Grilled Red Wine Turkey Wings (燒烤紅酒火雞翼, Siu1 Haau1 Hung4 Zau2 Fo2 Gai1 Jik6)

This is an easy to make grilled turkey recipe using just the wings. My local supermarket frequently has turkey parts, rather than a whole turkey, available and turkey wings are one of my favorite parts of the turkey to purchase. The wings cook surprisingly fast once the individual wings are separated and marinated before grilling. I also grill the wing tips, but can easily be omitted and used for stock instead. The marinade is also very simple and consists mainly of soy sauce and red wine, ingredients that are easily obtainable. While I didn’t add black pepper for this recipe, the wings are even tastier if the wings are coated with freshly ground pepper before grilling (after discarding the marinade).

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2-4	2-4	Turkey wings (火雞翼, fo2 gai1 jik6), separated into individual parts
½ in.	5 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
4 cloves	4 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
½ cup	125 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
½ cup	125 ml.	Red wine (紅酒, hung4 zau2)
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
		Freshly ground black pepper (黑椒, hak1 ziu1), enough to coat the wing parts (optional)

 

Equipment

4 qt.	3.8 L.	Covered bowl
		Tongs and an oil coated paper towel
22.5 in.	57 cm.	Covered charcoal or gas grill (or larger)

 

Instructions

1. Prepare the turkey wings by removing any excess fat and remaining yellow skin. Ideally all the yellow skin was removed during the vendor’s turkey cleaning process, but some always remains and will prevent the marinade from penetrating the skin. Use your fingers and rub any remaining yellow skin from the turkey under cold running water. Marinate the turkey in a covered container up to 48 hours, turning every 24 hours, in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, soy sauce, red wine, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. Take the turkey out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking. Optionally, discard the marinade and then coat the turkey wing parts with freshly ground black pepper.
2. Prepare the charcoal or gas grill for indirect cooking following the manufacturer’s instructions. Light the charcoal or preheat the gas grill accordingly. Soak the wood for smoking (pecan goes well with this dish) for one hour if desired. I use dry and not soaked wood.
3. If using a charcoal grill, arrange the lighted coals on one half of the grill. The side of the grill with the coals (the “hot” side) will not be used and the side without the coals (the “cool” side) will be used for cooking the turkey. For a gas grill, follow the manufacturer’s instructions as to which burners to leave on for indirect cooking. Clean the grill grate and then, using tongs and a paper towel coated with oil, lubricate the grate to prevent the turkey from sticking. Put the smoking wood onto the coals or as per the instructions for the gas grill.
4. Place the turkey on the cool side of the grill and cook for 15-20 minutes covered. Remove the turkey from the grill and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving. The temperature of your fire and previous experience with your grill will determine the total cooking time for the turkey.