The mighty Nick Lindauer of Hot Sauce Blog is hosting his 2nd annual Hot Wing competition. I didn’t make it in last year, but this year is different. I got my act together and put this little recipe up.

Hmmm, I wonder if red savnia chile pepper is hot-like?

When someone mentions hot wings, you’ve got a pretty good idea as to what they’re talking about. Juicy chicken wings with a bright red, spicy sauce all over the place. I love those suckers, you can just slurp the goodness right off the bones. Hooyah!

But I wasn’t in that mood, I wanted something deep fried, spicy, juicy and gave good crunch. A food that caused you to breath in the gathering flood of hotness. MmMmMmm, deep fried gathering flood.

First a marination of Salsa Encino (arbol chiles & vinegar) combined with a little red El Yucateco (habanero action), overnight in the fridge to a day or 3 is best. Let come to room temperature and get your deep oil action going.

My first attempt was with corn meal only, as soon as it crisped up, it fell off. So, I tried adding half that amount more of ap flour. Bingo! Fry till a golden brown and finish with a nice dusting of red savina chile pepper dust. Limes are optional, hey.

The marinade mellowed with the cooking, yet retained some sharp flavors from the vinegar & habanero peppers. The coating on the wings wasn’t too thick, just the right amount, nice & crunchy with the cornmeal action. Finishing with the chile pepper dust gave a nice sharp spike of heat that wasn’t really expected. One does have to be careful eating such things though, that pepper dust translates to the fingers and one decent pick of the nose makes your eyes and nose run for quite some time.

After all was said and done, I enjoyed myself and the food was just as I had envisioned it. Cheers and beers to you all!

xo, Biggles