Honey, I chillied the chicken!

How wonderful, I popped out to buy some tea from Hopley's Farm Shop and the owner asked me if I had time for a quick drink.  I honestly thought he meant tea! Instead I found myself tasting a generous measure of Chase Blackcurrant Liqueur mixed with a Sicilian white wine.  All this at 1pm on a Friday - the woman has no shame but it was delicious and I had to buy a bottle.  Good salesmanship Jeremy!

Moving on rapidly, after the resounding success of last night's post I am revisiting one of my Chinese favourite dishes from The Australian Women's Weekly, Chinese Cooking Class Cookbook, Honey Chilli Chicken.   It's sweet, sticky, saucy and a lovely Friday night treat.

Ingredients

8 large or 10 small chicken thighs.  It's great finger food for a party if you use chicken wings.
Flour
Salt
Oil for deep frying
1inch fresh ginger
2 tbsp honey
2 teasp cornflour
1/2 cup of water
1 tbsp Chinese chilli sauce
1 cup lemon juice
2 teasp soy sauce
6 spring onions.

Method
Coat the chicken with flour that has been seasoned with salt.
Fry the chicken in deep hot oil until golden brown.  Reduce the heat and cook for about 5 minutes or until it is cooked through.  Remove it from the oil and and drain on kitchen roll.  Repeat until all the chicken is cooked.  Pour off the excess oil leaving one tbsp of oil in the pan.
Add the peeled and grated ginger to the pan and sauté for one minute.  Add the honey to the pan. Next add the combined cornflour, water, chilli sauce, lemon juice and soy sauce.  Stir until the sauce boils and thickens.  Return the chicken to the pan and toss in the sauce for about three minutes until the chicken is heated through.  Add the sliced spring onions and cook for a further minute only.
It's lovely with plain rice or noodles.