SRIRACHA CHICKEN
I have been all over homemade Asian meals this year. I never knew they were so easy to recreate in the kitchen.
This one was for AU especially, sriracha chicken over white rice (usually I try to make us brown rice to kick in a little healthiness). I decided that this recipe was for him and I would give him the white rice he so deserves.
The things you do for love.
The best part about these easy recipes, what do you know it’s easy again, is the mixing of some ingredients to make a sauce, a little breading for the chicken, and then combining the whole thing to make the magic.
My absolute favorite thing about this particular recipe is the spiciness mixed with hints of sweetness in the sauce. It is a luscious mixture of red pepper flakes and HONEY.
I love using honey as my sweetener instead of sugar. This recipe is definitely one of the healthier ones, it also uses water as a base of the sauce as well. Interesting but awesome.
The pepper flakes in this sriracha chicken are completely optional. If you want it spicier add more! If you want it to have a little less heat then don’t add the red pepper flakes, the sriracha gives enough heat to the sauce.
As you can see this sauce looks sticky, it is supposed to be sticky and a little tacky. All chinese restaurants sauce over beef or chicken is also sticky. This comes from mixing cornstarch into the sauce at the very end to thicken it up.
It’s like watching magic in a kitchen when the thin sauce starts to bubble and thicken before your eyes.
Or at least I think so.
I have to admit that looking at these pictures is making me salivate. How can I express to you how damn good this dish is. The chicken is cooked perfectly to the point where it is not dry or cooked too long (I hate overcooked dry gross chicken). And the rice is an absolute perfect pairing to the sweet tacky chicken.
I mean what else would you eat with it. Maybe these noodles…
It’s the easiest of easiest recipes in the world. I really mean that.
The ingredients in this can also be counted on one hand so that’s pretty cool, right? Who doesn’t love a meal that combines almost nothing but tastes out of this world…
This girl right here does!
What you can’t see is the broccoli I added to this after all these pictures. I recommend steaming some up for this, it worked perfectly as a pairing.
Or you could add sauteed zucchini, peppers, and onions. Just throwing some healthy ideas out there.
SRIRACHA CHICKEN
Notes
Adapted from Creme de la Crumb
Ingredients
- CHICKEN
- 2-3 chicken breasts
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- SAUCE
- 2 tablespoons sriracha
- 1 cup water
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 5 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- sesame seeds and red pepper flakes for serving
Instructions
- Cut all the chicken breasts into 1" cubes. Mix the 1/3 cup cornstarch in a large ziploc bag with the chicken. Shake to coat the chicken entirely.
- Combine all the sauce ingredients except the water and cornstarch in a medium sauce pan. Heat on medium until the sauce starts to bubble. Mix in the water and cornstarch until well combined. Once it starts to thicken turn on low and keep stirring.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium high heat. Fry chicken cubes until starting to brown, about 3-4 minutes per side or until cooked through. Place on paper towels to drain.
- Add chicken back to the pan and cover with the thickened sauce. Let the chicken and sauce simmer for 2-3 minutes until it is bubbling.
- Cover cooked rice with chicken, and sauce, red pepper flakes, and sesame seeds.
Always always always end with sesame seeds.
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