Chinese Honey Chicken

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
Oil, for deep-frying
2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 4 teaspoons of water, for sauce thickening
Salt and sugar to taste
Toasted sesame seeds, to garnish

Marinade:

1/2 teaspoon salt
3 dashes ground white pepper

Frying Batter:

1 egg white
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup water, ice cold
1 tablespoon peanut oil, or regular cooking oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Honey Garlic Sauce:

2 cloves garlic, sliced or lightly bruised
1/3 cup pure honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine, or dry sherry wine
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4-1/2 cup of water

Method:

Marinate the chicken cubes with the Marinade for 5 minutes.

Make the Frying Batter. In a large bowl, lightly whisk the egg white, and mix in the rest of the Frying Batter ingredients. Batter should not be lumpy, nor too runny, but smooth. Place another bowl with ice cubes underneath the frying batter bowl. Drop in the chicken cubes, mix well until they are well coated. Let it sit for about 30 minutes to 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Prepare to make the Honey Garlic Sauce mixture. Mix all the sauce ingredients well and set aside.

Heat up a wok with deep-frying oil. Gently drop in the battered chicken cubes, one by one, making sure it is spread out to prevent sticking, overcrowding the wok, and not fried properly. Turn the heat down to medium-high, and continue to deep-fry until the color changes to golden brown and completely cooked. Dish out and drain on paper towels.

Reserve 3 tablespoons of deep-frying oil in the wok, and stir-fry the garlic until it is browned and the oil is fragrant. Dish out the garlic, and discard. Leave about 2-3 tablespoons of garlic oil in the wok.

Heat up the wok with the garlic oil from previous step, gently pour in the Honey Garlic Sauce mixture, and bring to a light simmer, add in the cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce, give it a quick stir and adjust salt/sugar/water to taste.

Here, you can either dish out some sauce for dipping later and just keep enough to coat the fried chicken cubes in the wok, OR, toss in the chicken and briefly stir well, making sure the chicken is well coated in the sauce, dish out and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and serve. Alternatively, you can also keep the sauce separate from the chicken, and dip as you eat. Serve Chinese Honey Chicken with a bowl of hot steamed Jasmine rice or serve as is, with extra toasted sesame seeds to garnish.