Honey chicken is one of my favourite Chinese take away meals! The combination of crispy chicken with that delightful sweet honey flavour gets me hooked every single time. The best part? It's surprisingly easy to make at home, and you'll save money. I like to call it my "fakeaway" honey chicken recipe, capturing that authentic takeaway style right in your own kitchen.
TIPS
- You don't have to deep fry the chicken. A shallow fry works perfectly fine. Just make sure you turn the chicken so that it evenly cooks and browns.
- Make sure you use ice water for the batter. You can keep pieces of ice in the water and ensure it’s mixed well and melted in the batter before adding the chicken. A super cold batter will make for a crunchy and thick coating on the chicken.
- Serve the honey chicken with either fried or plain rice.
- Add some vegetables to bulk up the chicken. Carrott, beans and cabbage work well.
What you will need
- 500 grams chicken breasts – diced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- Vegetable oil for frying – you want this to be about 3cm deep
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
Batter
- 1 egg white
- ½ cup plain flour - sifted
- ¼ cup cornflour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
Honey Sauce
- ½ cup pure honey
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornflour
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
HONEY CHICKEN (TAKE AWAY STYLE)
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Ingredients
- 500 grams chicken breasts – diced
- vegetable oil for frying enough to fill the bottom of the pan to shallow fry
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
Batter
- 1 egg white
- ½ cup plain flour, sifted
- ¼ cup cornflour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
Honey Sauce
- ½ cup cup pure honey
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon corn flour
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Chicken
- Heat the oil on a medium heat in a frypan. You will want the oil to be around 3 cm to fry the chicken. You don’t have to deep fry the chicken, a shallow fry will be just fine.
- Mix all batter ingredients together and whisk until combined.
- Add the diced chicken to the batter and mix.
- Once the oil is heated, drop pieces of chicken into the oil with a tablespoon. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan. Move the chicken around in the oil to make sure it’s cooked evenly. Cook the chicken until lightly browned (this should take 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick your chicken is).
- Remove chicken and drain on paper towel.
- Place chicken in a large bowl and set aside.
Honey Sauce
- Mix all sauce ingredients together in a saucepan on a medium heat.
- Bring to a simmer (around 3 – 5 minutes).
- The sauce should be thick and have a honey-like consistency.
- Remove sauce from heat and pour over the chicken in the bowl.
- Mix chicken to coat with honey sauce.
- Add sesame seeds to chicken and mix.
- Serve this honey chicken with rice and chopped shallots to garnish.
Notes
TIPS
- You don’t have to deep fry the chicken. A shallow fry works perfectly fine. Just make sure you turn the chicken so that it cooks evenly and browns.
- Make sure you use cold water for the batter. Having a super cold batter will make for a crunchy and thick coating on the chicken.
- Serve the honey chicken with either fried or plain rice.
The nutritional information provided is computer generated and is only an estimate. This data is provided as a courtesy for informational purposes only.
Have you tried this recipe? Please rate it and leave a comment HERE!
Lisa
This was delicious. I substituted the flour for extra cornflour as we are gluten free. It turned out great.