RecipeTin Eats’ sticky honey pepper chicken ticks all your quick midweek dinner boxes

Name: RecipeTin Eats’ sticky honey pepper chicken ticks all your quick midweek dinner boxes
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2 tbsp peanut oil (or canola or vegetable oil); 1 onion, halved then cut into 7mm wedges; 2 medium carrots, cut on a diagonal into 0.5cm thick slices; 2 garlic cloves, finely minced; 500g chicken thighs, cut in half lengthwise then into 1cm strips

RecipeTin Eats

May 9, 2023

This speedy chicken stir-fry is sticky, sweet, savoury and a little bit spicy.Nagi Maehashi

easyTime:< 30 minsServes:4

This is the chicken version of your favourite honey pepper beef that you always order at the local Chinese restaurant. The sweetness of the honey is perfectly balanced with the little pops of heat from pepper. It’s sticky, sweet, savoury and a little bit spicy, and ticks all your quick-dinner boxes: fast, thrifty and everybody loves it.

The SOS checklist

Feeds four for less than $20 ✔
Fewer than 12 ingredients ✔
Under 30 minutes ✔

Ingredients

2 tbsp peanut oil (or canola or vegetable oil)
1 onion, halved then cut into 7mm wedges
2 medium carrots, cut on a diagonal into 0.5cm thick slices
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
500g chicken thighs, cut in half lengthwise then into 1cm strips

For the sauce

2½ tbsp light soy
1½ tsp dark soy
4 tbsp honey (80g)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (see note)
1½ tsp coarsely crushed black pepper (see note)

To serve

steamed rice
finely sliced spring onion

Method

Step 1
Heat oil in a non-stick pan over high heat. Cook onion and carrot for 2 minutes.
Step 2
Add garlic and chicken, cook for 3 minutes.
Step 3
Tip all the chicken and vegetables into a bowl.
Step 4
Return the pan to the stove over medium-high heat. Pour in sauce ingredients, mix, and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes until syrupy. Don’t hold back here − syrupy means a deep sauce colour and great flavour.
Step 5
Transfer the chicken and vegetables back in. Toss well for 1 minute to coat everything beautifully in the sauce.
Step 6
Serve over rice, sprinkled with spring onions, if desired.

Notes

Coarsely crushing whole black peppercorns will give the best flavour, but for convenience, store-bought coarse ground black pepper will work just fine.
Chinese cooking wine (shaoxing) can be substituted with mirin or dry sherry. For a non-alcoholic substitute, replace with ¼ cup low-salt chicken stock and expect to reduce the sauce for an extra minute or two.