Empress Chicken

Empress chicken is here to satisfy all your sweet, savory, and spicy cravings at once! With crispy chicken and a delicate sauce! A perfect weeknight meal!

Course Chicken Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword Empress Chicken, Empress Chicken Recipe, How Do I Make Empress Chicken, How To Make Empress Chicken

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 10

Total Time 50

Servings servings

Calories 374kcal

Author Kathleen

Ingredients

Chicken and Marinade:

1 large egg white
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons vodka
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 pound chicken breast boneless and skinless, cut into 1 inch cubes

Dry Coating:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Sauce:

1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
3-4 cloves fresh garlic minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger peeled and grated
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Stir Fry:

1 3/4 cups peanut oil
1 bunch green onions thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 fresh jalapeno seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon
dried red chili flakes

Instructions

Make the Marinade: In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg white until foamy. Stir in soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and vodka. Pour half of this mixture into a small bowl and set aside. Add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 3 tablespoons cornstarch to the half of the marinade remaining in the large bowl. Add Chicken pieces and using your hands, toss to coat evenly. Set aside.
Make the Dry Coating: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir in reserved egg marinade and mix, breaking up large clumps, until mixture has coarse, smaller or granular clumps. Add chicken pieces and using your hands, toss to coat evenly. Press to help coating adhere. Remove well-coated chicken pieces, shaking off excess coating, and spread out on a wire baking rack. Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, Make the Sauce: Add all sauce ingredients to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
In a wok, heat peanut oil to about 350 degrees. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, carefully lower pieces of dry coated chicken into hot oil, cook, stirring frequently, so pieces don't stick together, monitoring the temperature of the oil and maintaining a temperature of 325-370 degrees. Cook until chicken is cooked about 3-4 minutes. Remove cooked chicken to a paper towel lined plate and drain well.
Drain all but 1 tablespoon oil from wok. With the heat on high until just smoking, add the half the green onions, jalapeno, and red chili flakes and cook just until fragrant, about 20-30 seconds. Add the chicken back to the wok along with the sauce and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce has thickened. Garnish with the remaining half of the green onions and a few red pepper flakes and serve.

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