Chicken wings rubbed with crushed garlic, olive oil and dried thyme, and roasted for the best part of an hour. No sauce, no batter, five ingredients.
Salt goes on last
The recipe adds it in step four, just before the wings go into the oven, and that order matters.
Salt draws moisture out of skin. Applied an hour ahead it has time to be reabsorbed, which seasons the meat and dries the surface, and that works well. Applied twenty minutes ahead it does the first half and not the second, leaving wet skin that will not crisp.
Either salt well in advance or salt right before. The one thing to avoid is the middle ground.
Turn them halfway
Thirty minutes on one side, twenty-five on the other. Wings left face up for the whole hour come out brown on top and pale and soft underneath, sitting in their own rendered fat.
Which herbs
The recipe announces a tablespoon of each of the following dried herbs and then names only thyme, so thyme is what the quantities describe and the rest of the list was lost somewhere.
In Colombian cooking the usual companions are oregano, rosemary and parsley, and a tablespoon of any mixed dried blend works in its place. Dried rather than fresh: fresh herbs burn over an hour at 200°C.
Cut at the joints
Separating the drumette from the flat gives smaller pieces that cook more evenly and are easier to eat. Left whole they take longer and the thin tip burns.
The wing tip itself has almost no meat and is usually discarded, or kept for stock.
Crushed garlic, not sliced
A whole head crushed to a paste in a mortar clings to the skin. Sliced or chopped garlic falls off into the tray and burns there, which tastes of exactly what it looks like.
More wings
- Barbecue wings — with a sauce made from scratch.
- Roast chicken — the whole bird.
- Honey mustard chicken — sweet and sticky.
- Pollo apanado — breaded instead.
Herbed Wings FAQ
Either well in advance or right before they go in the oven. Salt draws moisture out of the skin and then lets it be reabsorbed; twenty minutes is long enough for the first part and not the second, which leaves wet skin that will not crisp.
Yes, at the halfway point. Wings left face up for the whole hour come out brown on top and pale and soft underneath, sitting in rendered fat.
The recipe names only thyme, though it announces a list. Oregano, rosemary and parsley are the usual Colombian companions, and any mixed dried blend works. Use dried rather than fresh, which burns over an hour at 200°C.
It helps. Separating the drumette from the flat gives pieces that cook evenly and are easier to eat. The thin tip has almost no meat and is usually removed or kept for stock.
Crushed to a paste it clings to the skin and stays there. Chopped garlic falls into the tray and burns over an hour, which gives the whole dish a scorched taste.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kilo chicken wings (half a kilo works for a smaller batch)
- 1 head garlic, crushed (crushed to a paste in a mortar)
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme (other dried herbs work alongside it: see the notes)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste (salt goes on later, just before the oven)
Notas
Instructions
- Cut the wings at the joints so the pieces are smaller, or leave them whole if you prefer.
- Put the wings in an ovenproof dish or on a baking tray. Add the tablespoon of olive oil, the crushed garlic, the pepper and the thyme, and rub everything into the skin.
- Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F), with heat above and below.
- Season with salt and put the dish in the oven for about 30 minutes.
- Take the dish out, turn the wings over and put them back for another 25 minutes, until golden and crisp.
- Serve hot.
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