This recipe I made four times and did some changes to some of the ingredients to satisfy my palate. Though we all have different taste buds, you can always adjust how much each ingredient you want to add to this dish (if you wish).
Nevertheless, if you are an open-minded person and adventurous when it comes to food, I would suggest you follow the recipe especially the amount of cilantro that we're going to use for this dish, it's going to blow your mind but not quite, (you'll see what am talking about once you scroll to the ingredients list) lol.
Just a few cooking notes before we start...
You'll notice the frozen chili that I used in this recipe, don't panic, I have so much frozen chili in my freezer, never ran out! (yes, you can freeze chilis so they stay fresh for a long time, just store it in an airtight container or even ziplock bag).
Have you tried chopping a frozen chili before? lol, I haven't so, I leave it out just until it thaw before mincing it.
Though, if you're using dried chili it's better to soak it with water. I find this easier to minced after soaking it with water.
The star ingredient on this dish is obviously the...
Chicken!... Naaaahh! It's the cilantro, yes, you were to ask me.
Now, don't be confused with cilantro and coriander, they both come from the same plant (as for what I know). Although other countries distinguished the two names as different things, it depends where you're from.
I am not an expert when it comes to this herb and spice as it's quite confusing sometimes. All you have to remember is to check the recipe if it calls for the cilantro leaves or the stem or just coriander seeds because these three things have different taste and use, even the roots.
In this recipe, we are only going to use the cilantro leaves and stems-And we are going to use a lot of it!
It doesn't show on the photos because I took it before I realized that I need more cilantro flavor, hehe! we learn as we go, right?
For the chicken, I use drumsticks because that's the only one I have in my fridge, but I did use boneless skinless on one of my cookings and both taste great, but the boneless skinless is easier to fry since I cut them into cubes. Plus, hassle-free because I don't have to worry about bugs in my trash bin, lol!
Also, only use vegetable oil, peanut oil, canola, or anything that's suited for high-heat cooking. Do not use olive oil because it is quite resistant to heat.
Sorry for the long chat... now, let's get busy in the kitchen, shall we!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 kilo chicken
- cooking oil
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 egg
For the chicken marinade:
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp sugar
For the sauce:
- a bunch of cilantro stem
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp ginger
- 1 /2 tbsp chili (or more if you want spicier)
- 4 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 4 tbsp rice vinegar
- 4 tbsp ketchup
- ½ tsp of honey
Procedure:
- Marinate the chicken with light soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. Gently massage the chicken so the ingredients mix well. Let sit for at least five minutes.
- Minced the garlic, ginger, chili, and coriander then, set aside. Then mix dark soy sauce, ketchup, rice vinegar, sugar, and set aside.
- Add the egg in the chicken marinade and mix well. Next, pour the cornstarch into the chicken mixture and mix well, make sure all chicken is well covered with cornstarch and separated from every piece.
- Get your deep frying pan and heat u the oil in very high heat. Once the oil is ready for frying. Slowly drop the chicken in the oil. If the oil is very hot, the chicken should only cook for about two to three minutes.
- Layout the kitchen towel on a tray or baking rack and transfer the chicken once it's nicely golden brown. Once the oil soaks in the paper towel, transfer to a big bowl and set aside.
Make the sauce
In a bowl, whisk dark soy sauce, ketchup, rice vinegar, and honey.
Heat another pan over low heat, add the garlic, ginger, chili, coriander. Stir for about a minute.
- Add the sauce mixture and turn the heat to high and mix well. Once the sauce is rapidly boiling, pour the sauce immediately on the chicken and mix well to coat each piece well.
Dice a lot of cilantro leaves and sprinkle on top to give it a chefy-like,
ta-dah! ;)
Of course, mine shows a few cilantro leaves only because it's for food presentation purposes but in real life, I use a tone of it. I'll give you a permission to call me out on this one (hehe).
Now, you can either serve this with rice or if you want to save some calories and you don't have to work out, you could eat it plain (just like what I do sometimes), it's not so plain and boring though because it's flavor, am sure you'll agree with me once you try this recipe.
I would love for you to try this recipe, and come back here and let me know any comments and of course if you think this recipe could still be better tips or suggestions are welcome!
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