Legend has it that Bourbon Chicken was so named because a Chinese cook made it in a restaurant on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Whether this is true or not, Bourbon Chicken is amazing and quite fitting for a Mardi Gras celebration! I don’t know whether the original recipe contained Bourbon or not. However, I didn’t think that I could go wrong by including it. Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Ingredients:
I used the following ingredients: Chicken breasts, baking soda, water, corn starch, Bourbon, rice vinegar, low sodium soy sauce, light brown sugar, fresh ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and peanut oil.
Making the Bourbon Chicken:
To start the prep, I cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces. To ensure that the chicken was tender, I mixed it with a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in ½ cup of cold water and let it sit for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, I drained the chicken, rinsed it under cold water, drained it again, and patted it dry with paper towels. Then, I added the chicken to a mixture of 1 Tablespoon of Bourbon and 2 teaspoons of corn starch. Next, I mixed the sauce by combining the remaining Bourbon, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and remaining corn starch.
With the prep finished, I heated the peanut oil in a Wok over medium high heat. When the oil was hot, I added the chicken, and cooked it, stirring frequently, until it was no longer pink. This took about 5 minutes. Then, I added the ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes, and continued cooking the mixture for about 30 seconds.
Finally, I added the Bourbon sauce to the chicken, and cooked the mixture until the sauce thickened, and the chicken was fully cooked. This took around 5 minutes.
I served the Bourbon Chicken with white rice. Its flavor was incredible. Laissez les bons temps rouler! Yum!
Bourbon Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound skinless and boneless chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup water
- 1 Tablespoon corn starch divided
- ¼ cup Bourbon divided
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed (1.875 ounces)
- ½ Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 Tablespoon peanut oil
- White rice
Instructions
- Mix chicken with baking soda and water. Let sit 15 minutes. Rinse well under cold water; drain well. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Combine 1 tablespoon Bourbon with 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Add to chicken; mix well.
- Combine remaining 3 tablespoons Bourbon, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and remaining 1 teaspoon cornstarch. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in Wok or skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken. Cook, stirring frequently until chicken is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
- Add ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes; cook 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add Bourbon sauce. Cook, stirring frequently until thickened and chicken is done, about 5 minutes.
- Serve over white rice.
I made this the other night and it was fabulous!