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Anyone out there got a recipe for the hot sauce which goes with buffalo wings? I've searched the board, but it looks like everyone buys ready made sauces.
Theresa
Aug 23, 2006 12:24PM
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You could make a Louisiana-style hot sauce at home, something like Tabasco, but these sauces are aged for months or years. The ingredients usually include chiles, vinegar, salt, and possibly some seasonings.
Most hot sauce dips for chicken wings probably use a Louisiana-style hot sauce as an ingredient. (You probably understand that these wings and the accompanying hot sauce originated about as far from Louisiana as you can get without leaving the continental U.S.) Here is a link I found to one such sauce:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1839,...
Sarah C
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I was contemplating making my own sauce for while until I found out how aged hot sauce (Tabasco, Franks) is made. They take the fresh peppers, arrange them in a single layer, sprinkle with salt and then add more layers of peppers/salt on top.
The process is a lot more involved than tossing some peppers in a blender.
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I make homemade pepper vinegar, but it isn't exactly the same thing as bottled commercial hot sauce. Like everyone else has posted, those sauces are typically aged (some for months, some for years) before bottling. Hot sauces used in buffalo wing coatings are typically less hot and thicker (more body) than a tabasco-style sauce....Frank's is the "real deal" used at the bar in Buffalo that invented the dish. I like Crystal hot sauce for wings; unfortunately, Crystal's production is limited right now post-Katrina.
If you want to make pepper vinegar, just put whole or roughly chopped hot peppers (tabasco peppers, jalapenos, habaneros, or my favorite cayennes) in a clean glass container with some salt & top with vinegar. Wait a couple of weeks for the peppers to flavor the vinegar...but don't use this for wing sauce. Instead, use it as a sprinkling condiment for fried food, or for beans or greens.
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Hi, WHERE do ou find Crystal in NYC? I have looked all over.
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I have no idea where to find Crystal in NYC! But you can probably mail-order it from an online source. BTW, Crystal's production facility was relocated to St. John Parish and the new plant is now running full-tilt, so there are no more shortages!
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I've seen it in Ctown and Pathmark.
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I make wing sauce with Crystal sauce and butter. Supposedly, margarine can also be used. Quickly melt one stick of butter, pour in 1/2 cup of Crystal (Frank's Red Hot Original is good, too) or amount to taste. Make the sauce after the wings are ready, otherwise butter seperates. Toss with wings. I grill my wings, by the way, rather than fry. And I keep the skin on, otherwise sauce does not "grab."
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If you're looking for original Buffalo-style wings, this is the recipe to use. Frank's or Crystal's is key, and the butter. This is the recipe I was told about by folks who worked in some of the wing shacks in Syracuse back in the 80s, before wings had spread everywhere. Grilling is good, but if you want authentic, you gotta fry! Dump the sauce and the cooked wings in a heavy duty ziploc, give it a shake or two, then pour them in the bowl. Celery sticks and blue cheese dressing and you're good to go.
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I've found that Trappeys Louisiana Hot Sauce is much better tasting for wings than Crystal or Franks. It has a bit more pepper flavor.
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Thanks for your responses - I'm now less confused (I'm English by the way - so a novice on these matters...). I wasn't sure if Buffalo sauces were the same as a Louisiana sauce - but at the same time, I couldn't imagine eating wings drenched in neat tabasco!
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I am no expert on wings, but you need to know that Buffalo Wings were apparently "invented" in Buffalo, NY and consist of deep fried wings smothered in Frank's Hot Sauce and margarine (this recipe is on the Frank's site) per the posted recipe. Frank's sauce is very similiar to Tabasco sauce, which is known and available worldwide and associated with Louisiana, which is why you might be referring to this sauce as "Louisiana sauce," but we would not make that association.
Crystal sauce is a very good hot sauce popular in Louisiana where I am from, therefore I use it instead of Frank's, both are good for wings. Tabasco I have never used for wings and for some reason don't think it would work as well flavor-wise, perhaps a bit bitter? Frank's also has a pre-prepared Buffalo Wing Sauce, but it tastes better to make your own.
There is another hot sauce used in Louisiana that consists of green peppers in a vinegar type solution that I am sure one can make at home (the red sauce is more involved, as others have noted), but I quite frankly have never cared for it and don't know much about it.
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I don't think Tabasco is anywhere near to Franks, Crystal, or Trappeys flavorwise. Tabasco is a much, much thinner, saltier, vinegar sauce with much less flavor.
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"Louisiana" is a brand of hot sauce. It comes in a distinctive, slope-shouldered round bottle with a round red cap, red-and-yellow label. Louisiana is thin, vinegary, and made with cayenne peppers (like Crystal, so it has some of that citrusy-floral cayenne tang), rather than the tabasco peppers used in Tabasco (hotter, but not as nuanced in flavor as cayennes). Louisiana is less sweet than crystal...it goes well with beans, fried seafood, and other things where Crystal's sweeter flavor might intrude (imho).
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The way I make wings is to section the wings, wash and dry them. They have to be perfectly dry. I heat up the oil and deep fry the wings until they are a deep golden brown. I take a pot with a cover and put around 6 ounces of Trappeys Red Devil Hot Sauce in the pot and add about 1/4 - 1/3 stick of butter and heat it up just until the butter melts and mix it together. (I know that the original recipe calls for margarine but I don't allow that stuff in my house.) When the wings are just out of the fryer they go in the pot with the sauce. I hold the top on and shake it all up well for ten seconds and let sit for 1 minute. This cooks the sauce onto the wings. If you do this in a plastic bag the heat from the wings will melt the plastic. Mmmmm good with celery and refrigerated blue cheese dressing such as Marie's.
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I say, make your own hot sauce with powdered cayenne or arbol chile and vinegar; most of those commercial sauces are overpriced , too oily or too salty.
The deep frying way works fine and may be authentic, but often I will marinate the wings/drummettes in hot sauce and buttermilk, then *bake* them at 400 degrees until they get crispy. Serve with extra hot sauce and home made blue cheese dressing. I prefer a 'dry' wing, same argument as Memphis dry vs. wet ribs.
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I've had some success by:
1. Soak pieces of red peppers and jalapenos in vinegar and spices for a week or so.
2. Spin them in the food processor for a few minutes
3. Transfer to stove, bring to a boil to soften
4. Spin it in the FP again for 5-10 minutes while adding salt, garlic, honey, molasses, or whatever you want.
I like it to be the consistency of ketchup, but you could add more vinegar if you like it thinner.
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