Hunan Style Chicken with Honey Lemon Sauce

I found this recipe in one of my moms REALLY OLD Asian cookbooks. I don't know why I had decided to give it a try but I have always been glad that I did. I have been making this recipe for years now and it has become one of my families absolute favorite dinners to have! The batter on this chicken is absolutely amazing. I think the reason I like it so much is because the batter has soy sauce in it, which helps provide some flavor and add saltiness (anybody who knows me knows that I LOVE salt).
I do feel like I need to throw a disclaimer (or two) out there though about the sauce. DON'T JUDGE IT BEFORE YOU TRY IT!
I am well aware that some of the ingredients in the sauce are a bit...odd to pair together, but I promise you JUST TRY IT.
Second disclaimer...the sauce isn't that tasty just on the tip of your finger so again don't judge it before you try it with the chicken. :)



For the Honey Lemon Sauce:
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup honey
1 TBSP ketchup
1/2 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 TBSP cornstarch
1 TBSP cold water

For the Chicken:
3 chicken breasts
vegetable oil for frying
Cornstarch for dredging
1/2 cup flour
1/2 water
2 egg
4 TBSP cornstarch
4 TBSP vegetable oil
2 tsp. soy sauce
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

To Prepare the Sauce:

1. Heat 1/2 cup water, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, ketchup, bouillon (dry), salt and garlic and bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.

2.  Mix cornstarch and 1 TBSP water in a small bowl and stir into sauce. Cook and stir until thickened, about 30 seconds. Set aside until ready to use.

To Prepare the Chicken:

1. Cut chicken into 1/2 inch pieces. (You can leave the chicken breast whole if you want less batter and then cut it afterward. My family likes a lot of breading so we do smaller pieces)

2. Fill large pan with about 1/2 an inch of oil and heat over medium heat. You will know when the oil is hot enough to start frying when you can splash one drop of water in it and it bubbles at you. If it splatters at you, then it may be to hot.

3. Beat all ingredients for the chicken together EXCLUDING the chicken and the vegetable oil for frying.

4. In another pan, roughly dump some cornstarch in to dredge your chicken in first (I would start with half a cup and add more as needed)

5. Dip chicken pieces one at a time into first the cornstarch dredge and then into the batter.

6. Fry pieces in oil until golden brown, turning once. (Depending on the size of your chicken pieces times will vary, but mine usually take 2-3 minutes per side)

**Randi's Side Notes**
~ We do not use a ton of sauce when we dip our chicken into it, but if you are a big sauce dipper, you may want to double the sauce ingredients.
~ Depending on the size of your chicken breasts and how many pieces you cut it into, the batter recipe may be a little off, but in general these measurements have always worked out good for me.