We love chicken wings. We’ve tried them all over the city, from Saizeriya’s RMB6 set (not bad for the money) to City Shop (great value if you get them hot) to Bubba’s gorgeous, drumstick-only baskets of barbecued goodness. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of Chinese entrants in our power poll, save for Southern Barbarian and the late night chuan’r guy on Hengshan and Yongjia. That’s why we were so delighted when we heard about Zen’s chicken wings. They’re definitely non-traditional and admittedly a bit of splurge at RMB52 each wing, but you won’t find anything else like it.
In a move reminiscent of the turkey dinners our moms used to make, the deep-fried wings are deboned and stuffed with glutinous rice; they’ve basically just taken out the inedible parts and crammed it full of better stuff. The wings are stuffed to the point of bursting apart and come out hot and crispy, the crunchy skin snapping away to reveal the sweet, sticky rice within. It all melts together in your mouth to form a ball of sweet and savory. It comes sided with some of the most full-on soy sauce we’ve ever tasted, so if you’re looking for even more flavor, just give it a quick dip.
DETAILS
What: ZEN's Stuffed Chicken Wing
Where: ZEN | Rm.2, South Block Xintiandi, Lane 123 Xingye Lu 兴业路123弄新天地南里2号
How much: RMB52
Tel: 6385-6385
See more great dishes around town:
Anna Maya’s Avocado and Beetroot Donburi
City Deli’s Turkey Avocado Sandwich
Table No. 1’s Fruits and Flowers Dessert
Dong Bei Ren’s Ganguo Mushrooms
The Apothecary’s Charcuterie Plate
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"In a move reminiscent of the turkey dinners our moms used to make, the deep-fried wings are deboned and stuffed with glutinous rice" Yes, If your Asian maybe. We dont eat that kinda stuff in the West Geoff. Maybe you should not be a food writer if all you know is asian foods. Have you ever lived in the US or Canada, or Europe for a decent amount of time ??
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Geoff's a Canadian, and I think he was referring to turkey stuffing, though I could be wrong on that one (I never had a glutinous rice stuffed turkey, though I'm from the East Coast and we don't go for dem dere newfangled things).
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@jeffisanonce Even if you're asian, who said that your Thanksgiving dinner can't consist of turkey and a different type of stuffing? My family's Thanksgiving dinner have turkey along side with egg rolls... " We don't eat that kinda stuff in the West Geoff."... Maybe YOU don't, but perhaps don't generalize the entire world to your viewpoint.
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@jeffisanonce Why are you assuming that the writer only know about Asian food, just because he is Asian? Is that what makes you think that he hasn't spent time in the West? There are millions of Chinese living overseas.
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Are you sure about this article? We were at this place last Sunday because of the "WING" but they don't even have it on the menu. One of the staff said they had it before. The other one said they never had this dish. Try calling the number, it's not even ZEN!
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I actually had this (OK fine, I had three) at the Xintiandi spot, but they told me their menus were the same at all locations. Try that one--the number is 6385-6385. Updating the post to that location now...
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What about Kyochon? The korean fried chicken place in Pudong? It's a trek but... hot damn. And side note... something about having chicken wings at Plaza 66 for 52 RMB..... it's like having la mian at the park hyatt ( assuming they do serve it there), sublimely ridiculous.