There’s no hot wing like a Korean American Atlanta hot wing

By Eric Kim, The New York Times

ATLANTA — There was a time in Hank Kim’s life when eating hot, crisp-fried chicken wings every day was the norm — he could easily down about 20 in a sitting — not least because his family opened a wing shop, Cafe Hot Wing, in 1988.

Another reason he could put away so many? The wings in question were smaller, sharper in flavor, even lighter than their Northern cousins, Buffalo wings. Much like the Atlanta hot wings of today, these Korean American wings were coated with a red-hot sauce, unbridled in their cayenne flavor and vinegary tang. One could argue that they were a dialed-up version, with a focused intensity in their blend of hot sauce, spices and pepper. A touch to the lips might make you break a sweat. That’s why they often came with celery and carrot sticks and a cup of blue cheese dip or ranch, to tame the flames.

In 1980s Atlanta, this style of hot wing (and its cooling plate-mates) gained footing as a fast-food meal for a growing Korean American community. Unfortunately, these particular wings aren’t around anymore, or at least they’re harder to find. The one surefire way you can taste them today is to make them at home.

Over the years, other families, inspired by the success of the Kims’ Riverdale, Georgia, shop, started their own.

Jun Yum, Kim’s cousin, remembers his family opening Cafe Hot Wing 2, in Chamblee, a northeast suburb. Back then, he said, only a few businesses in Atlanta focused on wings: J.R. Crickets, International Cafe and Three Dollar Cafe, among others. Now it’s hard to imagine a strip mall without a hot wing shop, whether a mom-and-pop store or a regional chain. But many of the original Korean-owned shops have shuttered.

Luckily, that fiery sauce, which Yum described as “an enhanced form of Cajun hot sauce” and Kim as having “a peppery taste” with “a vinegary kick,” lingers on the tongues: the way it moved and tarried, waking up both salivary and sweat glands. It had no sugar, no bells and whistles, simply accented with a little garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and cayenne pepper. “A lot of little things that make a big difference,” Kim said.

Here, in an approximation of that original sauce, those key dry ingredients (chile, garlic, onion and peppercorn) give a cayenne hot sauce a concentrated complexity without adding moisture, which would dilute the experience.

To make it easier, you could order naked fried wings from a local shop, then sauce them yourself at home. But you can also replicate the crispness of deep-fried wings by roasting them on a hot oiled sheet pan after tossing them with a touch of baking powder and salt. That blend helps not just with browning and crunchiness, but also with producing tender meat.

Outside your kitchen, you can still find something like these wings today on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Duluth, about a dozen miles north of Chamblee. There, in a nondescript strip mall, Atlanta Hot Wing’s makes something recalling those Korean American morsels of yore. And why wouldn’t they?

The shop’s owner, Jose Tenesaca, 48, used to work at various Korean restaurants and chicken wing shops before starting his own. When I opened the hinged white foam lid of my lunch there, a vinegary gust blew into my face, instantly setting off my drool center. As hot wing sauces go, Tenesaca’s is a little different. He uses lemon juice, which lifts the sauce’s quintessential tanginess in a fresh way, but the original taste was still there — the chile, garlic, onion and peppercorn. A lot of little things make a big difference.

Recipe: Oven-Fried Hot Wings

By Eric Kim

Unlike Buffalo wings up north, Atlanta-style hot wings are sharp and salty, with undeniable savoriness (and little or no butter). One whiff of the sharp red hot sauce, unbridled with cayenne flavor and vinegary tang, should instantly make you drool. Serve these oven-fried wings with ranch or blue cheese dressing as a dipping sauce, as they do in Atlanta, along with celery and carrot sticks to help offset the heat. They’re also fun to eat between bites of crispy chicken.

Yield: 2 to 4 servings

Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the wings:

• 2 pounds chicken wings, separated into wingettes and drumettes
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) or fine salt
• 1/2 cup canola, vegetable or peanut oil

For the sauce:

• 2/3 cup cayenne-based hot sauce, such as Crystal
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, depending on spice preference
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Salt
• Ranch or blue cheese dressing and celery and carrot sticks, for serving

Preparation

1. Cook the wings: Position a rack in the center of the oven, place a large rimmed sheet pan on that rack, and heat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. Pat the chicken wings dry with paper towels, then toss with the baking powder and 1 teaspoon kosher salt or 3/4 teaspoon fine salt.

3. When the oven is heated, carefully remove the hot sheet pan from the oven and add the oil. Pat the chicken wings dry once more, then add to the pan in a single layer. Bake for 30 minutes.

4. Pull the sheet pan out of the oven and carefully flip the chicken. (if needed, loosen them first using a thin spatula, then turn with tongs.)