Spicy Chicken Nuggets

Greetings my delectable blog readers. I certainly hope that you all emptied your stomachs during the winter break, and that your mouths are watering for some more scrumptious food blogs this semester, because UMBC Eats is more than ready to satisfy your hunger for food stories, recipes, recommendations… and then some!

I’m sure that I speak for many (106.5 million to be exact) when I say that America is currently suffering over its yearly football hangover with the 2009-10 NFL season coming to an end after a thrilling Super Bowl on February 8^th. However, who says that we can’t hold on for dear life to memories of another awesome football season… at least in our stomachs!

Photo Credit: Jedda 

When one makes a grocery list of Super Bowl snacks, one usually includes a jumbo bag of either Lays’ Potato Chips or Doritos (perhaps both, depending on how big the Super Bowl party is), liter after liter of sodas and possibly a plate of various cheeses. However, one absolutely CANNOT make a Super Bowl grocery list without its important dish: the classic, always appetizing, hot buffalo wings!!! With so many types of wings to choose from, and the consideration that you’ve probably gotten hungry from just reading this sensational list of food items, here is a recipe that I found for Spicy Chicken Nuggets (Chicharrones de Pollo), courtesy of simplyreceipes.com:

INGREDIENTS:

-1/4 cup dark rum

-1/4 cup lime juice

-1/4 cup soy sauce

-1 Tbsp sugar

-1 ½ pounds boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1 ½-inch pieces

-Vegetable Oil (canola oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil or other high smoke point oil)

-1/2 cup flour

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/2 teaspoon paprika (hot or sweet)

-Lime wedges

-Hot sauce

METHOD:

1) Prepare marinade, stirring together lime juice, rum, soy sauce, and sugar in a bowl until sugar has dissolved. Add the chicken to the marinade and let marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature (can marinate longer chilled, but allow to come to room temp for 30 minutes before cooking).

2) Pour enough oil in a skillet so that it comes up the sides at least a half an inch. Heat oil on medium high until it is shimmering, and a little pinch of flour sizzles when you drop it in the pan.

3) While the oil is heating, whisk together the flour, paprika, and salt in a bowl. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture and transfer to a plate.

4) Fry the chicken in batches (about 3), about 3 minutes on each side, until deep golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. (If the chicken is browning too quickly, reduce the heat a bit). Remove to a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.

*Recipe adapted from September 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine*

The official URL to this recipe is here. How sweet it is to know that we have buffalo wings to enjoy outside of football season! Someone cook this, try it and let me know if it’s as good as it sounds!

- Ricky