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Skip the takeout and make this honey garlic sesame chicken in your own kitchen.
Honey Garlic Sesame Chicken–Take Out At Home
Honey garlic sesame chicken is one of the top take-out dishes at Asian restaurants. You can see why when you taste it!
Now you can skip the take-out joint and make this dish in your own kitchen. First, you know exactly what’s going into what you eat. To me that’s really important.
It’s very easy to make but there are a couple of steps involved. They’re not hard and not really time consuming. One step can be eliminated if you don’t mind the battered chicken not being super crispy. However the extra step for the crisp coating for me is a given. That’s why I recommend it being done.
Double Frying
That’s right; the chicken is fried twice.
This added step makes the batter super crispy so it doesn’t get soggy when tossed with the sauce. Of course, it is supposed to be served immediately. Trying to keep this warm will defeat the purpose of the second fry.
If you have to hold it to keep it warm, then eliminate the second fry time. You can also eliminate that step if you don’t require the coating to be very crunchy.
Breasts Or Thighs
I tend to use boneless skinless thighs when doing anything battered and fried that’s Asian. The meat seems to hold up better, has more taste and is tender without having to velvet it.
If you use boneless skinless breasts then I would advise velveting the meat. It’s pretty easy and uses a common ingredient–baking soda. For each half pound of meat (225 g) sprinkle it with 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda, toss to coat and let it stand for 20 minutes. Then rinse the meat well and dry it on paper towels and proceed with the battering and frying.
The Recipe
Honey Garlic Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs cut in bite-sized pieces
- 2 tbs cornstarch
- 2 cups oil for frying
- 2-3 tbs sesame seeds
- 1 green onion sliced for garnish
Batter:
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 egg white
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Sauce:
- 1 tbs oil
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs sesame oil
- 1 tbs rice vinegar
Instructions
- Heat in a large deep skillet or dutch oven to 350F/180C.
- Toss chicken in the 2 tbs cornstarch so that all pieces are coated.
- Combine all batter ingredients in another bowl and whisk well so there are no lumps. Place chicken in the batter and coat well,
- Add about 8-10 pieces of chicken to the hot oil, letting excess batter drip back into the batter bowl. Fry for 8 minutes then remove chicken to drain on a rack. Repeat until all the chicken is fried. Keep the oil hot because you're double frying the chicken so it doesn't get soggy.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce by heating the 1 tbs of oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds--don't let the garlic burn,'
- Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes making sure to watch it and stirring frequently. Don't let the honey burn. Keep the sauce warm over low heat.
- Now refry the chicken--again in batches--for 3 minutes or until it begins to get golden brown. Drain on rack as before.
- Add the chicken to the sauce and toss to coat. Place chicken on a serving platter and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and sliced green onion.
Georgiann says
Does this recipe actually have 1408 calories per serving?
Judith Hanneman says
Probably.