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In the United States, chicken wings involve a very specific ritual. Most often consumed in sports bars, they arrive in a red basket, accompanied by blue cheese or <a href="/activities/homemade-hidden-valley-style-ranch-dressing">ranch</a> dressing and, like, two or three carrots and celery sticks. Why so many wings yet so few veggies? That’s one of life’s great mysteries, poultry people—something to chew over as you wash down wee avian appendages with an ice-cold gulp of golden lager. Baskets, chicken, dip, veggies, and beer: these are the constants of the wing-eating world. The sauce is the variable. Buffalo’s a standby, and barbecue’s pretty big too. From there, things go global—think teriyaki wings, wings tikka masala, and a <a href="http://food52.com/recipes/6795-hanoi-inspired-fried-chicken-wings">Hanoi-inspired situation</a> with soy and rice flour. In this vein, we present a tangy-sweet take on chicken barbecue sauce featuring bright red achiote paste, known in Mexico, and nearby Belize, too, as recado rojo. This earthy spice blend combines the orange-red seeds of the achiote tree with black peppercorns, cloves, cumin, coriander, oregano, garlic, and either bitter orange juice or vinegar. We combine it with worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, water, and apple cider vinegar, then add smoked salt and liquid smoke for (you guessed it) smokiness. When the sauce meets juicy chicken—<a href="/activities/chicken-wings">wings</a>, sure, but also <a href="/activities/smokerless-smoked-chicken">smoked chicken</a>, <a href="/activities/can-t-f-it-up-fried-chicken">fried chicken</a>, chicken tenders, and chicken on a stick—something truly magical happens. And that magical something can be conjured easily any time you need a saucy snack to get you through.So go procure some <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00169V7TW/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00169V7TW&linkCode=as2&tag=delvkitc-20">achiote paste</a>—and perhaps a six-pack too. And don’t be surprised when a new chicken ritual is born.