Friday, December 03, 2004

Chicken Lollipops

The kids I hang out with love these.
(My kids' friends are my friends after all.)
The adults love these too. Tasty finger food for cocktail parties, these tend to disappear swiftly.
Plain chicken wings work just as well, but somehow "lollipopping" makes them easy to eat on the fly. Just the way kids like to eat...
All you need is a very sharp knife that's easy to handle and a meditative quiet afternoon.






Using the tip of a very sharp knife, cut away the connective tendons/ligaments-- whatever they are that connect the muscles to the bones. Scrape down to form a little "ball" or lollipop.
I adapted this marinade from "Ate Marge" who takes great care of my nieces in California...6 cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup light soy sauce (Pearl River Bridge), a splash each of dark soy sauce and calamansi or lemon juice, ground black pepper, 1 tsp. of garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. of garlic salt (adjust to taste, depending on your garlic devotion)...Marinate at least 30 minutes, or about 3 hours.


Coat the chicken wings or lollipops with seasoned(salt and pepper) flour, and let stand in a rack for at least 15 minutes. Shake off excess flour.
I used the deep fryer one more time before banishing it to the basement. Preheat, at 375F, and deep fry in canola or other vegetable oil for about 5 minutes, for each batch that fits (do not overcrowd so they brown evenly--mine fit about 12 per batch).



Drain with paper towels, and serve with Filipino banana ketchup ("Jufran") or Thai sweet chili sauce ("Maesri").
**I am not selling deep fryers! but these turned out so well (not greasy; crunchy; and tender on the inside) that I just might... :)
**am bringing these to Atinna's party...heard there's some action over there.