A new year brings new beginnings…. or not so much beginnings as just picking up where I left off I hope! Last year I really neglected this blog, but I hope to do better this year. The great thing is that even in my year off I had lots of views for my blog, so people are still enjoying it which is great! That’s one of the best things about a food blog… it has staying power! I find myself browsing back through all the recipes from time to time even, when I am stuck and not sure what to make. Anyway, thanks for sticking around!
As is typical for me, I am feeling refreshed after the new year and ready to take on new projects, and more specifically new recipes! Unfortunately I haven’t had uber success yet with the few I have tried, but a couple were still good enough to make my blog, just with a few notes and tweaks. This is one of those.
My issue was with the sauce. I doubled everything, and was very careful when jotting it down, so I can only assume the error (if there is any) lies in the recipe itself. Who knows, maybe, had I just trusted it, things would have worked out, but I just don’t think so. Once I got to the part where you add the corn starch slurry it thickened up immediately into one gelatinous blob! I would hardly call it a sauce by any means… and I was certain it would NOT coat the chicken bites. Admittedly I was a little shy on the soy sauce (ran out) but it is not my belief that this small amount could have made that much difference. As I searched through my fridge and cupboards for ANYTHING Asian inspired to add to this blob to help thin it out I realized I really needed to get to the store and replenish my stock! So I hesitantly added some water instead… which did help, but I didn’t want to JUST add water and wash out the flavor. I decided any good sauce needs some acid so I grabbed some rice wine vinegar and added a bit of that as well. After some back and forth tweaks I was able to get a really thick sauce, and decided to just go with it. Thankfully it worked out ok, though ideally it could have been a bit thinner. I would suggest first off, having plenty of soy sauce on hand. Second, start with maybe half or 3/4 of the cornstarch slurry and add more as needed.
Despite that little set-back we did enjoy this dish, and I served it along with some brown rice. I know my limitations however and cut back the sriracha to just 2 T (I had doubled everything remember). This was a nice heat level for us. I also added just a bit of salt and pepper to the flour when coating my chicken out of habit. I wouldn’t say my chicken was crispy as the name suggests, but it was definitely more so before adding the sauce. Perhaps a lighter sauce would have allowed it to retain some crunch.
Crispy Asian Chicken Bites
Ingredients :
- 8oz chicken breast, cubed
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 egg, whisked
- 3/4 cup panko
- 1/2 T. olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 T. honey
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp. sesame seeds
- 1 1/2 T. sriracha
- 1/2 T. sesame oil
- 1 T. cornstarch
- 1 T. water
- scallions for garnish (optional)
Directions :
- Preheat oven to 400°
- Bread chicken by first rolling in the flour, tapping off the excess. Then dipping into the egg and allowing the extra to run off, before placing it in the panko and rolling it around. Shake any excess off.
- Place breaded chicken on a greased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until fully cooked.
- While chicken is baking make your sauce.
- Heat oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add garlic and saute just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add honey, soy sauce, pepper flakes, sesame seeds, sriracha, and sesame oil. Bring to a simmer.
- In a small cup mix together cornstarch and water until dissolved. Once sauce is simmering add this (see notes above as I suggest starting with less) and mix in. Allow to come back to a simmer and continue to cook until thickened. Keep sauce warm on low heat until chicken is done.
- Once chicken is cooked toss in the sauce and serve with sliced scallions on top.
Recipe from Chef Savvy
Culinary Explorer 