Chinese Honey Chicken

By Addie

Ingredients

• Marinade:
• 1 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
• Oil, for deep-frying
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 4 teaspoons of water, for sauce thickening
• Salt and sugar to taste
• Toasted sesame seeds, to garnish
• .....................................................
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 dashes ground white pepper
• .....................................................
• Frying Batter:
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup water, ice cold
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil, or regular cooking oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ......................................................
• Honey Garlic Sauce:
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced or lightly bruised
• 1/3 cup pure honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine, or dry sherry wine
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/4-1/2 cup of water

Preparation

Step 1

Marinate the chicken cubes with the Marinade for 5 minutes.

Make the Frying Batter. In a large bowl, lightly whisk the egg white, and mix in the rest of the Frying Batter ingredients. Batter should not be lumpy, nor too runny, but smooth. Place another bowl with ice cubes underneath the frying batter bowl. Drop in the chicken cubes, mix well until they are well coated. Let it sit for about 30 minutes to 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Prepare to make the Honey Garlic Sauce mixture. Mix all the sauce ingredients well and set aside.

Heat up a wok with deep-frying oil. Gently drop in the battered chicken cubes, one by one, making sure it is spread out to prevent sticking, overcrowding the wok, and not fried properly. Turn the heat down to medium-high, and continue to deep-fry until the color changes to golden brown and completely cooked. Dish out and drain on paper towels.

Reserve 3 tablespoons of deep-frying oil in the wok, and stir-fry the garlic until it is browned and the oil is fragrant. Dish out the garlic, and discard. Leave about 2-3 tablespoons of garlic oil in the wok.

Heat up the wok with the garlic oil from previous step, gently pour in the Honey Garlic Sauce mixture, and bring to a light simmer, add in the cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce, give it a quick stir and adjust salt/sugar/water to taste.

Here, you can either dish out some sauce for dipping later and just keep enough to coat the fried chicken cubes in the wok, OR, toss in the chicken and briefly stir well, making sure the chicken is well coated in the sauce, dish out and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and serve. Alternatively, you can also keep the sauce separate from the chicken, and dip as you eat. Serve Chinese Honey Chicken with a bowl of hot steamed Jasmine rice or serve as is, with extra toasted sesame seeds to garnish.
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COMMENTS:

My favorite is deep-fried stuff, of course! I like to pretend I like the healthy stuff, steamed or stir-fried, but I would definitely reach out for the deep-fried food when no one’s looking! It is the first time I see batter recipe with addition of oil. Can’t wait to try this one.

Your recipes are so much better than take out–lovely fresh chicken lightly glazed and completely unlike the chicken surrounded with cornstarch glop that describes any of the variations available in my small town. I’m giving this to my grandchildren tonight.

Paul and I made this for dinner tonight, and it turned out nicely. The batter and honey garlic sauce were especially good. We served it with brown rice and broccolini salad.

I made this the other night and it was delicious! Is there an alternative recipe for making the chicken batter really crispy like in the Chinese restaurants? REPLY: Jun – yes, I always add some oil to the frying batter. It makes it easier to fry. :)

I just made this for dinner tonight and it was SO good. My family devoured every last bite – there wasn’t a single bit leftover!!

Extremely easy recipe, if I could mange it as well as I did!! My husband loved it, plus the ingredients are so simple!I’m so glad iv found this page, waiting for a chance to try some of the other recipes!