Chinese Honey Chicken

This is the first Asian dish I made, way back when I was a teenager. It still tastes great. I've tweaked it a bit over the years. Hope you like it. I like to use a local wine, Haut Sauterne, instead of sherry. You can reduce the honey, but it isn't as sweet as you might think. You can also add some hot pepper flakes, if you like it hot.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• peanut oil

Marinade/Sauce:

• 4 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 4 Tbsp. honey
• 1 cup sherry
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tsp. finely sliced ginger root
• 1/2 tsp. Chinese 5-spice powder, optional

Directions:

Take the skin off the chicken breasts and cut them in half. I use kitchen shears to do this. Mix the marinade ingredients, all of them raw, and pour over the chicken. Marinate for an hour.

Remove chicken and drain it well, reserving the marinade. Put the marinade in a saucepan and bring to a boil, boil 2 minutes, then simmer until reduced by about half.

While reducing the sauce, heat a skillet on high, add 2 tablespoons oil (peanut oil or vegetable oil). Quickly brown the chicken on all sides. Reduce heat under chicken to medium, pour sauce over, cover and cook about 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

I serve this with rice and stir-fried string beans.

Source: The original recipe came with the first wok I bought, about 38 years ago.

By Free2B from North Royalton, Ohio