This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy.
FREE EMAIL BONUS:
My Most Popular Chinese Recipes ❤️
Tips, tricks, and recipes for perfect Chinese dishes
FREE EMAIL BONUS:
My Most Popular Chinese Recipes ❤️
Tips, tricks, and recipes for Chinese dishes
What Is Honey Sesame Chicken?
Honey chicken is one of the most popular Chinese recipes on Rasa Malaysia.
I created that recipe two years ago and many readers have requested variations of that recipe.
Today, I am creating a new recipe called honey sesame chicken, which is quite popular on Pinterest (remember to follow me). It features best of both worlds of sesame chicken and honey chicken.
The Best Way to Prepare This Meal
To make this chicken, all you need are a few everyday ingredients that you can get at any food store or supermarket. This recipe is super simple, and you can make it anytime you want.
While most people don’t like to do deep-frying at home, I strongly urge you to do so with this honey sesame chicken recipe and other Chinese recipes on Rasa Malaysia.
The reason why we all love Chinese takeouts and dishes so much is because of the deep-fried chicken coated with rich and savory sauce.
Eat them with some warm steamed rice and you have your guilty pleasure.
So I say forget about baked chicken, let’s fry the chicken and give your stomach and palate a treat.
We all deserve to indulge once in a while.
How to Fry the Chicken
The sweetest thing about this recipe is that you don’t even really need to deep fry the chicken, as a shallow fry works very well at home.
You don’t need a deep fryer, or 6 inches of oil to deep fry a batch of chicken for dinner.
You just need a small saute pan (non-stick preferably for ease of cleaning and frying), about 2 inches of oil, a pair of long chopsticks, and you are good.
There is no wastage of oil, no splattering oil, but gloriously fried chicken pieces ready to be cooked with the sweet, tangy, and savory honey sesame sauce.
Easy, breezy, and no fuss!
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 416 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
For more great recipes like this, sign up for our newsletter. We’ll send daily recipes you’ll love!
Sign up for our newsletter!
Honey Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb. (500g) boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch (2.5cm) cubes or long strips
- oil for deep-frying
- 2 garlic (minced)
- toasted sesame seeds to garnish
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 oil
- 1 pinch salt
Honey Sesame Sauce:
- 1/3 cup pure honey
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Whisk all the "Frying Batter" ingredients together until smooth. Set aside. Drop in the chicken cubes, mix well until they are well coated. Set aside.
- Mix all the ingredients of the "Honey Sesame Sauce" together and set aside.
- Heat up a saute pan and add about 2-inch of oil on medium to high heat. When the oil is fully heated, gently drop in the battered chicken cubes, one by one, making sure it is spread out to prevent sticking together. Continue to fry until the color changes to golden brown. Dish out and drain on paper towels.
- Transfer 2 tablespoons of the frying oil in a wok or skillet, stir-fry the garlic until aromatic. Add in the Honey Sesame Sauce, and bring to a light simmer or until the sauce thickens.
- Drop in the chicken, stir-fry a few times to combine the sauce and chicken, add the sesame seeds, dish out and serve immediately with steamed white rice, or Chinese fried rice.
Notes
Nutrition
How did you calculate the calories? It is quite difficult to calculate calories when frying something because the oil goes into the batter.
I used a program to calculate.
Can we use white vinegar instead?
Yes.
Made this today for my family and they all loved it, said it tasted just like a restaurant’s! It was very easy and quick, my mom was surprised by how simple and delicious it is. Thanks a lot!
Hi Dania, thanks so much for trying my recipe. I am so happy that you guys enjoyed. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe. Is delicious. However, the chicken turned soft after adding into the sauce. How can I keep the chicken crispy? Thanks ??
You can double fry the chicken.
Shall do that next time ?? thanks !
Hi Bao,
My experience is that double frying (second fry shorter with much higher temperature) will certainly lead to crispier chicken, but when you add the sauce to the wok the chicken will become soft again. That’s just the way it is. The only thing you can do, is dish out the double fried chicken and sauce seperately and spoon some sauce on the chicken while eating.
I don’t think that there is an edible batter that keeps the chicken crispy after combining with sauce. But if there is, we all want to know!
I like to stress that I find this honey sesame recipe of Rasa Malaysia wonderful and I like it even on the second day after reheating in the microwave.
Regards,
Fred
Fred, double fry and add 1 tablespoon rice powder to the batter will make it crispier.
Thanks Bee,
I’ll follow your suggestion the next time I make this dish or a similar one with the same batter. I will let you know the outcome. The aim is to have crispy chicken even after adding the sauce, or if we lower our expectations somewhat: to have crispy chicken for a longer time after adding the sauce. It’s worth a try!
Hi Fred, good please let me know how it goes! :)
Hi Bee,
I made this delicious dish again this night. As you suggested I added 1 Tbsp of rice flour to the batter. I also double-fried the battered chicken, but I did that the previous time as well.
Although I didn’t perform two tests at the same time (one with and one without rice flour), I do think that the added rice flour makes the batter crispier. Even after adding the sauce I experienced crispy bits in several pieces of chicken, which I didn’t notice the previous time I made this dish. Not in all pieces though, and it only were bits of the pieces, not the whole chicken pieces. Of course, the chicken pieces became softer after a while. Still, I think that the addition of 1 Tbsp rice flour increases the crispness of the batter. Next to 1) an intense double fry (don’t stop when the chicken is just light golden brown, fry it a bit darker) and 2) make sure the sauce is really thick. Runny sauce will make your chicken pieces soft almost immediately. Furthermore, I assume that the cornstarch, baking powder, ice cold water and oil in the batter all contribute to crispier chicken pieces. Undoubtedly you will have experimented a lot with batters.
At least two questions remain: 1) what happens if we add more rice flour, or even replace all the flour in the batter by rice flour? 2) is there an edible batter recipe which stays crispy after adding (thick) sauce for a longer time than the current batter incl. rice flour? I’m not aware of any. I think your batter is pretty much the best I’ve seen until now.
Last but not least I would like to emphasize that making this dish again just for the purpose of this experiment was not a punishment. It was very, very tasty and it is one of our favorite dishes. We ate all of it in 10 minutes!
That’s awesome, you may increase the rice flour to 2 tablespoons but add a wee bit more water to the batter so it’s not too thick and then yes, double fry. Would love to hear how it goes. :)
This was delicious! Will definitely make again. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Awesome, thanks for trying my recipe. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
I’ve made this chicken several times now, and it has become a family favorite. I LOVE the sauce and frying batter. I never leave comments, but you have to try this recipe…It’s AWESOME!!
Nancy, thanks for trying my recipe. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
How many hungry people does this recipe yield for? Looks yummy :))
Hi Brianna, it serves 2 people. The serving size is at the top of the recipe card, in very small print. :)
Is it possible to replace sesame oil and corn starch with something else?
You can skip sesame oil and use all purpose flour.
Made it. Followed the recipe to the tea and let me tell ya. It tastes exactly or even better than the restaurant’s! This will be a regular in our kitchen now. Thank you :-)
That’s awesome. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Wow, that was quick, easy and delicious! Didn’t change a thing. I like this batter better than mine for making chicken balls too. Just have to change the sauce.
Hi Brenda, awesome please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
omg I just made it and it turned out amaazing!
That’s awesome! Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Hi Bee,
My son is allergic to eggs, what can I use as a substitute for egg white in your Honey Sesame Chicken recipe?
Andrea
You can skip it.
Another winner! Followed your recipe almost exactly. It came out delicious and easy to make. I only had 1/2 pound of chicken breast so I dipped and fried up 1/2 pound of firm tofu. 2 different textures made it even better.
Last week I made your Shu mai, once with pork & shrimp-delicious. I made a second batch with same seasonings but with hamburger, bok choy, and bacon bits.
both were delicious and pre-made wraps made it fast and easy.
Hi Ross, thanks for trying my recipes. They are all easy and fail proof, please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/