How to Add Deeper Flavor to Wing Sauce With Brown Butter
Whether you’re planning on making buffalo wings , babes , cauliflower, or tofu puffs this Sunday, there’s a good chance you’ll be pouring Frank and melted butter over something.
It’s a classic for a reason, and the reason is because it’s delicious. I rarely recommend anyone deviate from Frank’s approved ratio of 1/3 cup melted butter to 1/2 cup sauce, but I have a small, subtle, but very effective tweak.
Yesterday morning, as I melted the butter for those incredible buffalo tofu puffs I mentioned, I found myself browsing absently on Twitter until the gentle whisper of foaming butter brought me back to Earth and back to the kitchen. “Oh no!” I exclaimed. — I must not let the butter brown.
Why not? Why shouldn’t I let the butter brown? Toasted butter is good! And the more I thought, the more I became convinced that the butter needed to be browned. So I did.
Why should you brown butter?
Toasted butter, known to the French as “beurre Noisette”, is exactly what it sounds like: butter cooked until the milk proteins turn brown . It is more nutty than ghee, with an intoxicating aroma and a deep, toasted flavor. Browning the butter before churning it into Frank’s sauce softens the acidity of the hot sauce a bit, giving your wings a slightly fried hue. The effect was subtle but noticeable, especially when I tried two sauces side by side. The wing sauce I made with brown butter was warmer, deeper and more inviting.
How to Make Buffalo Brown Butter Sauce
Making Buffalo Brown Butter Sauce is very easy. Add the oil to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until it starts to foam. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until small browned pieces (separated milk solids) appear in the bottom of the pot and a pleasant nutty aroma emerges.
Then mix in the oil and hot sauce as usual. Due to the separate nature of toasted butter, a little more effort is required to fully emulsify the two. If you’re having trouble, just toss it all into a jar and shake. Even toasted butter is powerless against a good cocktail.