Cajun hot wings recipe: deep-fried and devilish

Cajun wings are packed with heat, then deep-fried to sear in the flavor. (placbo/Creative Commons License)

This year, get a head start on Fat Tuesday when you celebrate the Super Bowl on Sunday by cooking up a batch of crazy-hot, Cajun-style chicken wings with Mardi Gras-level heat. How hot is this Cajun wings recipe? Well, for starters, it gets its heat from both dried chili peppers and cayenne pepper, so expect a double dose of spiciness.

These wings are deep-fried, so you can sauce them to your liking after the fact. Because the heat is already built into Cajun wings before they're even fried, you can opt for a milder wing sauce, or be a daredevil by slathering on your favorite spicy hot wing sauce to make them even hotter.

You can please all of your Super Bowl guests regardless of their tastes by preparing multiple sauces of varying degrees of heat, then let them choose their own dipping sauce according to his or her personal level of chicken wing heat tolerance.

Don't forget to provide something dairy-based for those who can't stand the heat and sear their crepe-paper mouths. Chunky blue cheese dressing is the traditional route, but you can also whip up a homemade buttermilk ranch dressing or yogurt-based sauce to go with your Cajun wings.

Cajun-style chicken wings are obviously a perfect food tie-in for New Orleans Saints fans, but you can still serve them and root for the Colts --just play up the upcoming Mardi Gras connection. Fans of spicy wings won't complain a bit.

Cajun Wings Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2.5 pounds chicken wings
• 1 cup white flour
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tsp dried chili pepper flakes
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• Oil for frying (vegetable, canola, etc.)

Directions:

Trim fat from chicken wings and separate. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, pepper and spices. Toss to combine. Dip chicken wings in batter, coating as much as possible. Heat oil in large, deep frying pan until it reaches a temperature of 370 degrees. Carefully deep-fry Cajun wings in small batches at a time until brown and crisp, about 10-15 minutes. Drain on paper towels to soak up excess oil. Serve while piping hot with your favorite sauce and dips. Serves 2-4.

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