The Old School Drink Mix That Will Upgrade Homemade Wings

The chicken wing is synonymous with Game Day feasts, backyard cookouts, and bar sampler platters, but today this popular poultry appendage has reached the point of cult food status. Ask anyone what's the best type of chicken wing, and you're sure to receive a range of answers. Some people like the traditional oven-baked Buffalo sauce variety, while others enjoy a wing recipe that's sticky and sweet, and of course there are some purists who like their wings naked.

That being said, there are a few undeniable characteristics of a great chicken wing. First off, they should be moist and succulent on the inside — not dry and overcooked. They should also have a crisp exterior and crunchy skin. And although how you flavor your wings is subject to personal preferences, it's wise to aim for a coating that's got heat, sweet, smoke, and a little bit of tang.

So how can you ensure that you're eating the ultimate chicken wing? Make them from scratch! And for that, there's an unexpected ingredient that will set your chicken wings apart from all the rest: Tang.

When added to dry rubs or sauces, the orange-flavored powdered beverage mix can help you cook the perfectly balanced wing. Tang is loaded with sugar (it's the first item on its ingredient list), which not only provides a pleasantly sweet undertone but also helps caramelize the skin of the chicken wings, resulting in a superbly brittle bite.

Tang has a few other properties that make it especially chicken-wing friendly. Its orange flavor plays nicely with other traditional barbecue seasonings like cumin, paprika, chile powder, and chipotle, making it a natural addition to any spice blend. Tang powder is also somewhat on the sour side, which can add some extra zip and cut through the richness of a sauce or rub. But it's the inclusion of citric acid that makes Tang a griller's best friend. This common food additive can help tenderize the meat, improving its overall taste and texture.

When it comes to incorporating Tang into your next batch of wings, you can sprinkle the powder into a homemade dry rub or dissolve it in water and add it to barbecue sauce. Harmony is the name of the game, so add it little by little and be sure to taste test to ensure you don't overdo it.

Anyone born in America post-1960 has most likely heard of Tang. The powdered drink mix was an original creation of the General Mills Food Corporation, invented in 1957 by food scientist William A. Mitchell and chemist William Bruce James. Tang was designed to appeal to consumers who wanted a cheaper, longer-lasting, and more practical alternative to fresh orange juice. After two years of development, the orange-flavored beverage mix finally made its market debut in 1959 — but it didn't exactly fly off the shelves.

So what was the catalyst that launched this drink into popularity? Well, the space launch, of course. In 1962, astronaut John Glenn was tasked with testing a space-friendly food menu that other astronauts could use on their voyages while at zero gravity. Tang made the list because NASA believed the lightweight powder could help make the poor-tasting water aboard the spacecraft a little more palatable. 

Whether or not Glenn used Tang is up for debate, but the fact that Tang took the journey into the great beyond was all General Mills needed to create its widely popular marketing campaign. Over the next decade, Tang continued to accompany astronauts into space. Now, your next spice rub could be Tang's new voyage.