Honey Chili Chicken

This Honey Chili Chicken is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy with a savoury Chinese-inspired flavor profile. Serve this tender chicken with a crunchy coating over rice for something absolutely awesome.

With my sun in Sagittarius, moon in Leo, and Aries rising, I need a lot of fire energy in my life. Like every element, fire in the form of warmth and light is vital to life. But while each element has a tipping point where it becomes unhelpful, fire is possibly the most dangerous. So trying to find the sweet spot of staying motivated without tipping over into burnout is always a fine balancing act that I'm still working on mastering.

So I work with a lot of fire corresponded materials in my witchcraft. From red candles to carnelian to cayenne pepper, I'm looking for that boost that fire can bring to keep me going. Maybe this is why I've grown to love more and more spice in my food as the years go by. I crave fire everywhere I turn.

What makes this Honey Chili Chicken so awesome?

Honey Chili Chicken has a hint of sweetness with some serious fire power. The heat builds as you work your way through the bowl, but it's the kind of spice that keeps you coming back for more. With an egg and cornstarch coating, this chicken is crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside. And the sauce is sticky and sweet without being cloying. It creates a thick glaze on the chicken without pooling up into an oily mess.

This recipe is pretty easy to scale up or down, so whether it's a weeknight dinner for two or a weekend gathering for friends, this will be a hit. You can bulk this out with vegetables such as bell pepper or onion, or serve it with some of your favorite Chinese-inspired side dishes. White or brown rice would both be awesome with this chicken. My favorite Chinese feasts always feature potstickers and char siu bao.

Magical Properties of Poultry

Every single ingredient in your recipes carry its own energy, including the proteins we eat. Poultry, such as chicken and turkey, is ruled by the Sun and also carries fire energy like the chilies in this recipe. Call on the energy of the chicken for healing and personal energy. I also like to thank the animal for sharing its life force with me. (Source: The Kitchen Witch's Guide to Healing & Self-Care by Maggie Haseman)

To learn more about the magical properties of the ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make this dish. The full details are in the recipe card below.

• Chicken breast - boneless and skinless is easiest to use here, feel free to buy it pre-chopped if you prefer
• Egg - white only
• Corn starch - aka corn flour
• Garlic - grated from fresh cloves with a zester or garlic paste both work
• Oil - you'll need a neutral oil for frying
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil
• Pepper
• Hot sauce - Sriracha is awesome, but use what you have on hand
• Ketchup
• Honey
• Lime juice - bottled is fine
• Chili flakes - aka crushed red pepper flakes
• Chopped fresh chilies - I used Thai red chilies for this
• Scallions - aka spring onions or green onions

Tips for making Honey Chili Chicken

There are a few diferent components to this recipe, but that's pretty typical of Chinese dishes. You can definitely call in a helper to make the sauce while you do the chicken, but you can also mix up the sauce while the chicken is marinating. It's really much easier than it looks on paper.

So first up, chop your chicken into bite-size pieces. If you have great knife skills, you can do strips, but mine definitely ended up more chunky. In a mixing bowl, combine your marinade ingredients (see recipe card for details) then add the chicken and toss it all together to coat. Let this hang out for about 15 minutes while you do other things.

Stir together all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. Set up your dredging station by gently whisking an egg white in one bowl and adding your corn starch to another. Pre-heat your oil in your skillet.

Cooking your chicken

When you're ready to start cooking your chicken, you'll use tongs to transfer the chicken to the egg white and toss it all together to coat, then transfer it to the corn starch and toss to coat. Shake off any excess corn starch before dropping it in hot oil and frying until it's crispy and cooked through. Use the tongs to turn the chicken over a few times, and when it's ready, transfer it to a wire rack over a baking sheet to drain off excess oil.

Then you'll remove the excess oil from your skillet and add the sauce over medium heat. Bring it to a bubble and let it cook for a few minutes to thicken up, then add the chicken back in and toss to coat. Serve your sticky, spicy, crispy chicken over a bed of rice.

I'm so excited every time this Honey Chili Chicken shows up on the dinner list. It's gonna be a fiery favorite in your house as well. If you give it a try, be sure to leave a comment to let me know what you think.

Looking for more awesome Chinese-American recipes? Try this Crispy Honey Chicken or some Chicken Corn Soup.

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Recipe slightly adapted from Khin's Kitchen.