If repeating a recipe with less soy sauce still results in an overly salty dish, it must mean that the amount needs to be significantly reduced or the brand needs to be replaced.
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My Story
Out of curiosity, I searched the website where I found the recipes to make oxtail soup and ginger and sesame oil chicken to see if there was another simple one to try. This time, I saw one for chicken wings.
Inspiring Recipe
The recipe that I chose was Soy Chicken Wings from Cooking With Lei’s website.
First Try
All I had to purchase for this recipe were chicken wings and sesame seeds. The rest were already in the kitchen! (I love it when that happens. 😊)
Ingredients to Use
Based on 2 3/4 pounds of chicken wings, I increased the remaining ingredients. Learning from the conversion issue from the last recipe that I tried, I used a recipe converter this time. Below were the adjusted ingredients and respective amounts:
- 7 1/2 tablespoons of oil
- 16 slices of ginger
- 1 1/4 cup of rice wine
- 1 1/4 cup of soy sauce
Steps to Prepare
For the first step, I modified it slightly. Using a wok instead of a pan, I added the oil and waited until it was hot. Next, I added the ginger slices and stirred them around until they were fragrant. Lastly, I mixed in the chicken wings, rice wine, and soy sauce.
For the second step, I waited too long, thinking the oil was going to dry up with the sauce. As a result, the caramelization occurred on the bottom of the chicken wings, making it hard to stir the batch. This led to some meat to falling off the wings in the third step as I tossed in the sesame seeds.
Time to Eat
Looking at the plate of cooked chicken wings, I was afraid that they were going to be dry and burnt:
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe after the first tasting:
| # of Ingredients | Effort | $ / Serving | Try Again? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 |  | |  |
Though the meat ended up dry, it wasn’t burnt. However, it was too SALTY!!
To save the chicken wings, I modified the rinsing technique found in the article, 5 Tricks to Fix Food that’s too Salty, from the Fine Dining Lovers website. I ended up submerging the chicken in water and pouring out the liquid, which made them slightly better. However, it wasn’t until after I stir-fried them with some Napa cabbage when the salt level became acceptable.
Second Try
This time, my goals were to decrease the salt content and keep the chicken wings moist.
Ingredients to Use
With about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken wings, the remaining ingredients were adjusted to the following amounts:
- 4 1/8 tablespoons of oil
- 7 slices of ginger
- 1/2 cup of rice wine (instead of 2/3 cup to lessen the salt)
- 1/2 cup of soy sauce (instead of 2/3 cup to lessen the salt)
Steps to Prepare
I repeated the same process as before, but as soon as the liquid became a sauce, I stirred everything around until the wings were caramelized. With some sesame seeds added, the dish was done.
Time to Eat
Here’s a plate of chicken wings from the second try:
Recipe Rating
Here are the latest results:
| # of Ingredients | Effort | $ / Serving | Try Again? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | | | |
Though the chicken wings weren’t as salty, they were still too salty for my preference.
Since I suspect that the change in soy sauce last month is causing the oversaltiness, I’ll do the following next time:
Continuous Improvement
- Try this recipe again after I buy the soy sauce that I previously used for a chicken dish!
Often, I like to make minor tweaks to my processes to perfect it. However, going through this recipe has reminded me of the following:
Lesson for Dumber Self
- Sometimes, a situation requires a more drastic approach of replacing something in order to speed up the progress.
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the Soy Chicken Wings recipe from Cooking With Lei’s website?
- Share a challenge that you had with soy sauce and how did you fix it?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)
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