When ordering chicken wings, the question is typically: “Mild or spicy?” But the better question might be: “Soup or dumpling?”
As New Yorkers have gotten crazier and crazier for the bird, a number of local chefs are cooking up crafty new concoctions of the chicken wing.
David Burke’s bird, for example, comes in dumpling form at David Burke at Bloomingdale’s on the Upper East Side. The wings are taken off the bone; the meat — soft and spicy — is then stuffed in a delicate wrapper and affixed with a wooden skewer. The result? A dumpling lollipop, which is served in a bamboo steamer with sweet chili sauce on the side.
If you head downtown, try a spoonful of Super Peek Kai — a k a “super spicy chicken wing soup” at Alphabet City Thai restaurant Somtum Der. The golden broth has the sour taste of lemongrass and is swimming with greens and crushed red pepper, and tender chicken wings float on the surface. (As an added bonus, order the restaurant’s grilled sticky rice and dunk it in the soup.)
It’s no surprise that unusual wing dishes frequently find their way onto Asian menus — they are, after all, a standard dietary staple in Asia. But it’s a little stranger finding Italian spins on chicken wings at boîtes like the West Village’s Sotto 13. There, fried chicken wings swim in agrodolce, a k a Italian sweet and sour sauce. These wings — with a small bone sticking out like a handle — are crunchy and taste a little like General Tso’s chicken, only with a sour kick.