Feels like home: Cola chicken that will win over the pickiest eater

A hit in Hong Kong during the '90s, this recipe transforms a can of soda into a dark, sticky sauce that coats chicken wings.

These chicken wings, sweetened with cola, were a childhood favourite. Source: Sarah Leung

There’s no way you could guess that trained dietician, Alg Seaweed founder and avid home cook Sarah Leung was a picky eater as a child.

Despite growing up in a culinary capital like Hong Kong, she would only touch a handful of dishes like cheung fun, egg waffle and spaghetti Bolognese. “If my parents were desperate to get rice into me, they’d have to mix it with mayo and raisins,” she says and laughs.

Her favourite food was chicken wings, or more precisely, the skin of chicken wings. Since both her parents were working long hours, they hired a nanny to care for their daughter, and taught her family recipes, including the many, many ways to prepare chicken wings.

Sarah Leung with her son Charlie. Source: Sarah Leung

“During primary school, back then, I went in the afternoon from one to six pm so I had lunch before and she’d make me chicken wings almost every single day. It’s the only thing I ate! Monday it could be cola chicken wings, Tuesday fried chicken wings, Wednesday honey soy chicken wings and so on,” she recalls.

The chicken braised in Coca-Cola was a clear winner. The origins of the dish are unclear, but we know it was especially popular in 1990s Hong Kong, China and throughout Asia. “It’s not something you’d find in restaurants, but it’s something people would cook at home,” explains Leung. “I posted the recipe on Instagram and friends from Hong Kong wrote to say it brought back memories.”

The recipe is as simple as they come. Fry chicken wings with ginger and spring onion, then pour a can of Coca-Cola and a bit of soy sauce over them. Let the liquid reduce until the chicken is coated with a dark, sticky sauce, and serve with rice and Asian greens. Leung sometimes finishes the dish by drizzling sesame oil.

“It’s a sweet and savoury dish. As a kid, I didn’t drink Coca-Cola often, so it was exciting to have a soft drink and my favourite food together,” she says.

She’d make me chicken wings almost every single day. It’s the only thing I ate! Monday it could be cola chicken wings, Tuesday fried chicken wings, Wednesday honey soy chicken wings and so on.

She adds that you could use any soft drinks for this recipe, and that they help tenderise the meat because of their high acidity. Some recipes use soft drinks in meat marinades for that reason.

Her picky-eating days ended at age ten, five years before she moved to Melbourne. Now, as a dietitian with more than a decade's experience, she's keen to get her patients to cook more and try new foods.

In 2017, she launched Alg Seaweed, a business that makes seaweed seasonings and snacks. It's inspired by her work as a dietitian: people usually have health issues by the time they consult her, so Alg Seaweed's health-conscious range is about addressing this early on – seaweed is especially helpful for treating iodine deficiency, for instance. “I wanted to help people before they have problems and help them get healthier,” she says.

Cola chicken wings were a regular part of Sarah Leung's diet when she was growing up. Source: Sarah Leung

And while she loves helping people eat better, she’s all about balance. She still has a soft spot for cola chicken, and now prepares it for her family. 

“I’ve done it a few times. Especially during the lockdown, I had this deep desire of eating the food I grew up with and cooking more traditional meals. I live next door to a big Asian supermarket, so it’s my ‘me time’ to go do my shopping there,” she says.

She especially loves cooking her childhood dishes and sharing their stories with her young son Charlie, who is, luckily for her, a more adventurous eater than she was. “If I don’t teach him about food traditions of cultural significance and he doesn’t go to Hong Kong often, that’s it. Now that I have a child, I want to pass that on,” she says.

 

Love the story? Follow the author here: Instagram @audreybourget and Twitter @audreybourget

---

Braised cola chicken wings

Serves 4

The idea of a cola recipe sounds strange, but the sweetness of the soft drink balances other flavours very well. Despite how sweet cola is, this meat dish will turn out savoury after adding other ingredients such as soy sauce and spices.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp canola oil or vegetable oil
• 2 slices ginger
• 2-3 sprigs spring onion
• 12 chicken wings, drums and flats
• 250 ml cola
• 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
• 2 tsp soy sauce

Method

1. Add oil to a medium-sized, non-stick pan over medium heat.
2. Add ginger and spring onion to the pan and cook until brown (around 2-3 minutes), then remove from the pan.
3. Arrange chicken wings around the pan and fry the wings until they're golden brown on both sides (around 5-6 minutes).
4. Add cooking wine to the pan and let the liquid sizzle for a minute.
5. Return ginger and spring onion to the pan.
6. Add cola and soy sauce to the pan and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to medium and let the sauce reduce while braising the chicken wings, turning the wings occasionally (about 15-20 minutes). The sauce should thicken like nectar. 
8. Serve chicken wings in a bowl and pour the remaining sauce on top.

Note

• This chicken dish is best served with steamed rice and Asian greens.