SWISS WINGS: GREAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

The other day I bought a pound of chicken wings in Chinatown. When I got home I cooked them. They are in the refrigerator, and make a perfect midnight snack.


瑞士雞翼
['Seui-si kai yik']

Swiss Wings are soaked then simmered in a soy sauce base, flavoured with sugar, ginger, chopped scallion, and rice wine. They are a Hong Kong thing, with no conceivable connection to Switzerland.

You can either make the liquid at home, or simply buy a bottle of it pre-made in Chinatown. It can also be used for larger parts of the bird, or as a marinade for any number of meats.

General rule of thumb: add as much water as sauce, to ensure even coverage and cooking. When the meat is done, remove to a plate, and reduce the sauce down to a suitable glazy thickness, OR reduce only slightly and serve splashed over the birdie bits.


Probably best with a pile of rice, but never-the-less superlative feasted upon over the sink at two in the morning with nothing else to accompany it. If you want "balance" in you diet, add a few eggs to the pot to hard-boil while cooking the wings.


If you add a splash of vinegar, it keeps longer in the fridge, and passes more than credibly for adobo. Which, when Filipinos come visit, is probably a good thing indeed. You never know when Filipinos will surprise you. Sometimes it is years between visitations, sometimes they magically appear when garlic and vinegar are used together.
It is a profound mystery.

Garlic can be added.

Very Filipino.


I tend to employ a squeeze of lime juice and a little saucer of chilipaste with nearly everything, but Swiss Wings do not need it.
Yes, fine with. But equally fine without.

Go by taste. Always go by taste.

Do not eat wings in bed.

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