This Chinese Crispy Chicken with Honey Garlic Sauce is one of those meals everyone loves! Easy to make spicy or mild. Way tastier and much more satisfying than takeout!
Prep Time25 minutesmins
Cook Time25 minutesmins
Total Time50 minutesmins
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Asian
Keyword: Any Time Of the year, better than takeout, Chinese New Year, Fakeaway, Family Meal
Place the chicken in a bowl or large ziplock bag. Add the buttermilk, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Mix together, cover (if in a bowl), and place in the refrigerator to marinade for 3-6 hours.
3 chicken breasts, 240 ml (1 cup) buttermilk, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp white pepper, ¼ tsp garlic powder
Preheat the oven to a low heat (to keep cooked tenders warm). Heat a large pan filled with no more than one-third of vegetable oil (or preheat your deep fat fryer) until hot (you can test by dropping a small cube of bread in there, if it rises immediately to the top and starts to bubble rapidly, it’s hot enough). You’ll need at least 4 cups of oil.
Mix together the crispy coating ingredients in a small bowl.
180 g (1 1/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground black pepper, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp celery salt, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp chilli flakes
Take the chicken out of the refrigerator and dredge each piece through the crispy coating mixture – ensuring it’s fully covered. Place on a tray in a single layer ready for frying.
Once the oil is hot enough, add in 4 or 5 of the chicken tenders. You can add more or less depending on the size of your pan, just be sure not to overcrowd the chicken.
Cook for 3-5 minutes until golden brown and cooked in the center. You can check this by cutting open a piece of chicken, if it’s no longer pink in the middle, it’s cooked. Place on a tray in the oven to keep warm whilst you cook the rest of the chicken.
When the chicken is 5 minutes away from being cooked, make the honey garlic sauce.
Heat the oil in a frying pan (skillet) on a medium heat.
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Add the ginger, garlic, chilli, and lemongrass paste. Stir and heat through for 30 seconds.
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, 1 fat clove of garlic, 1 red chilli, 1 tsp lemongrass paste
Then add in the soy sauce, followed by the honey, brown sugar, and pepper. Turn the heat up to medium-high, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat slightly and allow to bubble gently for 5 minutes until slightly reduced and thickened.
6 tbsp soy sauce, 4 tbsp honey, 4 tbsp brown sugar, pinch black pepper
Add the chicken and stir to coat.
Serve the chicken with boiled rice and top with strips of spring onion, sesame seeds, and chilli flakes. Serve with green veg too if you like.
boiled rice, 2 spring onions/scallions, 1 tsp sesame seeds, 1 tsp dried chilli flakes, green stir-fried or steamed veg
Video
Notes
*Note - if you like it saucy you can double the quantities in the sauce.Nutrition info is for one serving of this recipe, not including serving suggestions of rice or green veg. This info is approximate, as all of the flour may not be used up in coating the chicken (I've counted all of the flour as part of the nutritional info though). Also, I've included 1 tbsp of oil per serving to account for the oil that is absorbed during deep drying (this is an *approximate* amount, the chicken may absorb more or less).