Buffalo wings — chicken wings deep-fried until crispy, then tossed in a sauce of melted butter and Frank's RedHot cayenne pepper sauce — were created at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York in 1964 by Teressa Bellissimo. The origin story: a delivery of chicken wings instead of the intended backs and necks for stock prompted Bellissimo to deep-fry them, toss them in hot sauce and butter, and serve them with celery and blue cheese dressing. The dish became the Anchor Bar's signature, then Buffalo's identity food, then America's most consumed bar and game-day food. An estimated 1.4 billion wings are consumed during the Super Bowl weekend alone.
Chicken wings (separated into flats and drums, tips discarded) deep-fried at 190°C for 10-12 minutes until the skin is deeply golden and crispy and the meat is cooked through. Immediately tossed in a sauce of: Frank's RedHot (the original and non-negotiable hot sauce for traditional Buffalo wings), melted butter (equal parts butter and hot sauce), and nothing else. Served with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing (not ranch — the Buffalo position on ranch dressing as a wing accompaniment is hostile).
1) Fry until crispy — the skin must be deeply golden and crunchy. The sauce coats the crispy skin; a soggy wing under sauce is a failed wing. 2) The sauce is two ingredients: Frank's RedHot and butter. Equal parts. That's it. The butter rounds the hot sauce's vinegary sharpness; the hot sauce provides the heat. 3) Toss immediately after frying — the sauce adheres to the hot, crispy surface. 4) Blue cheese dressing — not ranch. In Buffalo, this is non-negotiable. The tangy, creamy blue cheese against the hot, buttery wing is the designed pairing.
Double-frying: fry at 160°C for 8 minutes (cook through), rest, then fry at 190°C for 3-4 minutes (crisp the skin). The double-fry produces the crispiest wing. The heat levels: mild (less Frank's, more butter), medium (equal parts), hot (more Frank's, less butter), and "suicide" (all Frank's, no butter, sometimes supplemental hot sauces). The National Chicken Wing Festival is held annually in Buffalo. The Anchor Bar still serves the original.
Baking instead of frying — baked wings can be crispy but rarely achieve the specific crust that deep-frying produces. Using a sauce other than Frank's and butter — garlic parmesan, teriyaki, honey BBQ are all wings, but they are not Buffalo wings. Ranch dressing — in Buffalo, this is an affront.
James Beard — American Cookery; Buffalo food tradition documentation