Here’s a recipe using only two ingredients, guaranteed to produce a dish with a difference. In Sydney, my sister and her friends often cook this dish, with satisfying results.

Take some chicken wings or drumsticks, rub them well with sinigang mix, then broil, roast or barbecue the chicken. The chicken comes out piquant, vaguely tart and somewhat mouth puckering. It has a distinct flavor that can have you thinking, where did I taste this before? It’s like looking at a familiar face and wondering whether you’ve seen that person somewhere.

Take this on picnics, as baon to school or the office, or serve it with rice for dinner. A good side dish is a sweet-sour achara.

Broiled chicken wings ‘sinigang’

1 kilogram chicken wings
1 pack (about 50 grams) sinigang sa sampalok powder mix

Cut off the wing tips and discard them (or use them for making chicken broth). Split the chicken wings at the joints so that each wing becomes two pieces.

Rub the chicken pieces very well with the sinigang powder mix. Put the chicken in a bowl, cover the bowl and let marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

When ready to cook, arrange the chicken pieces, skin side down, in an oven-proof dish that will fit in a turbo broiler (See tips). Broil the chicken in the turbo broiler at 190ºC (375ºF) for 15 minutes.

With a pair of tongs, turn the chicken pieces over and broil for another 15 to 20 minutes or until fully cooked.

Remove the chicken pieces from the broiler and transfer to a serving dish. Serve immediately.

Cook’s tips

The chicken wings probably won’t fit in one dish since the turbo broiler isn’t very big. You’ll have to cook them in two batches.

You can also roast the chicken wings in an oven. Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC ) for 15 minutes. Arrange the chicken pieces in an oven-proof dish, skin side down, and roast for 15 minutes. Turn chicken pieces over and roast for another 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken pieces are fully cooked.

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