What is Buffalo Chicken?
Buffalo Chicken or Buffalo Wings refer to fried chicken wings that have been dunked in a specially prepared hot sauce. This is why Buffalo wings are also sometimes known as hot wings. The sauce used for coating the chicken wings is made from vinegar, cayenne pepper and butter. The heat in the sauce varies from mild to hot.
The wings are usually deep-fried – they are never breaded, although they may be grilled or baked. The fried wings are then placed in a bowl along with the hot sauce. The bowl is tightly covered and shaken till the chicken is evenly covered with the sauce. The alternative is to serve the fried chicken wings with the hot sauce on the side. Buffalo wings are typically accompanied by celery sticks and blue cheese dressing.
Variations of Buffalo Chicken
In recent times, the term, “Buffalo” has been associated with foods other than chicken wings such as shrimp, chicken nuggets and chicken fingers. When the name of a particular dish uses the word, “Buffalo” it implies that the food has been seasoned with the same kind of hot sauce that is served with Buffalo wings.
Buffalo Chips for example, are potato chips that have been flavored with Buffalo style sauce. Some brands of Buffalo Chips replicate the taste of blue cheese.
History of Buffalo Chicken
Buffalo wings are named after Buffalo, New York where they are said to have their origin. Strangely enough, in Buffalo, these fried chicken wings are known as ‘wings’ or even ‘chicken wings’ while the rest of the world call them ‘Buffalo wings’!
Buffalo wings are said to have originated at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York in the year 1964. One night, the owners of the bar, Teressa and Frank Belissimo had to prepare a quick snack for their son and his friends who had walked in unexpectedly. Teressa came up with the idea of using chicken wings that were normally thrown away and turning them into a tasty dish. She deep fried the wings and tossed them in a hot pepper sauce. While she was frying the chicken, she served some left-over celery sticks and blue cheese to keep her hungry guests going.
There is a second version of the story of how the Buffalo wings originated. Usually, the Anchor bar used chicken backs and necks for making their spaghetti sauce. Once, thanks to a faulty delivery they were left with chicken wings instead of the usual supply. Instead of throwing the wings away, the owner Frank Belissimo asked his wife, Teressa to utilize them in some way. She was the one who thought up the recipe for chicken wings.
Frank and Teressa Bellisimo’s son, Dominic has another take on the origin of chicken wings. He said it was a Friday night at the Anchor bar and he thought of ding something that would make his customers happy. The majority of the clientele was Catholic and since it was close to midnight and since they would be able to eat meat, his mother Teressa came up with the idea of chicken wings.
Apart from the Bellissimos, a restaurant owner from Buffalo called John Young also claims to have been the first to serve chicken wings at his restaurant. He is said to have served chicken wings with a mambo sauce. In fact, in 1970, John Young registered his restaurant as “John Young’s Wings n Things”.
Buffalo Chicken in the US
Eating Buffalo wings is also considered a competitive sport in some areas in the United States. Contestants at Philadelphia’s Wing Bowl and at the National Buffalo Wing Festival compete at various eating events that revolve around chicken wings.
Nutrition Facts
A single serving of chicken wings that consists of three pieces is loaded with 150 calories, a total fat content of 10 g, 14 g of protein, 900mg of sodium, 2 g carbohydrate and 90 mg cholesterol. This is why many people opt for low fat versions of this dish where the wings are grilled or baked instead of being deep fried.
The blue cheese dip served on the side may use reduced fat sour cream or low fat blue cheese dressing to reduce the calorie count further. The amount of butter used in the hot sauce can also be varied to suit the low calorie versions of the dish.
