How to Make Chef John's Za'atar Chicken Wings

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In this video, learn how to make Chef John's Za'atar Chicken Wings, a twist on classic wings with bold Middle Eastern flavors. Using the tried and true za'atar spice blend, these wings are baked to perfection for a crispy texture. Perfect as an appetizer or game-day snack, this recipe is easy to follow and packed with flavor.

Transcript

00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Za'atar Chicken Wings.

00:08That's right, they say this ancient urban spice blend is good on everything.

00:13And since chicken wings are everything, especially this time of the year, I thought we'd put

00:17these two things together to see what would happen.

00:21And what happened was pretty great.

00:22And to get started, let me show you the best way to cut up a chicken wing.

00:27And the first thing we'll do is cut off that pointy wing tip, by seeing and feeling where

00:31the joint is.

00:33And once we find that spot, we will slice through, since that's very soft cartilage.

00:37And then we'll do the exact same thing to separate what we call the drum and the flat.

00:42And once we slice through the skin, and we find exactly where that joint is, we will

00:46cut a little bit towards the flat side, which is usually the softest part.

00:50And while you may have to practice on a couple, once you get this down, it is very, very easy.

00:56And you're definitely going to save money buying your wings whole, and cutting them

00:58up yourself.

00:59Plus, the quality is probably better, since who knows how long those separated ones have

01:03been sitting in the package.

01:05And yes, save those wing tips for your next broth.

01:08Oh, and even if you're not great at finding the joint, if you start cutting into the wrong

01:13spot, you're going to hit bone, at which point you would stop, and find the right spot.

01:18So like I said, with a little bit of practice, you'll be fine.

01:21And what we'll do once we have our chicken wings cut, is toss those in a bowl, and then

01:25we will season those up with some kosher salt, using the old one teaspoon per pound

01:29to meat ratio.

01:30And then we'll also add a little bit of garlic powder here, before taking a spatula or some

01:36tongs, and giving this a very, very thorough mixing.

01:40And then what we'll do once our chicken wings have been thoughtfully seasoned, is cover

01:43those and pop them in the fridge, for anywhere between two hours, and overnight.

01:48And probably the longer the better, but just a few hours is fine.

01:52And once that's set, we can move on to making our actual za'atar seasoning mix, which starts

01:57with the star of the show, some dried thyme, which is supposed to be ground, and you can

02:02buy it that way, but what I like to do is use the whole dried leaves, and just smash

02:06them up with a mortar and pestle.

02:09And we do want to break this down fairly fine, but you're always going to have a few pieces

02:13that avoid being crushed, which is fine.

02:15Well, I mean, it's not fine, but it's fine, you know what I mean.

02:20And then once we've done that, for my version, we're going to add a little bit of dried marjoram,

02:24and we will smash that together for another half minute or so.

02:28And by the way, marjoram is very, very similar to oregano, so feel free to use that instead.

02:34And that's it, once we have that stuff ground up, we'll transfer that into a bowl, and we

02:38will add the rest of our ingredients, starting with the mandatory sumac, which you don't

02:43think you can get at the store, but you can.

02:46I see it in pretty much every spice section these days.

02:49And then besides the sumac, which has a beautiful citrusy flavor, we will do some toasted sesame

02:54seeds, which I usually toast myself, but I was shopping without glasses, and I bought

02:59the ones already toasted.

03:01But as we've done many times, just simply toast those in a dry pan until they're golden.

03:05And then as far as other optional ingredients go, we will also add some ground cumin, as

03:10well as some freshly ground black pepper, plus a nice little kiss of cayenne.

03:15And that's it, we'll take a freakishly small wooden spoon, and give this a thorough mixing,

03:20at which point our za'atar is ready to use on like hundreds and hundreds of different

03:23things.

03:24Oh yeah, do a search sometime, and you will see that people do actually almost use this

03:29literally on everything.

03:31And then what we'll do once that's been accomplished, is move on to the last component, which I'm

03:35going to call the glue, and we'll start that by separating one egg, since we just want

03:40the white for this.

03:42And this recipe will work without the egg white, but I do think it works out a little

03:46better with it included, so I do it.

03:50And then to this, we will add a little bit of honey, for both its sweetness and its stickiness.

03:55And then we'll finish up with the juice of a half a lemon, before we grab a whisk and

04:00start mixing this until it's nice and foamy.

04:03And the only reason to do this is so our egg white is not quite as viscous, and it's just

04:08going to make mixing everything together a little bit easier, and we won't have to worry

04:12about seeing a piece of egg white somewhere.

04:15And that's it, once that's been whisked, we will pull our chicken wings out of the fridge

04:18and pour this over.

04:21And then I like to take a spatula and give this a quick mix before we add our za'atar.

04:25Although I'm pretty sure, like 99% sure, we could probably add everything in right now.

04:31But as you might know, I am paid by the step, so I do give it a quick mix before adding

04:36the za'atar in.

04:38And by the way, the quantities you see in the recipe is going to be the exact amount

04:41needed to coat this many chicken wings, and since I have a feeling you're going to want

04:45some extra, I recommend doing a double or triple batch of the za'atar, since you might

04:50want to sprinkle more over the top, or use it on those other couple hundred things we

04:54talked about earlier.

04:56But in any event, we'll go ahead and mix that up until everything's evenly coated, at which

05:00point we'll transfer our chicken wings onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

05:04And a lot of times I do use foil for this, since foil can go under the broiler, in case

05:09we want to get a little extra browning at the end.

05:12But the honey we used can burn very quickly under a broiler, so I was not planning on

05:17doing that, which is why I went with the parchment.

05:21But anyway, no matter what we use, we'll make sure those are spaced out nice and evenly,

05:25at which point this is ready to transfer into the center of a 400 degree oven for about

05:3020 minutes, at which point we'll remove the pan from the oven and we'll go ahead and give

05:35these wings a flip.

05:37Which is not absolutely necessary, but as I mentioned, that honey does like to char,

05:42so I do think the extra step is worth it, so we don't have one side that's so much darker

05:46than the other.

05:48And that's it once flipped, we'll put those back in the oven for another 20 to 25 minutes,

05:53or until they're cooked through, beautifully browned, and look like this!

05:57And besides the gorgeous appearance, the aroma coming off these things is absolutely incredible,

06:02and your mouth's gonna start watering, and you're gonna want to eat these as soon as

06:05you can, but we should probably let them rest for a few minutes at least, so we can actually

06:10taste all the goodness without burning our mouth.

06:13So that's what I did, allegedly, before grabbing one to go in for a taste, and I'll get into

06:20the flavor profile in a second, but like all properly cooked wings, that meat should come

06:24clean off the bone.

06:26So I started with a drum, that really was fantastic, before moving on to my favorite

06:31section, which is the flat.

06:34And my strategy here is to pull out one bone, and then hold the other bone and strip all

06:38the meat off into my mouth, and if everything goes according to plan, we should be left

06:42with two very clean bones.

06:44And after enjoying a couple off the pan like a total savage, I went ahead and plated up,

06:49which we should probably do in some kind of beautiful Mediterranean presentation, next

06:53to our famous Food Wishes tahini sauce, and then I went ahead and drizzled over a little

06:58bit of olive oil, for some extra richness and to shine up the top, before garnishing

07:03with another sprinkling of sumac, plus a scattering of freshly chopped Italian parsley, which

07:09I guess could be fresh thyme, but that could be a little overpowering.

07:13And speaking of thyme, za'atar actually translates to wild thyme, and when you combine the earthy

07:18savory herbaceousness of that, with that citrusy touch of the sumac, and that subtle nuttiness

07:24from the sesame seeds, you really do end up with something featuring big bold flavors,

07:30which would be great on their own, but I think are definitely elevated by the tahini dipping

07:34sauce, although a yogurt sauce would also be very nice, or, and I'm going to add a note

07:40for this in the recipe, these would be great drizzled with a little more honey, especially

07:45if you tend to like your party wings a little bit on the sweet side.

07:49But anyway, as usual, all those kind of alterations are up to you, I mean you are after all the

07:54food-wish star of your chicken wings with za'atar, but no matter how you personalize

07:59yours, this is an incredibly delicious departure from the usual hot wings, and I really do

08:05hope you give them a try soon.

08:08So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe and much

08:13more info as usual, and as always, enjoy!

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