Crispy Sweet Chili Chicken Rice Bowl
This Sweet Chili Crispy Chicken Rice Bowl is sure to satisfy you any time of day! No need for a deep-fryer, the crispy chicken is achieved through a cornstarch dredge and shallow frying, which results in a beautifully light and crispy coating around the tender chicken. The chicken is then tossed with a homemade sweet chili sauce, which is incredibly easy and made in under 5 minutes! This homemade sweet chili sauce can easily be adjusted to your desired spice level as well! Throw this delicious crispy sweet chili chicken onto a bed of fragrant jasmine rice, along with a beautiful accompaniment of edamame beans, fresh cucumber, sweet mango, and creamy avocado, and you have yourself one delicious crispy chicken rice bowl. Excuse me, while I dig in!
No Need For a Deep Fryer
If you’ve ever had chili chicken at a restaurant then you know its usually with breaded pieces of chicken which are then deep fried. I don’t know about you, but pulling out my deep fryer always seems like such a hassle, that I actually avoid recipes that use a deep fryer. Furthermore, it always just feels like such a waste of oil when filling up the deep fryer for a one-time use! My solution to this conundrum is to shallow fry! With shallow frying, we use about ¼ cup of oil – enough so that there is a generous amount of oil on the bottom of the pan, say about half an inch or so. When the chicken is place into the sizzling hot oil, the bottom obviously fries, but the oil also seeps up the sides of the chicken to fry the sides up nicely as well! Then with a quick flip after the bottom is golden, the process is repeated to the other side, resulting in a piece of chicken that is nicely crispy on all sides!
Cornstarch for Frying
The dredge for this the chicken in this rice bowl recipe is cornstarch! Why not flour, you ask? Well the cornstarch actually provides a crispier airier coating around the chicken! Delicious! As well, I have found that I cornstarch coating also gets less soggy when a sauce is added over top, which is essential for this crispy chicken rice bowl.
What is Salam Oelek
Salam Oelek is a chili garlic paste. It is essentially the cousin to Sriracha, but is chunkier and spicier, and less sweet. I also find that it is quite a bit more acidic as well. I personally don’t use this as a condiment, like I do with sriracha, but instead use it as a flavor or sauce in cooking. Similar to how you use ketchup as a condiment but only use tomato paste in cooking. The flavor of salam oelek is has a more pure chili flavor, which makes it incredible for adding the delicious spicy dimension to your cooking. This wonderful chili paste should be easily found at most large grocery stores, in the Asian section, or can most definitely be found at Asian supermarkets as well.
Substitutions and Variations
• If you’re wanting a healthier chicken rice bowl, skip the cornstarch dredging and shallow frying, and just simply fry the cubed chicken in a small amount of oil instead.
• If you do not have jasmine rice, any long grain rice will be fine. Basmati is a wonderful substitute.
• Feel free to add or take away anything that you like or don’t like. Pineapple could be a wonderful addition, as it would play beautifully with the sweet chili sauce. Red peppers would also be a wonderful addition. For some added crunch, bean sprouts would be lovely, or even fried crispy panko as a topping! The world is your oyster, and so is this chicken rice bowl!
Get the Recipe: Crispy Sweet Chili Chicken Rice Bowl
Ingredients
Crispy Chicken
- 1 ½ lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, cubed
- Salt & Pepper
- 1/4 cup Corn Starch
- 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil, for frying
Sweet Chili Sauce
- 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1 – 1 ½ tbsp Salam Oelek
- 1/4 tsp Grated Fresh Ginger
- 1/2 tbsp Cornstarch
- 1/2 tbsp Water
Sweet Chili Crispy Chicken Bowls
- 2 cups Cooked Jasmine Rice
- 1/2 English Cucumber, sliced thinly
- 1 cup cooked Edamame
- 1 Avocado, diced
- 1 Mango, peeled and diced
- 1 Radish, sliced thin
- (Optional) 1 tsp Sesame Seeds, for garnish
Instructions
Crispy Chicken
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat with the ¼ cup of oil. Pat the chicken dry, then salt and pepper all sides of the pieces. Place chicken cubes into a large Ziploc bag with the cornstarch, shake vigorously to coat the chicken pieces with the corn starch. Remove pieces from bag and lightly shake to dust off any excess cornstarch.
- Working in batches, place the coated chicken pieces into the hot oil and fry. Allow the pieces to form a golden crust on one side before flipping, then when the other side begins to turn golden, remove the pieces onto a plate fitted with a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Set aside and finish the other batches (I do this in 3-4 batches).
Sweet Chili Sauce
- Add vinegar, sugar, ¼ cup water, salam oelek, and grated ginger to a small sauce pan. Heat over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil for 2-3 minutes.
- Mix together the cornstarch and ½ tbsp of water, then add to the boiling sauce. Mix together and continue cooking until the sauce has thickened nicely. Set aside to cool slightly.
Sweet Chili Crispy Chicken Bowls
- Toss crispy chicken and sweet chili sauce together. Add 1/4 of sweet chili crispy chicken to each bowl, along with 1/4 of each of the other ingredients.
