Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken Breasts

By lauramae

Because the chicken breasts are pounded out to a 1/2 inch thickness, they fry up even faster than the pork chops while still providing a juicy chicken interior and a super crunchy exterior that has been such a big reason for this recipe's popularity.

A quick dip in the easily prepared honey garlic sauce adds a sweet and slightly salty finish that everyone just loves.

We served ours with some Chinese egg noodles, lightly tossed in the same sauce, with a few sauteed vegetables on the side for what our entire family agreed was one of the most satisfying and delicious meals imaginable in under 30 minutes.

Workday dinners just don't get better than this.

Ingredients

• Sift together:
• 4 large boneless chicken breasts
• 2 cup flour
• 4 tsp salt
• 4 tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp ground thyme
• 2 tsp ground sage
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• Egg Wash
• 4 eggs
• 8 tbsp water
• Honey Garlic Sauce:
• In a medium saucepan add
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 – 4 cloves minced garlic
• Cook over medium heat to soften the garlic but do not let it brown. Add:
• 1 cup honey
• 1/4 cup soya sauce (low sodium soya sauce is best)
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• Simmer together for 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Watch this carefully as it simmers because it can foam up over the pot very easily

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from nlrockrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Place the chicken breasts between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and using a meat mallet, pound the meat to an even 1/2 inch thickness. Alternatively, you can slice the breasts by placing them flat on a cutting board and using a very sharp knife to slice them into halves horizontally.

Sift together dry ingredients

Make an egg wash by whisking together eggs and water:


Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then dip the meat in the flour and spice mixture.

Dip the breast into the eggwash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the meat to get good contact.

Heat a skillet on the stove with about a half inch of canola oil covering the bottom. You will want to carefully regulate the temperature here so that the chicken does not brown too quickly.

The thinness of the breast meat practically guarantees that it will be fully cooked by the time the outside is browned. I find just below medium heat works well. I use a burner setting of about 4 1/2 out of 10 on the dial and fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy.

Drain on a wire rack for a couple of minutes before dipping the cooked breasts into the Honey Garlic Sauce. Serve with noodles or rice.




Tips: This was delicious! The only thing I did differently was to use 1/2 flour and 1/2 cornstarch then after you are done with coating with the flour/cornstarch/spice mix, let them set for a good 45 minutes until the coating gets gooey, then fry. The using cornstarch and letting them set makes them crispier. The sauce was to die for!! Thanks for the great recipe!

I followed the cornstarch advice above. Excellent! We reduced the ginger and nutmeg to about 1/3 what was called for. We added twice as much soy sauce to the garlic/honey sauce. It was just too strong on honey flavor. Served with whole wheat pasta and steamed broccoli. Best crunchy fried chicken ever!!

Really want it crispy??? We made this last night for dinner with one variation...Use Panko for the final coating...1)dip the meat in flour w/no spices. 2) Dip the breast into the eggwash and 3)then a final time into Panko and spice mix - instead of flour & spices -, pressing the mix into the meat to get good contact.