Here’s a goody from the archives. A number of you have tried this recipe for Coca-cola Chicken wings that I first posted in March 2011. You wouldn’t guess just how delicious it is based on the simple ingredients. In this recipe that’s a favorite of home cooks in China, Cola-Cola and soy sauce meld to form a great sweet and savory glaze for the chicken. You get a great caramelized flavor without the work!
I don’t know exactly when or how Coca-cola chicken wings became a Chinese dish, but it’s a baby compared to everything that originated back when dynasties existed. Heck, many people don’t even realize it’s a Chinese dish, much less a common one. I have never seen it printed on a restaurant menu or in an English-language Chinese cookbook. It does, however, appear from time to time in Chinese-language cookbooks and on cooking shows, sometimes involving as few as three ingredients.
In China, Coke and other sodas hold a higher prestige than they do in the US. About 5 years ago, when I first visited Beijing, some relatives took me out to a pretty lavish restaurant for my first Peking duck experience. After drink orders were taken, the head waiter returned to the table with a wine cart. With a flourish, he brandished a bottle in his right arm for inspection, which, for course, turned out to be Coke instead Bordeaux.
I have also attended banquets and Chinese New Year dinners where bottles of 7-Up and Pepsi were sitting like centerpieces in the middle of white table cloth-covered tables. And I have gone up and down the wine aisles of Chinese supermarkets, only to find that it was almost impossible to buy just a bottle of wine. You always got a special gift with purchase. Domestic reds and whites were often packaged in cellophane with bottles of…you guessed it…Coke or Sprite. (That is, if they weren’t already packaged with imitation Nalgenes, thermoses, rice bowls, or even beach blankets.)
This is all to say that the cult of Coke in China is pretty strong. Which paves the way for Coca-Cola chicken wings to become a popular dish for home cooks. The preparation method is very similar to that of soy-sauce chicken, a common Cantonese dish. (I wouldn’t be surprised if this dish was actually created because some person, or some million persons, who figured that adding Coke was a good way to change up their soy-sauce chicken.)
Cantonese soy sauce chicken wings are braised with soy sauce, garlic, and ginger, and occasionally cinnamon and star anise. For Coca-Cola chicken wings, we just use soy sauce, rice wine, and Coke in the braising liquid. That’s it. What you end up with, after 15 to 20 minutes of braising, is a nice syrupy glaze. It’s not overwhelmingly sweet, or overwhelmingly salty. It tastes a tiny bit like Coke, but even that is very subtle. Toward the end, I add some chopped scallions and freshly ground black pepper to enhance the flavor, but really, this minimalist dish is still perfectly fine without aromatics.
Even better than using regular Coke is Mexican Coke, which uses real sugar, if you can find it in your local grocery store or bodega.
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Coca-Cola Chicken Wings
Serves 4
- 2 pounds chicken wings, wings and drummettes separated
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry or Chinese rice wine
- 3/4 cup Coca-Cola (not diet or anything flavored!)
- 2 scallions, chopped
- A few pinches of freshly ground black pepper
- Put the chicken wings in a large bowl and pour half of the soy sauce on top. Turn the wings so they are well-coated and allow them to marinate for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature.
- Heat a wok or large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken wings until they are golden brown on each side but not cooked through, about 3 minutes each side. Pour in the other half of the soy sauce, the sherry, and the Coke and bring the liquid to a simmer. Simmer the wings uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until the liquid is reduced to a glaze.
- Season the chicken with black pepper. Transfer the chicken to a plate, garnish with scallions, and serve.
beautiful color from the marinade. Pretty the wings turn out good too! Thanks for sharing
It’s almost Passover time, which means NYC (and other cities) groceries will start carrying kosher-for-Passover Coke with real sugar:
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2009/03/what-is-passover-coke-guide-to-kosher-sodas.html
I can buy Mexican Coke at my grocery store, I might have to give this a try!
my mum started making coca cola wings in my late teens (in the late 90s) presumably from watching the hk/taiwanese cooking shows. they’re really yum, and i prefer them to honey soy glazes!
Hi,
I believe there is an error in the recipe procedure.
Instructions say: “pour half of the soy sauce on top” of the chicken wings.
The other half of the soy sauce is omitted from the recipe.
Presumably it’s added to the wok along with the Coke and sherry (rice wine).
Correct?
Trico – Thank you, you’re absolutely correct. The other half of the soy sauce is added to the wok with the Coke and sherry/rice wine. I apologize for the mistake and the recipe has been corrected.
My hubby is from Cambodia and he makes a similar dish. He uses one whole chicken, half a bottle of a 2 liter Coke, and two stalks of lemongrass. He bruises the lemongrass and line it on the bottom of the wok. He puts the chicken in (breast side down first) the wok and pours in the coke until it barely covers the chicken. He covers the wok and has it on high heat for about 15 min. He turn the chicken over and adds more coke. Another 15 min. and it’s done. It doesn’t take that long to cook. We throw discard the lemongrass. The sugar in the coke carmelize over the chicken. The chicken turns out really tender and yummy.
I didn’t realized I post anonymous. I forgot to say that he learned it while he was in taiwan. So I guess, the coke chicken is from taiwanese origin…but the rascal learn how to make it while he was staying at a buddhist monastary when he was a novice monk… :)
I had no idea the use of coca-cola was in Chinese tradition, that’s amazing! There’s an American Southwest recipe for ham which is braised coke, which was made famous by Nigella Lawson, and is utterly delicious – shall have to see if it works as well with chicken!
I usually do not like
a) sweet food
b) eating chicken skin
c) eating directly from bones
but I absolutely loved this dish! At first, I thought it sounded very suspicous, putting cola in your food… Suspicous, but intriguing! Really glad I tried it!
Oh, and I had no idea they had a different version of Cola in the US – I guess it is cheaper than real sugar? Turns out we have the “mexican style” cola here in Sweden.
Raz – I had a feeling using Coca-cola to cook chicken is also common in Asia outside mainland China, and now you’ve given me confirmation! Lemongrass with chicken and cola sounds delicious.
Andersong – I’m so glad you gave this dish a try! Yes, unfortunately in the US growing corn is subsidized and we have quotas on cane sugar production, so corn syrup and partially hydrogenated corn syrup end up being much cheaper than sugar. I also don’t know if the US is the only country whose Coke is not made out of real sugar, but I’m not surprised that many of the international versions are better.
Scott – Yikes! That’s great to know. I should stock up on my soda supply for the next year.
For once a chinese recipe that doesn´t require a lot of exotic stuff. I live in rural Spain, and although I love Chinese food I hardly ever prepare a dish, because the ingrediences are hard to come by here. But we do have Coca Cola in our Supermarked, soysauce isn´t a probem either – I definitely will try this recipe!
I first heard about this dish when I was in Chengdu, because my friend’s Chinese girlfriend used to make it all the time…I didn’t get to try it at the time, but I remember being really suspicious and wondering what the hell Chinese people could come up with after that ahahaha! Anyay, I gave it a try today and it was yummy! Simple yet delicious :) I’ll be sure to make some again soon!
Coke is really starting to pave its way into kitchen; there’s a Chinese old remedy used in China and Hong Kong for flu too, right? I think it’s cooking coke with lemon juice or something like that?
In my country, we even have Marmite and Guiness chicken or pork ribs too :)
Chloé – I’m so glad! I’m usually also skeptical of dishes that involve junk food as a main ingredient, but have learned to be open to more of these recipes over the years. There’s a reason Frito-topped casseroles remain popular in certain parts of the U.S. :)
Christy – Yes! Hot Coke with lemon, that ancient Chinese remedy. I actually did not drink hot Coke with lemon for the flu as a child (my parents were a little old-fashioned) but probably would have if I had grown up in China a decade later.
You are doing a great job on promoting Chinese recipes! I love your line: 1.3 billion people must be eating something right! Awesome! As a new recipe blogger myself, there are still lots to learn :)
with Pepsi. ;)
I’ve never thought about using coke when cooking, but I guess it can’t be too bad. The photos really look yummy.
This literally makes me drool.
Oh my god, these were so good! I did use the Mexican Coke, peanut oil, and didn’t use the black pepper. I also covered the pan with the Coke for like 15 minutes and uncovered for about another 15. It was so, so good and easy. Thank you for the recipe! I’m Chinese and asked my mom about it and she said she never heard of it but will be waiting for me to cook these for her when I visit NY next month :-)
Hand to God, these are THE BEST wings I have ever eaten! I would put these against any steak in any restaurant!
P.S. – I think I will add a couple of hot dried peppers to give them a little zing next time.
I made it today, so yummy!! =] I added garlic powder too because you can’t have chicken without some garlic
I first came upon the now famous cola chichen recipe more than 8 years ago while studying at Uni. At that time I was boarding with a family with young kids and part of the deal was that I would pick them up from school and get dinner ready daily during the week (in return I stayed for free and got the weekends off, the family even helped me get my first real job later but that’s another story all together). With only one burner working at any given time (damn you old cook top!) it was a tough job to feed a family of 6, and I set off to find recipes that saved time (or I’ll still be in the kitchen by midnight) AND taste good (or the kids won’t eat). Along came the cola chicken recipe from a Chinese online forum and it changed my life; I could just leave everyting in the same pot / wok / sauce pan and let it simmer until dinner is served, and it only required minimal supervision and occational stirring which meant I had the time to either play with the kids or just get a bit of study done. And then there’s the flavour! Truth be told, even to this day the family still tells of how MUCH the children miss the chichen wings cooked in coca cola :)
So it’s quite surprising to learn that there are still people who do not yet know of this recipe, those poor souls don’t know what they’re missing out on :p And did you know there are lots of variations to the very basic ‘coke, chichen and water’ combination? I’ve tried very complex and no doubt ‘chef inspired’ interpretations that are just mind blowing, and if you’re time poor or can’t cook to save your own life, just make sure you add a few chunks of ginger (or some Chinese cooking wine) in the process and the result will always be pleasing.
Oh and regarding the popularity of soft drinks in China, it’s just the simple fact that we tend to eat dinners together as families and, for children and those who do not take beer or shots of spirit with their food, soft drinks seems a better option than water (fruit juices are quite often present too). Wine drinking hasn’t been big in China, even though we now produce some very impressive grades of Great Wall (they are quite similar to heavy Spanish reds) and good department stores would stock imported wine in a special section tucked away in a corner.
Great idea using Coke!
Have just cooked my wings and it works fantastically – really tasty.
As Tina said, I did 15 mins lid on, 15 mins lid off.
Very nice… I have seen a few recipes using coke before … must try this!
Wow. Never heard of coca cola chicken sauce. Never heard of coca cola being used to cook period! THis is amazing. I have to try out your recipe. Thanks for posting.
In China, even wine is mixed with Coca-Cola. I saw this on Bizzar World with Andrew Zimmern.