Crispy Chicken Fillet in a Sweet and Spicy Sauce

Crispy chicken fillet with sauce doesn’t take long to make, and all the ingredients are easy to find. Fresh chicken fillet is always on sale. For the sauce we use light soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar and a fairly hot chili-based sauce; American hot sauces such as Carolina Gold, Crystal Hot Sauce and the like work well. Cornstarch is used as the coating for frying.

Trim the chicken fillets of membranes and large pieces of fat, rinse well and dry thoroughly with paper towels; any remaining moisture will affect the crispy crust. Cut the fillets into large pieces, a regular size that is easy to eat with chopsticks. Coat the chicken pieces in cornstarch. It’s better not to use potato starch, as it gives a taste of fried potatoes. Though if you are a fan of that homestyle dish, give it a try.

Before frying the chicken, prepare everything for the sauce. Ginger, garlic and chili are not part of the sauce, but they are a very important part of the dish. Peel them; finely chop the garlic, grate the ginger on a fine grater so it releases its juice, and cut the chili into thin strips. You can mix them all together and set aside for now.

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan. We use peanut or sesame oil, often mixed with refined sunflower oil. This gives a subtle aroma to the crispy chicken fillet in sauce. When the oil is hot and fragrant, add the starch-coated chicken pieces, making sure they don’t stick together. Fry the chicken over high heat until a crispy, lightly golden crust forms, then turn the pieces one by one, with a fork or a spatula.

When the other side is browned, you can stir the pieces with a spatula to fry them well on all sides. Chicken usually fries quickly, and 15 minutes will be enough. It is important that the pieces are fried evenly and form a crust that is firm and crispy. Never let it burn. As soon as the pieces are golden and done, immediately add the ginger, chili and garlic. Fry for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, to bring out the flavor and aroma of the additions.

While the chicken fillet is frying, mix the sauce ingredients. Pour the liquid ingredients into a cup or small bowl: soy sauce, rice vinegar and hot pepper sauce. If it is hard to find, you can replace it with a little tomato paste with chili powder. Add the brown sugar and stir the sauce to dissolve it. When the chicken pieces are fried with the ginger, chili and garlic, immediately pour the sauce into the pan. Stirring gently, fry the crispy chicken fillet in the sweet and spicy sauce until the sugar begins to caramelize and the sauce thickens well.

As soon as the sauce has thickened and fully coated the crispy pieces of fried chicken fillet, the dish is ready. Put it on a small plate and serve. A fresh smashed cucumber salad is an ideal side dish for the chicken. It is a unique vegetable dish with a pleasant, refreshing taste, and it was a real discovery for us at the time.

As it turns out, in this sauce the sweetness and heat balance each other, so you can add quite a lot of chili, and it will be even tastier. Don’t overcook the fillet pieces in the sauce, so they keep their crispness. If you like, before serving you can sprinkle the dish with finely chopped herbs and a pinch of white sesame seeds.