Monday, August 15, 2011

Secret Recipe Club--Chlie Honey Chicken



I love Asian inspired food!  It's true....for my birthday dinner?  Chinese Food.  All. The. Time.  I love eating with chopsticks.  I figure, if you're going to have the experience, you should go all the way.  I've never really been able to reproduce a good Asian dish at home tho....  that is until now. 
Until I met Holly from PheMOMenon.   I haven't really met her fact to face-- I've been stalking her lately---for the Secret Recipe Club.    YES! Today is 'reveal' day for the  Secret Recipe club.   It's such a fun blog hop to take part in.   
 In this club,  we are assigned a blog and we  choose any recipe from that blog to make  and post about.    We keep our assigned blogger a secret until posting day.  It's a lot of fun getting to know another blogger by  actually 'stalker' (or visiting)  their blog.
It's been fun getting to know Holly and her blog PheMOMenon, thru my daily stalking.  (she has some great recipes and fun ideas--you should check her out)

And when I said that I could never make could Asian dishes at home, I wasn't exaggerating....until I came upon this   Chili Honey  Chicken at her blog.






Now this....this is a great tasting, easy to make Asian inspired dish you can make at home.  It might seem like a lot of steps, but it's really not.   It would be super simple to just make it the stir fry way, but I recommend the cornstarch, frying method--it's a little more like the chicken in a Chinese restaurant, with a bit of a crunch.   If you're going the healthier route,  stir fry all the way, I'm sure it's just as good.
This chicken was a bit sweet, a bit spicy and we loved it.    We like a little bit of spice in our food.  This combination was just right.  Mmmmm....I get hungry just thinking about it.  (I have leftovers in the fridge)

I had never heard of ponzu sauce before  and I did have go to 2 grocery stores to find it, but I'm so glad I went out of my way a bit as it gave the chicken a citrusy flavor--just a touch.   Ponzu is a citrus flavored soy sauce, in case you are like me and didn't know this.  I can't wait to find something else to marinate in Ponzu.  The Sugar Snap Peas were crunchy and the  rice was just right.    I'll definitely be making this again.

Thanks Holly for a great recipe!  And Amanda for  hosting the Secret Recipe Club. 



 See you next month!



Chili Honey Chicken
from  PheMOMenom

Makes 4 Servings



For the chicken:
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast or tenderloins
1/3 cup ponzu sauce
1/4 cup sweet chile sauce
2/3 cup cornstarch
2-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup fresh sugar snap peas


For the sauce:
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sweet chile sauce
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced very fine
Pinch red pepper flake, to taste


Trim and cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and place them in a large ziptop bag with the ponzu and sweet chile sauces. Mash the chicken in the bag a bit to get it all covered in the marinade. Set the bag aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (I usually start the rice or noodles now so it will be ready when the chicken is done).


While the chicken is marinating, make the sauce by whisking the honey, chile sauce, butter, water, garlic and pepper flake together in a small bowl. Set aside until ready to use.


Use a colander over the sink and pour the chicken out in the colander, discarding any marinade left over. Toss the chicken pieces lightly in a large bowl with the cornstarch, preferably working a few pieces at a time.


Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, fry a few pieces of chicken at a time until golden on all sides, about 2 minutes total. Work in batches so you don’t crowd the pan. Remove cooked pieces and set them aside while cooking the remaining chicken. About half way through the batches you can add more oil to heat if needed.*


Once all the chicken is cooked, pour any remaining excess oil out of the pan, but don’t worry about any other little bits, they will be absorbed in the sauce. Turn the heat down to medium and add the sauce to the pan. Use a wooden spoon to stir the sauce and let it boil in the hot pan for 1 minute before adding the chicken pieces into the pan. Stir the chicken in the sauce to coat. Toss in the peas and stir to coat. Allow the mixture to simmer and cook in the sauce until everything is hot, glazed and the sauce is almost completely absorbed – about 3 to 5 minutes.


Serve hot over rice or noodles and enjoy!


*NOTE: Alternatively, you can skip the cornstarch frying process and follow the directions below for a simple stir fry.


Stir Fry Chile Honey Chicken Directions:
Marinade the chicken pieces as described above, then drain the marinade. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat and add the chicken, still in batches and cook on all sides till just golden. Proceed as usual with the rest of the recipe.





31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh wow Debbie, this looks really really delicious. I never make Asian food but this I would try. Joe would be thrilled as he loves it.

Melissa @IWasBornToCook said...

That looks delicious! Love the sweet and spicy combo. This was my first month participating in SRC - I agree, it is fun!

Lesa @Edesia's Notebook said...

I love making Asian food at home too; this recipe looks awesome. It's neat that you use chopsticks when you eat Asian food; I think if I tried that, I would die of starvation before I go the hang of it!

Unknown said...

WOW. Great photos. Holly's recipes always look wonderful! I think I'll make this for my mom, who is Japanese :)

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

I will definitely be trying this! Looks great.

Becca @ Crumbs and Chaos said...

I love asian food and really want to make it well at home. Can't wait to try this!

Mindy said...

This looks delicious! I'm always scared to try "take-out" food at home...it never tastes quite the same. This looks like it could make the cut, though! (I found you through the blog hop...)

Lisa~~ said...

That looks so good I wish that I was having some for lunch right now.

If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my SRC recipe this month: Cilantro Lime Chicken

Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook

Karen said...

Sounds like a fun blog hop! I tend not to make asian-inspired food, either. It always seems like too much fussy work somehow. This sounds real good.

PheMom said...

I'm so glad you liked it. It is one of our favorites for sure! That's funny about your birthday dinners because I do the sane thing every year! :) BTW, have you ever visited the food blog Rasa Malaysia? You will LOVE it! Awesome Asian recipes galore! Thanks for the awesome write-up!

Holly
PheMOMenon.com

bermudaonion said...

That looks delicious and the way you have it displayed makes it look even more appealing.

Megan's Cookin' said...

That recipe has me drooling. I'll be looking for that sauce now. What was it called, oh yea, Ponzu! I had to type it so I wouldn't forget it. ;) That + sweet chili sauce= major yum.
Great SRC pick!

Chelle B said...

This looks delicious and even better than any takeout I've ever had. I need to bookmark this recipe for my next craving. Great Secret Recipe Club pick. I would like to invite you to visit my blog to enter my giveaway. Check it out if you are interested. http://imapretendchef.blogspot.com/2011/08/food-should-taste-good-giveaway.html

sadie607 said...

That looks really good!

Trisha said...

Thats one heck of a stir fry! Looks really delicious!

Tami said...

This would go over great for dinner at our house. Thanks for explaining what Ponzu sauce was. I've never used it before. I will be on the lookout for it now, though. I love that bit of citrus in dishes like this.

Sara said...

This looks great - I love sweet and spicy foods too, yum! I've never had ponzu, sounds terrific!

Shelby said...

I'm all for sweet heat! This looks right up my alley!

Unknown said...

That does look delicious.

I've never heard of ponzu sauce before either, and I have three Asian grocery stores within walking distance. Hmmm - I'll need to find a bottle.

Cindy said...

This looks like dinner tonight. So many wonderful flavors. Thanks for sharing and have a great day.

Sara said...

OH MY. Looks amazing. I can't wait to try it - I love recreating restaurant-style dishes at home. I'm in group "B" of SRC and can't wait for reveal day - next Monday!

Jenny @ Savour the Senses said...

I love the combination of sweet and spicy! Excited I found this through SRC. =)

Lynne Daley said...

Beautiful photos of a very lovely and tasty looking Asian chicken dish!

Therapist San Francisco said...

Yummy! This looks so good and easy to make at home... can't wait to try it out. I might make it tonight!
-Ami

Michelle B said...

This looks awesome! Like you photographed it at a restaurant.

One day I will get my act together and join the Secret Recipe Club. Sounds like fun.

Vivian Thiele said...

Oh my.. I love asian dishes! Guess what I want for dinner now!

Melynda@Scratch Made Food! said...

This looks like a delicious meal, one I would love to enjoy! Thanks for the links, I want to play next month too.

Julie said...

This looks delicious. Love the flavors. Fun plate, too.

Jennifer Sikora said...

I am totally bookmarking this recipe. I want to make this sometime because I love chicken and chile together!

Thanks for making this and posting about it.

Jennifer
www.jennifersikora.com

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

Tried this last night--it was SOOOOOOOOO good! http://sfomomfridge.blogspot.com/2011/08/chili-honey-chicken.html Thanks for introducing me to this delicious recipe.

Air Purifiers said...

This looks so good! I love asian style food... and I've been looking for recipes to make at home, can't wait to try this one!

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