Hong Kong Style Swiss Wings (瑞士雞翼)

At work, I was looking at different styles of Chinese cuisine and stumbled upon Swiss chicken wings. That has to be one of the weirdest names for a Chinese dish. Apparently, as rumors say, the name came from a Westerner interpreting "sweet chicken" as "Swiss chicken" from waiter/waitress at a restaurant in Hong Kong; thus the name stuck.

This style of chicken is one thing that I miss from Hong Kong. It is so delicious with a sweet aroma and hint of spiciness that dances on your tongue.

Hong Kong Style Swiss Wings (瑞士雞翼)

Ingredients
2-3 lbs Wings
1/2 cup Soy sauce
1 cup Water
5 Star anise
2 Red chili peppers
1 tbs Rice wine
2 tbs Rock sugar (about 1 1/2 inch diameter spherical chunk of rock)
3 Green onions
1 inch Ginger piece
Sesame oil
White pepper

Prepwork
1. Wash and pat dry wings
2. Remove wings from drumlets
3. Season with a little white pepper
4. Mix chicken with rice wine
5. Let the chicken marinate for 10 minutes
6. Slice ginger into 4 parts
7. Mix soy sauce and water

Cooking
1. Heat up canola oil in a pot
2. Toss in chicken and lightly brown the skin of the chicken (about 5 minutes)
3. Add in ginger, break red chili peppers, and star anise into the pan and stir around for a minute or until slight aroma comes out
4. Add soy sauce mixture and rock sugar
5. Wait until the liquid boils and the rock sugar dissolves
6. Turn down heat to simmer, add in green onions and a dash of sesame oil on the wings.
7. Cover and cook for 30-45 minutes on low heat. (if the liquid does not fully cover the wings, remember to turn the wings over every 10 minutes)

You can store this overnight and reheat it on the stove again for even greater flavor.