Chicken Lollipops
Even if I whisper the name, my kids' ears would perk up anyway and pick it up with ultrasonic ability. "Did we hear Mommy right? Did she just say lollipops?"
Just barely a couple of days before cooking up a full 5-course seafood dinner, Riccardo requested for a meat-based dinner. I asked him countless times if he's sure, even enticing him with spaghetti con le vongole which he can never resist. "No Mommy, I want meat." I spent a day hurriedly browsing cookbooks, magazines and the internet for ideas. I ended up with simple meat dishes that he loves and abandoned the idea of whipping up new elaborate dishes. Just this one deserves to be introduced. I loved it when I was a kid and would always request my Mom to prepare it on parties.
He never had chicken lollipops but I was quite sure he and his sister would like them. They are just deep-fried chicken wings with the meat pushed to one side of the bone to make them look like lollipops. Quite attractive for the kids and a good idea for adult finger food and very simple to do. Everything you would like in a recipe when you have kids.
Chicken Lollipops
Ingredients:Serves 4
- 8 chicken wings
- Breadcrumbs
- Flour
- 1 - 2 eggs
- about 500 ml. oil for frying (I use peanut oil.)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Divide the chicken wings to 3 parts, separating them from the joints. You will be left with 3 parts. The biggest one with one bone, the middle part with 2 bones and the tip of the wing that you won't be needing for this recipe but can set aside for other uses.
- The biggest one with the bone. With the help of a knife, cut away the meat that is attached to the bone on one end. Push the meat down with your fingers carefully. When the meat is down, ball it a bit. The second part with two bones. Still with the help of a knife, cut a bit the meat away from the bone. Take away the smaller of the two bones. Push down the meat to one end like what you did with the first part. Repeat process until you finish all the wings.
- Rub the meat with salt & pepper. Leave for about 10-15 minutes.
- Heat a thick-bottomed pan with a lot of oil for deep-frying.
- While waiting for the oil to become hot, prepare a bowl for the whisked egg/s, a plate with flour and another plate with breadcrumbs.
- Roll the chicken on the plate with flour. Shake off the excess. Then dip it in the egg. Shake off the excess. Roll it on the plate with breadcrumbs. Shake off the excess. Do the same with the rest.
- When the oil is very hot, drop the chicken lollipops and fry until they become brown. Remember, if the oil is not too hot, the chicken will just absorb the oil and you will end up with soggy chicken. If the lollipops are thick, make sure the meat close to the bones are cooked. You can make a couple of little cuts through the meat to make the oil go through inside.
- Drain them on a plate with paper towels.