Original Anchor Bar Wings
Original Anchor Bar Wings
from Buffalo Dan
The REAL Original Buffalo Chicken "Wing" Recipe!
From an early "frequenter" of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY, Home of the ORIGINAL Buffalo Wing. Below is the recipe! Authentic and (therefore) REAL, and easy Buffalo "Wings". How to make and eat them like a Buffalonian!
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20 some years ago I lived in Buffalo, NY. I worked north of Downtown Buffalo near the corner of Allan (town) and Main. Across the street from the office was a little place called the Anchor Bar. Yes, the home of the original Buffalo Chicken Wing (back then we just called them "Wings") We spent quite a lot of time there, and I got to know Teresa well enough for her to tell me how she made the "Wings" This is her original recipe (it has changed a bit now, as the Anchor Bar now makes their own sauce, which they will ship anywhere)
(order your sauce here, tell them I sent you!)
This recipe is VERY simple! (as it should be, the idea is that wings should be able to be made quickly)
You'll need:
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Chicken wings (as many as you can eat)
Frank's Red Hot Cayenne Pepper Sauce (you can use Red Devil or others, but Frank's is really the best, and what Teresa said she used...)
Margarine/Oleo (do not use butter or oil, Margarine makes the sauce stick better, Butter will cause it to "roll" off)
Oil for cooking (Vegetable or Canola is best)
Celery and Blue Cheese (creamy or chunky) as the side dish, or "fire extinguisher" as we called it :) (mayonnaise optional for a smoother Bleu Cheese sauce. If you have Maria's Bleu cheese dip in your area, that is perfect)
That's it for the ingredients! (see simple!)
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OK... here's how to cook 'em
You'll probably be able to find already cut up chicken wings (tips removed, and "Wingette" and Drumette" already prepared), if not, Cut off the tips, and separate the "Drumette" and "Wingette" at the joints.
Deep frying is best! (and the way they were originally made) (a deep fryer, or a deep heavy pot with a couple of inches of oil (never fill pot more than 1/3rd or so full! - Fire hazard!) Oil should be heated to 375F to 395F (careful, don't let oil smoke!) Best to use a deep frying thermometer. Canola oil may be the best, (Do NOT use Olive Oil!)
Add only as many wings as will make about one layer. Too many will cause the oil temperature to drop too low for good wings, and you'll wind up with some horrid wings. You should probably start with oil around 395-400F, add wings only until oil drops to 350F wait for temp to rise if you have room to add more.
It will take 10-15 minutes to cook, wings should be browned and crispy
While the wings are cooking, melt some margarine (microwave works well, but you can melt in saucepot...) here's the secret of how hot your wings will be... the more margarine in the sauce, the milder it will be. If you want "suicide" sauce, just add some powdered Cayenne Pepper, anything up to your tolerance level. (50/50 Margarine/Sauce = mild, 33/67 margarine/sauce = medium, 25/75 Margarine/sauce = hot... After "hot" add powdered Cayenne powder to move towards "suicide" level...
Note... remember, you will have to deal with the "suicide" level the next day!
Add the melted margarine to the hot sauce (you'll need about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of sauce to properly coat about a dozen wing pieces, depending on your love of the sauce)
When the wings are done frying, remove them from the fryer, drain a bit, and put them directly into the bowl that you mixed the sauce in, Toss or stir to coat the wings, pour the wings on to a plate and enjoy!!! (let the any remaining sauce pour over the wings)
Traditionally, "wings" are served with Bleu Cheese (dip) and Celery. Enjoy these with you favorite beverage. Beer will NOT put out the fire, but heck, who cares! Milk or ice cream is probably the best for squelching the fiery effect of the hot sauce. Remember... Hot stuff is oil based, so you need something that will remove the oily hot stuff! However, the bleu cheese dip was designed to serve that purpose... in addition, some people like to dip their wings in the bleu cheese sauce before eating. This is a more recent development in wing eating, but heck, if it works for you, go for it!)
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Alterations :(
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Anything different than this, is an alteration of what you would have got in the anchor bar back around 1980.
But, you can also fry the wings in a skillet with about 1/2" of oil, but you'll need to hang around to turn the wings a few times, but they usually come out pretty close to the deep fried method. If the oil is the right temperature, and you don't put too many wings in at a time, the wings will not absorb very much oil, and much of the chicken fat will be cooked out! (low calorie?)
(I don't recommend oven baking, they never get crispy enough)
Enjoy, and let me know if you like them! (PLEASE?)
P.S. I posted this recipe to perhaps help folks experience the REAL Buffalo Chicken "wing" in their own home. Too many places have tried to make their own, and really screwed up the original Chicken Wing recipe.
P.P.S I am a AVID lover of the original Chicken wing recipe... and felt compelled to share the original recipe. (mostly because of all the ways other "places" have screwed up the original recipe.... The "wing" recipe was devised as a "quick to make" one, about to shut down the kitchen "recipe" nothing fancy was done, no fancy recipe was ever needed.
This was a long description of a simple recipe, but hopefully it conveyed the original intent of the "Buffalo" wing, which I only want everyone to enjoy as much as I have.
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