Chinese Crispy Chicken with Honey Garlic Sauce

This Chinese Crispy Chicken with Honey Garlic Sauce is one of those meals everyone loves! In this honey chilli chicken recipe i show you how to turn regular chicken tenders into wonderfully addictive Asian chicken tenders. Scroll down for our video showing you all the steps.
A piece of Chinese Crispy Chicken being picked up with a pair of chopsticks

Closeup of a piece of Chinese fried Chicken in a Honey Garlic Chilli Sauce

The crispy chicken part of this honey chilli chicken recipe is based on my basic Chicken tenders recipe (definitely worth a try – served with a creamy garlic-chilli dip). It’s pretty versatile, and you can use it for the base of sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken, or even crispy chicken burgers with honey mustard coleslaw.

The sauce part is based on the sauce I use for my sticky Chinese pork belly. Again, it’s versatile – you can use it for ribs, beef, or as a dipping sauce for spring rolls.

If you try it, please leave a rating and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Equipment:

A good Kitchen knife. I have recently bought this Dalstrong one and love it.
Chopping Board
Large Bowl for marinating the chicken in
Deep fryer. You can use a large pan with oil if you wish.
Couple of small bowls for dredging the chicken in the coating
Zester or microplane
Juicer
Measuring Spoons
Garlic Press
Wooden or Silicon Coated Spoons. We have just bought these and love them.
Rice Steamer.

Chinese Crispy Chicken with Honey Garlic Sauce
This Chinese Crispy Chicken with Honey Garlic Sauce is one of those meals everyone loves! Easy to make spicy or mild. INGREDIENTS

▢3 chicken breasts – sliced into long, thick strips (or chunks if you prefer)
▢240 ml buttermilk
▢½ tsp salt
▢¼ tsp white pepper
▢¼ tsp garlic powder
Crispy Coating:
▢180 g plain (all-purpose) flour
▢1 tsp salt
▢1 tsp ground black pepper
▢½ tsp garlic powder

▢½ tsp celery salt
▢1 tsp dried thyme
▢2 tsp paprika
▢1 tsp baking powder
▢1 tsp chilli flakes
Honey Garlic Sauce: *
▢2 tbsp vegetable oil
▢1 thumb-sized piece of ginger – peeled and minced
▢1 fat clove of garlic – peeled and minced
▢2 red chilli – finely chopped

▢1 tsp lemon grass paste
▢6 tbsp soy sauce
▢4 tbsp honey
▢4 tbsp brown sugar
▢pinch black pepper
To Serve:
▢Boiled rice
▢2 spring onions/scallions – sliced into thin strips
▢1 tsp sesame seeds
▢1 tsp dried chilli flakes

▢Green stir fried or steamed veg
INSTRUCTIONS

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.
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.
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.
Add the ginger, garlic, chilli and lemongrass paste. Stir and heat through for 30 seconds,
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.
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.