef. And don’t forget to adjust the amount of each seasoning to suit your taste.
No matter whether you plan to fire up the grill or bake the wings in the oven, this recipe works. I hope you enjoy!
Delicious Sides to Serve with These Chicken Wings:
Asian Coleslaw with Sesame Dressing Japanese Potato Salad Macaroni Salad Yaki Onigiri (Grilled Rice Balls)
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here. Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
