If you only fry Chanukah time, this is the chicken dish (with two sauce options!) you don’t want to miss.
If I had to pick the most popular recipe that I’ve ever written, it would have to be the Sesame Chicken from Fresh & Easy. They say that when something isn’t broken you shouldn’t fix it. But why can’t we change it up a bit?
Here’s two different sauces you can pair with your chicken instead of the sesame sauce you usually enjoy over sesame chicken. Usually, my little ones like to keep the chicken and sauce separate and dip the chicken into the sauce (or not dip it at all) instead of tossing it all together.
If you prefer your chicken extra crispy, you can double fry it (fry a couple hours ahead of time, then fry again for a couple minutes right before serving).
Ok, now about these sauces. They are actually not so different. Both have that sweet Asian flavor. You can adjust the heat in the sweet Korean sauce to your family’s preference and you do need to use a food processor. However, all the ingredients should be in your pantry/ fridge. The sweet chili is quicker to put together but you need bottled sweet chili for it.
- Part I / Red Paste:
- 1⁄2 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 large garlic clove
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste
- 1 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- Part II:
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- Prepare the sauce: In the blender or food processor, combine red pepper, brown sugar, garlic, ketchup, hot sauce, and vinegar to form a red paste. If you like your sauce hot, add additional hot sauce. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine soy sauce and brown sugar. Heat until sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Add all the red paste (part I), 2 tablespoons vinegar, and honey and cook until sauce is thick and syrupy.
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- ½ cup sweet chili sauce
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- In a small pot, place the oil and the garlic. Stir it for 1 minute, to cook the garlic, but do not let it get any color.
- Add the sweet chili sauce, honey and soy sauce. Cook 3-4 minutes until all combined.
Can sriracha be used in place of the hot sauce?
Yes of course. Just use a little less and taste to adjust to your preference.
These recipes look delicious…!
I have a question about how to warm this up. Let’s say I freeze the fried nuggets then want to warm it up and serve in Sternos. What’s the best way to warm it? Thank you
I would only prepare the chicken and sauce separately. Then reheat it (best way would be to refry it a minute) and then toss with sauce.