I love food with an Asian flair and I really love the combination of chicken and rice. It can be pretty much be any kind of chicken and rice - I'm in. This is one of my all time favorite combos. It's got great flavor, it's cheap and it's pretty easy to make. Honey soy chicken over basmati is one of my new favorites. I think you're going to love this one.
What You Need to Prepare Honey Soy Chicken
- Chicken (white or dark - I used both)
- Soy sauce
- Honey
- Corn starch
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Brown sugar
- Rice vinegar (or white vinegar if that's what you have)
- Scallions
- Basmati rice or your favorite white rice
- A few other things like salt, pepper, an egg and cooking oil
This dish will work with either white or dark meat chicken. Guess which I chose for this? My regular readers know I Iove my dark meat. Naturally I went with boneless chicken thighs for this. However, I made this with what I had on hand and I didn't have quite enough dark chicken. So I also used half of a boneless chicken breast too! Use what you like or use what you have. Clean out that freezer - you know you've got a bunch of chicken you froze and never used. Time to pull it out!
Oh, and if you need some help with trimming your chicken, I made a great tutorial about how to trim the fat from chicken thighs.
For This Dish I'm Using the Corn Starch Method
The corn starch plays two roles in this recipe. It crisps the chicken AND it thickens our sauce. And I say corn starch method, but I don't know if that's actually a "thing." Years ago I made a recipe that dipped the chicken in a corn starch egg combo and it was awesome. I remember thinking the flavor possibilities were endless. I knew I wanted to eventually test a recipe with some kind of honey/soy flavor combo so here we are. My aim was to make a very simple and flavorful chicken and rice dish.
Here's the Skinny on Mixing Egg & Corn Starch Together:
In order to get a crispy little crust on the outside of the chicken, we're giving it a double whammy. Beat one egg and corn starch together and dip the chicken in it before frying in a little oil. You may think to yourself:
"Is one egg enough? It doesn't seem like it's enough. I'll add another egg - it will be better that way."
— Me, when I thought I knew better (don't be me)
I was you once. I added the extra egg. And it was a disaster. I ended up making scrambled eggs with chicken and was furiously trying to get rid of all that scrambled egg in the pan. I am laughing right now thinking of that moment. Don't use the extra egg. Okay? 🙂
You'll have just enough egg and corn starch to lightly coat the chicken. Get your oil nice and hot and add the chicken. Lay your pieces out flat and let it cook for 4 minutes without touching it. Give it time to get a little crispy then turn it and crisp the other side too.
Looking for More Food with an Asian Flair? I Gotcha Covered!
- Mie Goreng: Indonesian Noodles w/Rotisserie Chicken
- Fried Rice w/Chinese Sausage
- General Tso's Chicken w/Trader Joe Hack
- Ginger Pork Stir Fry w/Chili Oil, Mint & Cilantro
- Anthony Bourdain's Macau-Style Pork Sandwich
- Dan Dan Noodles
- Chili Oil with Sediment
- Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
- Korean Beef Bulgogi Over Rice
Honey Soy Chicken Over Basmati
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Honey soy chicken over basmati is a cheap and easy dinner for four that is bursting with flavor. It's sweet, savory and delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon finely diced garlic (approx. 1 large clove)
- 1 ½ teaspoons grated ginger
- 1 bunch of chopped scallions
- 4-5 boneless chicken thighs, cut in small pieces
- ½ of one boneless breast of chicken, cut in small pieces
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola oil for frying (more if needed)
Sauce
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (or white vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¾ tablespoon corn starch
Corn starch/egg dip
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Basmati Rice
- 1 ½ cups basmati rice
- Cook to package instructions
- Add ¾ teaspoon salt to water
- 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
Instructions
- If you are serving this over basmati rice, plan your time and start the rice at the beginning of this process.
- Finely dice the garlic and put in a ramekin.
- Peel about a thumb-sized piece of ginger and grate on a microplane. If you don’t have a microplane use the finest side of a box grater or finely dice with a knife. Add the ginger to the ramekin with the garlic.
- For the sauce, add soy sauce to a bowl along with honey, rice vinegar (I used the sweet and tangy version) brown sugar and corn starch. Whisk together ingredients until corn starch lumps are dissolved. Set aside.
- Chop the bunch of scallions.
- Make your corn starch and egg mixture. Crack one large egg in a large bowl, add corn starch and whisk until smooth. Add salt and pepper and whisk one final time. Set aside.
- Take a few minutes to trim the fat from the chicken then cut the chicken into small, bite-sized pieces. Lay out on a sheet pan and season with salt and pepper (¼ to ½ teaspoon each). Only season one side of chicken.
- Add the chicken to the egg and corn starch mixture and coat all the chicken in the egg. You should heat some canola oil on high heat in a large pan while you do this so it’s nice and hot.
- Once your oil is hot, add the chicken to the pan and lay the pieces out flat. Cook on high heat for about 3-4 minutes until the chicken gets crispy – this is what the corn starch is for. To crisp it up.
- Turn the pieces with kitchen tongs and cook another 2 minutes.
- Add garlic, ginger and a splash of oil to the center of the pan and cook for 15-30 seconds until fragrant. Then stir the chicken, ginger and garlic together for another minute or two.
- Turn heat to medium, pour the soy sauce mixture into the pan and stir to coat the chicken. It will thicken pretty quickly. Stir a minute or two until it’s thickened enough and it’s done. (my video shows this well).
- Serve immediately over basmati rice and garnish with scallions.
Equipment
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Calphalon Saute Pan with Lid (5QT)
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- For the half of the boneless breast of chicken, use the thicker end.
- You can use all boneless chicken thighs if you like or all boneless chicken breast. It’s up to you. If you’re using all thighs, I’d say 7-8 thighs should do it. If you’re using all boneless breast of chicken, I’d say 2 ½ breasts should do it.
Ben
it was very good, I like the flavour so juicy