Huli Huli Chicken Wings

Not only in Hawaii anymore

The umami of teriyaki, the zestiness of barbecue

My wife and I recently spent some time in Hawaii with our daughter and her boyfriend.

During one of our days in northern Maui, we found ourselves hungry and in the middle of basically nowhere. We finally found a place to eat. It was not much more than a bunch of shacks with outdoor grills, but it smelled wonderful and it was right on the water.

They sold us on the Huli Huli Chicken, a local specialty they swore was only available in Hawaii. It was amazing. Somehow, it manages to combine the spices of barbecue chicken with the umami of soy. Pineapple juice and ginger tie the flavors together.

When we got home, I decided to try to replicate the flavors. Then, I decided to try to replicate the flavors with chicken wings. It was amazing.

I also learned a great trick to prepare chicken wings without losing skin due to sticking or having to do the painful cleanup of burnt bits. The secret is textured silicone sheets that look like they have raised pyramids on them. These sheets are about $10, clean up easily, and the skin does not stick to them, so it comes out intact. They’re available from Amazon or Bed Bath and Beyond, usually in two packs for less than $20. Punch “pyramid raised silicone baking sheet” into your favorite search engine. You can see two pictures of wings cooking on the sheets below.

Here’s the recipe. I promise you won’t be disappointed. The spiciness depends on how much cayenne pepper you use and how much of the seasoning mix you sprinkle on top of the wings before you put them in the oven.

This recipe makes about 4 entree servings or six appetizer servings.

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken wing sections (about 25 sections)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the rub:

2 Tbl paprika
2 Tbl garlic powder
1 Tbl salt
1 Tbl cumin
1/2 Tbl onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)

For the sauce:

1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbl apple cider vinegar
1 Tbl ground ginger

Procedure:

Season the wings

Rinse and pat dry the chicken wing sections. Place in a large ziploc bag with the vegetable oil. Shake to coat.
Combine all rub ingredients. Add about 1/5 of the rub to the bag of wings and shake. Repeat until all but about two tablespoons of the rub have been added to the wings.
Let the wings rest for about 15 minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Make the sauce

Combine all sauce ingredients.
Bring to a boil.
Simmer and reduce for ten minutes.
Sauce will be thin and sweet.

Cook the wings

Place a textured silicone baking sheet on a cookie sheet. Arrange the wings evenly spaced on the textured baking sheet with as much skin up as possible.
Sprinkle the remaining seasoning mix on the tops of the wings.
Place the wings in the oven. Do not place the silicone sheet too close to the heating elements. Do not allow any of the silicone sheet to overhang the edges of the cookie sheet or the silicone can be damaged by heat. They should look like this:
After the wings have cooked for 20 minutes, remove them from the oven. Spoon a small amount of sauce onto each wing and then flip them over.
After the wings have cooked for another 10 minutes, flip them over again and then spoon a small amount of sauce onto each wing.
6.. Let the wings cook for about another 10 minutes or until the sauce looks slightly burnt in places. They should look like this:
Remove the wings from the oven. Let them cool for a few minutes.