I must admit I had never eaten honey chicken before moving to Australia. I do not recall seeing it on the menu of any Chinese restaurants in Milano and I am not even sure whether it is an original Chinese dish. All I know is that I was hooked to it from the first time I tried it. My husband had ordered it and I was a bit perplexed when I saw it at first… having chicken with honey sounded a bit too exotic for me. But in my defence I must admit that I always try new things, no matter how weird they sound. And I am glad I did, as l really liked it! The chicken fritters are crunchy and the honey sauce is slightly sweet, but mild and sticky. Yum!!! Serve with some steamed rice or, even better, with some fried rice! Enjoy!
Honey Chicken
How to make your own Chinese take out: Honey Chicken!
Ingredients
Chicken
- 500 gms – 1 lb chicken tenderloins cut into small bite-size cubes
Marinade
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
Batter
- ¾ cup water
- 115 gms – 4 oz. all-purpose flour
- 55 gms – 2 oz. corn starch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoon vegetable oil plus more for deep frying
- 1 pinch of salt
Honey sauce
- Mild honey 2 parts
- Water 1 part
- 1 pinch salt and
- ¼ to ½ tsp cornstarch depending on the thickness of the honey
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
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Put the chicken in a bowl and mix it with the soy sauce and salt. Keep it in the fridge to marinate for 30 minutes.
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Mix the ingredients for the batter together until smooth and dip the chicken pieces into it.
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Deep fry them in hot vegetable oil until golden brown and cooked through. You will need to regulate the oil temperature so that the chicken cooks through without burning: do not put the fire too high. Transfer them onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain the excess oil. Keep warm.
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Mix the honey and water together in a saucepan. Add the cornstarch and salt, mix well and heat on the fire until the sauce thickens.
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Dip each chicken piece in the sauce, decorate with some sesame seeds and serve hot with some plain steamed long grain rice or fried rice and some extra honey sauce on the top.
I’m not usually a fan of sweet and chicken. In the States, sweet and sour chicken seems to be the standard by which all Anglo-Chinese (meaning not really a Chinese establishment) restaurants are judged – and most come off gloppy and cloyingly sweet.
Your honey version would be a welcome change…. and you just can’t beat anything fried! 🙂
I know exactly what you mean… I changed my mind when I found a restaurant that would serve the hot fritters separate from the sauce (even as a take away). So you could mix them in with the sauce at the last moment and the chicken would remain crispy and delicious! 🙂
This looks fantastic. I love how crunchy they are!
One day..when my husband will be away.. I will make this chicken and will have it all just by myself 😀
Happy New Year Manu!!! What great little bites of deliciousness! Love chicken bites of all kinds!