Harissa Honey Chicken Lollipops

This particular chicken lollipop recipe is a Indo-Chinese favourite appetizer where frenched chicken wings are marinated, baked (or fried) until crisp and tossed with a sticky sweet and hot sauce (harrissa honey sauce). Simply put, chicken lollipops are the fried chicken wings but with a more distinct look and spicy flavour.
The name “chicken lollipop” is referring to how the chicken wings look after trimming. To achieve the lollipop appearance, the meat on the chicken wing is cut loose from the bone end and pushed down, a culinary technique known as “frenching.” The recipe is actually very simple. The hardest part of the recipe is to form the chicken lollipops from chicken wings. If you plan to make a huge batch for a crowd, fry the chicken lollipops and make the sauce in advance. Then you can re-crisp the wings at a high temperature for a couple of minutes, re-heat the sauce, and toss to coat just before serving.
Here is a video on how to cut lollipops from the wings that I found on youtube.

	Harissa Sauce
8-10 Whole chicken wings (or simply use meaty chicken drumettes) 1 tbsp Cumin powder 1 tbsp Criander powder 1 tsp Garlic powder 1/3 - 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper 2/3 tsp Sea salt Black pepper to taste Herbs and greens to garnish Pomegranate seeds to garnish	85 g Salted butter 100 g Harissa 1 tbsp Lemon juice 80 g Honey

Divide the chicken wing into 3 parts (drumette, winglet and wingtip) by slicing through the joints. Save the wingtip for other uses.
French the drumette. Holding the drumette (which looks like a chicken drumstick) by the meaty end, use a small, sharp knife to cut around the thin end of the drummette so the meat and skin are released from the bone. Push the meat down towards the fat end to create a lollipop.
French the winglet / flat. For the winglet, which contains two bones, cut the joint where the bones meet. Trim a small section of the meat from the circumference of that area to expose the bones. Remove one of the bones and push the meat to the end of the remaining bone to form a lollipop.
Transfer the prepared wings to a medium bowl. Add in ground cumin, coriander, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Rub the spice mixture into the wing pieces until there is no powder left in the bottom of your bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
Preheat your oven to 200C/400F and brush a baking tray with some olive oil. Arrange the chicken wings on the tray and bake in the middle of the oven for 35 minutes or until the chicken is nicely browned and slightly charred, and completely cooked through.
Bring sauce ingredients slowly to a simmer in a saucepan on the stovetop while your wings are baking. When the sauce starts to bubble, turn off the heat and set aside for 5 minutes. The sauce will thickens up after cooling a bit. Toss the wings in the sauce until thoroughly coated. Serve on a bed of fresh herbs and garnished with pomegranate seeds and chopped spring onions if desired.

38 comments:

Christine 6/5/22 00:19: Yummy!
Tom 6/5/22 00:36: ...at the price of chicken wings, this looks great.
Brian's Home Blog 6/5/22 00:51: Those sound really good and look super cool too.
Norma2 6/5/22 01:05: They are delicious, they are eaten one after another, the diner asks for one after...lol!
foodtravelandwine 6/5/22 04:06: Unbelievable!!...it looks so delicious!!.....I love it!!...........Abrazotes, Marcela
J.P. Alexander 6/5/22 04:29: Genial receta. Gracias por ponerla. Te mando un beso.
Margaret D 6/5/22 05:49: They look nice.
Lola Martínez 6/5/22 08:13: En casa las alitas son bien recibidas siempre, normalmente cocinadas al horno. Me llevo la idea de hacer esas piruletas para un día especial, pues son algo entretenidas, pero merecen la pena.
Un beso.
Nancy Chan 6/5/22 10:57: Looks delicious and addictive.
Whats Cookin Italian Style Cuisine 6/5/22 12:45: you're such a food artist and these look marvelous great job and recipe!
EASYFOODSMITH 6/5/22 13:02: They look incredible delicious!
Anonymous 6/5/22 13:18: Thanks for this post. I never realized how to French poultry and love honey harrisa.
Rose world 6/5/22 13:40: Your chicken lollipop would be a party pleaser!! I love chicken lollipop but never make at home.
Kitchen Riffs 6/5/22 15:56: Yummy! Definitely my kind of lollipop. :-) Thanks!
DEZMOND 6/5/22 16:47: The stuff of nightmares LOL for us vegetarians, but I do ever so love your black plate!
David 6/5/22 18:35: Angie, "Frenched" or not, I know that I'd love my chicken wings with that harissa sauce! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Pam 6/5/22 19:27: They look tasty!
Muriel 7/5/22 00:02: Une recette terriblement savoureuse et toute en couleur. Bonne soirée
mjskit 7/5/22 04:50: These look fun! Perfect for a buffet and I have just the friends who would love them. Anything hot and spicy. :)
Sherry's Pickings 7/5/22 08:28: mmm yum spicy. sounds delish angie.
eileeninmd 7/5/22 13:14: Hello,
I would love to try this chicken, sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing! Have a happy weekend.
shirleysimplerecipe 7/5/22 15:28: Looks delicious 😃!
Jeff the Chef 7/5/22 16:48: Now there's some great looking party food right there!
Cooking Julia 8/5/22 00:11: What a great combo of flavors!
Anonymous 8/5/22 00:37: We are big fans of harissa. I bet my husband with love this and the wonderful floavros It's Judee from Gluten Free A-Z blog.
Mbul Kecil 8/5/22 01:19: the part of the chicken that i like most is wings...i want learn how to make chicken lollipop from chicken wings Angie...it's simple but very nice presentation in plating. Have a nice day ^^
Anonymous 8/5/22 07:06: These chicken lollipops looks delicious! They’d make a fabulous hors d’œuvres too.
Eva http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/
Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake 8/5/22 13:46: Thanks for the info on how to "french" the wings! What a fun, flavorful and delicious appetizer (or dinner)!!
Balvinder 8/5/22 20:02: I would love these chicken lollipops! Thanks for the step wise pictures on how to french the wings.
David M. Gascoigne, 8/5/22 23:22: I use harissa, honey and chicken and it sounds like I need to,put the three together.
Marcelle 9/5/22 19:05: Wow, Angie!! I would love to enjoy these at a party, they look delicious! Fantastic flavors in these chicken lollipops!!
thepaintedapron.com 10/5/22 15:02: These sound amazing! I love the way you've made them so tempting to grab and eat! Lamb lollipops are our favorite, we are going to have to try this asap!
Jenna
Izaa 10/5/22 20:02: These dishes look very tasty
Anonymous 10/5/22 23:51: What a fun and delightfully delicious passed appetizer this would make! :-) ~Valentina
Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews 11/5/22 08:02: I have never heard of 'Frenching' before and to be honest I only really enjoy the breast meat of a chicken, so I am going to save myself the embarrassment of trying this recipe out and really messing it up!

You make it look so easy and delicious though and I love the sound of the Harissa sauce, so I might try that out on another dish! :)
tigerfish 13/5/22 03:22: Yeah, you are right! I made chicken lollipops before and agree it takes some effort to make the lollipops. That was my first time making (and also my last)
Raymund 19/5/22 23:58: The harrissa honey flavour on that chicken sound delish
bread&salt 21/5/22 15:36: Very different combination but i am sure it must be so tasty because chicken base dusges are my favourite.