Honey Ginger Chicken

I don't know about you, but I LOVE Chinese. I mean LOVE Chinese. I could eat it everyday of the year and twice on Sundays. Unfortunately (or fortunately for my cholesterol), Clearwater doesn't have a Chinese restaurant. Also, making authentic Chinese food requires some serious firepower on the stove and inevitably makes my house smell like fry oil for days. So this my alternative for those of you who would like to trade take-out for make-in. Honey Ginger Chicken. What you lose in fried crunchy chicken, we will make up for in tasty, saucy goodness. Once again I like to use chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts for extra flavor and moisture. Also as you can see in the picture above, we served it on top of rice noodles, but you can go with rice if you'd like. If you missed my rant about rice cookers in my previous Chicken Coconut Curry post, here is a refresher.

Ingredients

1 package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (2-3 lbs)

1 yellow onion (peeled and rough chopped)

4 garlic cloves (peeled and minced)

4 inch piece of fresh ginger (peeled and grated)

1/2 cup of honey

1/2 cup of soy sauce

1/4 blackberry jelly (or any dark berry - I'll explain, trust me)

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

2 TBSP olive oil

1 tsp crushed red pepper

To thicken sauce:

2 TBSP cold water

1 TBSP cornstarch

Green Onions (optional garnish)

Toasted Sesame Seeds (optional garnish)

Click here for a PRINTABLE RECIPE.

There are several ingredients that you may be unfamiliar or concerned about in the list above. First, hoisin sauce can be found in your local grocery store in the Asian foods section. It is for better or worse basically Chinese ketchup. 

Next, blackberry jelly. I know, just hear me out. The blackberry jelly does a few necessary things in this recipe. It gives us some fruity sweetness that many Chinese dishes have without just adding straight sugar. Also, the gelatin in the jelly helps the sauce get to that sticky consistency we all love in dishes like General Tsao's or sesame chicken. If you don't have any on hand and are going to buy some at the store, try to find a brand with basically three ingredients: blackberries, gelatin and sugar.

Finally the ingredient that gives this dish some serious punch, Ginger. If you missed the previous post of Coconut Curry Chicken and how to peel and grate ginger, here is a quick recap.

Peel your ginger piece with a vegetable peeler. 

Grate the piece of peeled ginger

In a bowl, mix the honey, soy sauce, hoisin, blackberry jelly, olive oil, onion, garlic, ginger and crushed red pepper.

If you have never cooked with chicken thighs before, after this you will to yourself "where have you been all my life?". Warning: They are DARK meat and therefore contain more fat than say chicken breasts, but fat is flavor and they become moist deliciousness in the world of a crockpot. And the best part... They are cheaper than chicken breasts and probably located right next to them in the meat department. As you can see above, I would use a pair of kitchen shears to trim off any excess fat on the edges of each thigh before you cut them into chunks.

Mix the chicken thighs and the sauce together in the crockpot. Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.

About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, remove the chicken thighs from the crockpot and shred them in a bowl with two forks. This would also be a great time to prepare whatever starch you are going to serve the Honey Ginger Chicken on (Jasmine Rice, Rice Noodles, etc.)

After you remove the chicken from the crockpot, turn it up to HIGH. We are going to make a cornstarch slurry to help thicken the sauce.

Cornstarch Slurry: Mix 2 TBSP Cold Water & 1 TBSP Cornstarch

Add the slurry to the sauce and stir well. Add the pulled chicken back to the sauce. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens to your liking.

Serve on top of a starch of your choice. Garnish with green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy!

If you are interested in using rice noodles, I usually buy a package that is similar to this in the Asian food isle at the grocery store. You cook them just like pasta and they have a great taste and texture that is very unique. I really like Jasmine rice, but my wife Erin loves these and you know who drives the bus most of the time at our house!