A classic dish that has been China's best-kept secret for centuries, Hong Sue Chicken is a wonderful dish featuring a lot of stir-fried vegetables, mushrooms and a sweet and salty sauce!
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Why Has Nobody Heard Of Hong Sue Chicken?
Hong Sue Chicken is a popular dish in China, but it hasn't been popularised in the Western world, like Kung Pao Chicken or Lemon Chicken. Yet! Whilst you can get this delicious dish in truly authentic Chinese restaurants here in the UK, not many know of the dish, and therefore it often goes by different names, like Crispy Chicken in Oyster and Sherry Sauce.
Whilst sherry is traditionally used in the Hong Sue sauce (and sometimes in the batter for the chicken), not all of us have this ingredient at home. We made ours by substituting sherry with a small amount of vinegar and brown sugar to arrive at a similar sweet umami flavour that complements the oyster sauce very well.
Ingredients and Substitutes
Simple ingredients for complex flavours. Here's your shopping list if you want to make this Hong Sue Chicken recipe:
- chicken breast: boneless, skinless.
- plain flour: also known as all-purpose flour.
- cornflour: also known as cornstarch.
- baking powder: you can substitute it with half the amount of bicarb of soda (baking soda).
- water: the colder, the better.
- vegetable oil: or any other oil suitable for frying.
- selection of stir-fry vegetables: brown onion, button mushrooms, carrots, baby corn, broccoli florets, mange tout etc.
- garlic: can be substituted with ready-made garlic paste.
- ginger: fresh root ginger, very finely chopped.
- rice vinegar: can be replaced with cooking wine, like sherry, which is traditionally used for Hong Sue Chicken.
- oyster sauce.
- brown sugar: or honey, or caster sugar.
- sesame oil: we used toasted sesame oil.
Method
In a large bowl, mix the flour, cornflour, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Add the water and mix into a smooth batter.
Add the chicken pieces into the batter and mix to coat everything evenly.
Heat oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, add the chicken and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the chicken is crispy on the outside, and fully cooked through.
Take the chicken out of the pan onto a paper towel-lined to absorb any excess oil.
Wipe the pan clean and heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onions and broccoli and fry for a minute on high heat. Then add mushrooms, carrots and baby corn alongside garlic and ginger and stir-fry for a minute. Add 4 tablespoon of water and swiftly put a lid on and let the vegetables cook in the steam for 2 minutes.
Take the lid off and let any excess water evaporate. Then add the vinegar, oyster sauce, sugar and sesame oil to the pan and stir.
In a small bowl, mix cornflour with water. Pour the mixture over the vegetables and stir until you have a slightly thickened sauce. If the sauce thickens too much, just add an extra splash of water.
Place the chicken on a large plate, pour the vegetables in hong sue sauce all over and serve with rice or noodles.
What To Serve Hong Sue Chicken With?
We are not going to rock the boat with our suggestions. Hong Sue is a very traditional Chinese dish and we would recommend pairing it with classic side dishes:
- White rice.
- Prawn Crackers.
- Chinese-style Noodles.
Other Chinese Recipes
We stopped ordering Chinese take-away years ago when we realised that we can make our favourite dishes quicker than the food would have been delivered! Here are some of our absolute favourites:
Recipe Card
Hong Sue Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 2 chicken breasts boneless, skinless, cut into bitesize chunks
- 60 g plain flour
- 60 g cornflour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 150 ml water
- vegetable oil about 150ml, for frying
Vegetables:
- 1 small brown onion cut into 6 wedges
- 100 g button mushrooms halved or quartered
- 50 g carrots cut into thin strips
- 50 g baby corn halved lenghtways
- 50 g broccoli florets cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 10 g root ginger finely chopped
- 4 tablespoon water
Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar or sherry
- 120 g oyster sauce
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar optional (skip if your oyster sauce is sweet)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 4 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, cornflour, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Add the water and mix into a smooth batter.
- Add the chicken pieces into the batter and mix to coat everything evenly. The batter will be thin and will only coat the chicken lightly.
- Heat oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, add the chicken and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the chicken is crispy on the outside, and fully cooked through.
- Take the chicken out of the pan onto a paper towel-lined to absorb any excess oil.
- Wipe the pan clean and heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onions and broccoli and fry for a minute on high heat. Then add mushrooms, carrots and baby corn alongside garlic and ginger and stir-fry for a minute. Add 4 tablespoon of water and swiftly put a lid on and let the vegetables cook for 2 minutes.
- Take the lid off and let any excess water evaporate. Then add the vinegar, oyster sauce, sugar and sesame oil to the pan and stir.
- In a small bowl, mix cornflour with water. Pour the mixture over the vegetables and stir until you have a slightly thickened sauce. If the sauce thickens too much, just add an extra splash of water.
- Place the chicken on a large plate, pour the vegetables in hong sue sauce all over and serve with rice or noodles.
Nutrition
SSH says
I'm not that well-traveled but if I've been somewhere in the US, I've probably had Chinese food there. I love this dish. In the western Kentucky town of Paducah, a restaurant called Chong’s lists this "pressed chicken." That's where I fell in love with it. New Star restaurant on North Avenue in Elmwood Park, IL has it listed as Hong Sue. I couldn't find it Chinatown Chicago, but I have a favorite there and rarely deviate from it. Can't find it in San Antonio.