Jeff the 420 Chef’s Hazy Thai Wings

After a friend’s mother was diagnosed with cancer, a guy named Jeff — he declined to reveal his last name so we’ll just call him “The 420 Chef” — started making edibles. Jeff the 420 Chefhas published a whole cookbook ofcannabis-infused recipes called “The 420 Gourmet: The Elevated Art of Cannabis Cuisine.”

It was love at first bite when Jeff the 420 Chef first tried the famous fish sauce chicken wings at Pok Pok Noi in Portland. Determined to recreate his own 420 version of Chef Andy Ricker’s sweet lacquered wings, Jeff set himself to the task until he succeeded. Trouble is, now we can’t decide which wings we like better!

HAZY THAI WINGS

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

¼ cup raw peanuts, crushed

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp coconut oil

½ cup raw cane sugar

½ cup fish sauce

3 tbsps ketchup

1½ tbsps Sambal Oelek chili garlic sauce

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tsp Japanese rice vinegar

1 cup cornstarch

1 tsp garlic powder

2 lbs chicken wings, rinsed and patted dry

Extra-virgin coconut oil

½ cup Canna-Coconut Oil (recipe follows below)

4 tbsps cilantro, chopped

Toasted Peanuts & Garlic (recipe follows below)

Celery curls

Carrot sticks

Instructions

Prepare the Toasted Peanuts & Garlic: Preheat the oven to 325ºF. In a small bowl, combine the peanuts and garlic with coconut oil and a dash of salt. Spread the peanuts and garlic out evenly on a small baking pan and roast in the oven at 325ºF for 30 minutes until golden.

Prepare the celery: Cut the celery into 6-inch pieces, slice in half lengthwise, make lengthwise cuts almost to center and repeat to create slivers. Refrigerate in ice water until slivers curl.

Prepare the sauce: In a food processor, grind the sugar until it becomes a very fine powder. Then combine the sugar, fish sauce, ketchup, Sambal Oelek, lime juice and rice wine vinegar in a medium-size bowl. Set aside.

Fry the wings: Preheat the oven to 340ºF. In a shallow dish, sift the cornstarch and garlic powder. Toss the chicken wings in the cornstarch mixture to coat.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet on the stovetop for a minute on high. Add enough coconut oil for deep-frying, about 2 inches from the bottom of the pan. Fry the wings until golden brown, then remove from oil using a slotted spoon and drain on brown paper.

Bake the wings: Transfer the wings to a lightly greased baking sheet and drizzle each wing with a teaspoon of Canna-Oil. Bake in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes.

Season the wings: Heat the sauce in a clean skillet over medium heat until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Transfer the wings directly from the oven to the skillet. Toss until the wings are evenly coated. Sprinkle with Toasted Peanuts & Garlic and toss.

To serve: Transfer the wings to a serving plate and serve alongside carrot sticks and celery curls.

Canna-Coconut Oil

Healthy, high-fat cooking and finishing oils are key to a tasty, satisfying edible experience. Jeff the 420 Chef recommends using coconut oil to make these Hazy Thai Wings, but you can also use olive, sesame, walnut or avocado oil, if you prefer. The approximate dose per serving is based on infusing 5 grams of cured/dried/decarbed cannabis into 5 ounces of oil.*

Yield: Makes 8 single tablespoon servings

*Approximate THC per serving

10%: 30.4 milligrams

15%: 45.7 milligrams

20%: 60.8 milligrams

Ingredients

¼ oz (7 g) cannabis “flower” or “bud”

5 oz extra-virgin coconut oil, for infusing

Equipment

Distilled water

A tea strainer

1 medium or large-size pot

A bowl of ice water

A French press coffeemaker

A heat-resistant glass dish or a baking tin

A dehydrator (optional)

Aluminum foil

Paper towels

A glass jar

Day One

Clean the herb: Coarsely grind the dry herb and then soak in distilled water for 24 to 48 hours. Change the water halfway through. This will clean out the impurities that can result in any off flavors.

Day Two

Transfer the “cleaned” herb to a tea strainer. Bring water to boil in a medium or large-size sauce pot. Place the herb-filled tea strainer in the boiling water and infuse for 5 minutes. Once done, plunge the tea strainer in the bowl of ice water for 1 minute. Remove the tea strainer from the ice water and then rinse it with distilled water to remove any residual impurities. Remove the rinsed herb from the tea strainer and carefully wring out any excess water.

Dry the herb: Skip this step if using a dehydrator. Otherwise, spread the cannabis evenly in a large baking pan and loosely tent with a large sheet of aluminum foil. (Do not crimp the foil over the edges of the pan!) Allow the cannabis to sit overnight. The cannabis should be dry by the following morning.

Decarb the herb: Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Crimp the foil down over the baking pan and bake the cannabis for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes without removing the foil to allow the THC and CBD vapors to settle back onto the herb. Then remove the foil and loosely tent the cannabis with paper towels. Reserve and set aside for 1 to 2 hours to dry out any residual moisture. (Your final yield will weigh +/-20 to +/-50% less than your starting weight, depending on how moist or dry your cannabis was when you began the process.)

Infuse your oil: Pour coconut oil into a clean French press standing upright in a pot of simmering water. Now add the decarbed cannabis to the oil and then cover the French press with the lid, pressing down on the plunger until it rests just above the surface of the oil. This will serve as your water line. Gently simmer for 4 hours, checking the water level every 20 minutes to ensure that it remains at the same height or slightly above the water line.

Once done, remove the French press from the pot and push the plunger all the way down. Strain the Canna-Coconut Oil into a clean jar. Your final yield should be about 4 ounces.

To store: Use your Canna-Coconut Oil immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. If your Canna-Coconut Oil solidifies, simply place the jar in a pot of hot water for 15 to 20 minutes until it re-liquefies.