Crispy Honey Chicken

This post is so overdue it's ridiculous! Not only have I been M.I.A. from the blog for AGES now but I have had a draft of this post ready since February! I do apologize for my absence and I promise that I will try my best to never let it happen again. I have been working on a ton of orders lately (YAY!), then I was away for a week of holidays at the cottage and it seems that I simply haven't had the chance to sit down yet alone write about my adventures in the kitchen. BUT the cooking hasn't stopped, I promise :)

There is a popular food restaurant found across North America that has a very delicious crispy honey sesame chicken dish and I've only discovered it in the last few months. I am addicted to this dish and seem to be using it as my 'go-to' dish whenever I visit this restaurant. So naturally, my first thought was "oh sweet lord, I must make this soon!" After some searching, I found a recipe at BlogChef and I felt that it looked pretty similar to what I was used to. 

Now, while the recipe does have quite a few ingredients in it, I promise you that not only is it worth it but I actually had most of the ingredients in my kitchen. 

Chinese Honey Chicken

Adapted from the recipe found on BlogChef (link here)

Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” chunks)
Oil (for deep frying)
 

Batter-
4 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup water
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 egg white
 

Sauce-
1 ½ tablespoons oil
2 teaspoon ginger (minced)
3 tablespoons garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
½ cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch (mixed with 1 teaspoon water)
Sesame seeds (for garnish)

Step 1: In a large bowl mix all batter ingredients together until smooth. Cover and allow the batter to site for at least 30 minutes. Add the chicken to the batter tossing to coat.
Step 2: Heat a deep fryer to 350 degrees. Fry chicken bits in patches for 2 minutes or until batter becomes firm. Drain on paper towels.

Step 3: To make the sauce. Heat 1 ½ tablespoons of oil in your wok. Add garlic and ginger and stir fry for 30 seconds.  Add salt, honey, vinegar, and water. Mix well. Combine 1 teaspoon of water with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Add to the sauce and Simmer for 2 minutes.
Step 4: Coat chicken with the sauce and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with white rice.

 

Here's what the dish will look like once you add the chicken to the sauce (oh the joys of close-up photos from a Blackberry!):

After having made this recipe, I feel that I have a few notes to add. 

• Add your chicken at the very last moment possible - you don't want it to go soggy
• Serve this with some veggies along with your rice. I did a quick stir-fry of some snow peas and bean sprouts with some garlic chili sauce as well as some roasted sweet potatoes

And here, loves, is the final dish! I actually think my mouth is watering RIGHT NOW because I could eat this for DAYS! 

I hope you all have been keeping well and I will try my best not to leave the blog alone for too long in the future. 

Happy Cooking!

t